Myths and cultural practices can block farmers’ acceptance of a new technology, particularly the principles of reduced tillage, residue retention, and cropping rotations that underlie conservation agriculture. This was one observation in a recent vis…
Fifteen young scientists from SIMLESA partner and spillover countries were recently trained by the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC-SA) on various aspects of agronomy and innovation learning platforms (ILePs), including conservation a…
“All the maize for my home consumption comes from my aflasafe™-treated field,” says farmer Alhaji Al-Hassan from Nigeria’s Kaduna State. “When I take my maize to the market, buyers rush for it because the quality looks better. The grains look…
“Maize is Africa’s most important cereal crop, with more than 300 million of Africa’s most vulnerable people depending on it for their food security and livelihoods,” says B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program. “The emerg…
Why is wheat a strategic crop for Africa? In the 1990′s, economists considered wheat to be a “minor food” for consumers in sub-Saharan Africa. But wheat is a no longer a minor crop. African countries will spend about US$20 billion to …
