Nourish Zambia Newsletter (Issue 5, December 2014)

NourishZambia05I S S U E

J U LY - D E C E M B E R2 0 1 4

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF THE ZAMBIA FEED-THE-FUTURE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

In this issue:Scal ing out is ‘cal l of the day’ for

Zambia FTF R&D Program

Program partners urged to scale out technologies to tangibly benef i t

smal lholder farmers

New study f inds that orange maize boosts v i tamin A in chi ldren

.. . and other exci t ing stor ies inside!

In this issue of Nourish Zambia, we highlight the appeal and challenge made by the Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Province, Hon Mulenga Chilese, for the program to focus on widely scaling out and disseminating the mature technologies developed and tested by the various projects under the Zambia FTF R&D Program.

Already in the final year of program implementation, this call by the PS is relevant and in line with the workplan and framework of the program.

The stories in this issue brings to fore the various activities that will eventually lead to the successful roll-out of the technologies developed under the program.

As usual, we hope that you enjoy flipping through the pages of this issue of Nourish Zambia. Let us know what you think.

- Zambia FTF R&D Program Coordination

Office

Nourish Zambia is produced by the Coordination Office of the Zambia FtF R&D Program based at IITA’s Southern Africa Hub in Lusaka. For suggestions or contributions to this newsletter, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

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Local and international research centers and scientists working together under

the Zambia Feed-the-Future Research and Development Program have been urged to shift from upstream R&D and into scaling out the myriad of mature technologies already developed and tested if smallholder farmers across the country are to actually benefit from them in the foreseeable future.

The appeal was aired by the Honorable Mulenga Chilese, Permanent Secretary (PS) of Zambia’s Eastern Province, as he keynoted the opening of the 3-day Annual Review and Planning Meeting of the Zambia Feed-the-Future Research and Development (FTF R&D) Program held at the Protea Hotel in Chipata on 17 September 2014. After the opening, the PS accompanied the meeting delegates on a tour of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute’s (ZARI) Msekera Station, also in Chipata.

“I think enough has been done on the R&D side – now is high time for us to scale out these technologies so that they

Program partners urged to scale out technologies to tangibly benefit smallholder farmers“It is high time to get these mature technologies into the hands of our Zambian smallholder farmers, as widely as possible, so that they start making actual positive impact on people’s lives” -- Hon Mulenga Chilese, Permanent Secretary, Eastern Province, Zambia

continued next page...

Scaling out is ‘call of the day’ for Zambia FTF R&D Program

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start making tangible and positive impact on the lives of our smallholder farmers,” Mr Chilese emphasized.

“Although the country has seen positive economic growth these past years, these have not really translated to concrete

A farmer beneficiary of the program asking a ZARI researcher about Striga that has been infecting her maize farm. The Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Province of Zambia has called on the program to focus on scaling out technologies to benefit Zambian farmers, especially in its final year of implementation.

Program partners urged to scale out technologies... from page 1

Nourish Zambia, Issue No. 5 (July - December 2014)

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benefits to the people, especially our farmers,” the PS added. “A lot of things could have been done better – and this where you, researchers, come in. You have the gift of foresight – of ‘seeing the future’ way ahead of others and developing solutions now in anticipation of tomorrow’s challenges.”

“My challenge to you, therefore, is this: get these technologies into the hands of each and every farmer in Zambia,” the PS said. “So how do we do this? We need to address some of the lacking essential linkages in the dissemination of research results and information, we need to partner more closely with the private sector, and we need to work better with marketing agencies and extension services.”

“We also need to properly integrate research results into national planning. For example, this program meeting could have been held before the national annual budget hearing so that your activities could have

(Photos at right) PS Chilese touring the FTF project exibition stands at ZARI-Msekera Station, where he saw product and technology displays of (from top to bottom) orange-fleshed sweet potato, aflasafe and aflatoxin mitigation, vitamin A-rich orange maize, cassava disease mitigation, SIMLEZA, and a demo of a mechanized groundnut sheller by I-FINITE. (Photo below) Delegates to the 2014 Zambia FTF R&D Program Review and Planning Meeting in a group photo with the PS (first row, middle).

been integrated into the national government’s workplan,” he added.

Harry Ngoma, USAID Activity Manager for the FTF R&D Program, reiterated the sentiments of the PS. He said that so far “the program has made significant strides in its R&D efforts, and at this point we already have a clear picture of what technologies are working, how they are working, and under what conditions they are working.”

“On behalf of USAID, I am proud to say that we are very excited that the technologies from this program are already starting to bear fruit. What follows for this year is to make economic analyses and risk profiles of these technologies. Of course, we would also come up with very clear strategies for scaling up and scaling out to impact thousands of farmers not only in this province but across Zambia,” he added.

“I share the sentiments of the PS – we need to share data, information, and knowledge about these technologies that would hopefully lead to policy recommendations that support an enabling environment for enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers and improving their lives.”

At Msekera Station, PS Chilese and the meeting delegates toured the station’s research facilities, visiting the Soils Laboratory and Aflatoxin Laboratory, as well as an exhibition set up by the different project components of the program.

Eastern Province PS Hon Mulenga Chilese speaking at the opening of the program’s 2014 Review and Planning Meeting in Chipata.

This orange maize has been conventionally bred (non-GMO) to

have higher levels of beta- carotene, a naturally occurring plant pigment that the body converts into vitamin A.

The beta-carotene enriched hybrid maize are a product of nearly a decade of breeding for enhance levels of pro-Vitamin A led by IITA and HarvestPlus with other partners as part of strategies to address the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa.

The first generation vitamin A-rich maize hybrids – IITA hybrids’ A0905-28 and A0905-32 – were released by the National Variety Release Committee of Nigeria in early 2012. On 21 September 2012, the National Variety Release Committee of Zambia officially approved the release of three orange maize varieties developed in conjunction with CIMMYT – GV662A, GV664A, and GV665A – in the country. Following this, the vitamin A-rich varieties were launched by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and HarvestPlus on 2 October 2012. Since then, HarvestPlus has deployed and used the vitamin A-enriched maize in various feeding and food security-related activities in Zambia under the “Dissemination of Pro-Vitamin A Maize” project of the Zambia FTF Research and Development Program.

Lack of sufficient vitamin A blinds up to 500,000 children annually and increases the risk of death from disease (such as diarrhea in children). Vitamin A deficiency is widely prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Foods that are good sources of vitamin A, such as orange fruits, dark leafy vegetables, or meat, are

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New study finds that orange maize boosts vitamin A in childrenJust ahead of World Food Day on 16 October, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has established that ‘orange’ maize increases vitamin A storage in the body.

not always available, or may be too expensive in some regions. In many African countries, people eat large amounts of staple foods like cassava or maize. For example, in Zambia, people eat up to a pound of white maize daily. However, this white maize provides no beta-carotene. Switching to orange maize, which is rich in beta-carotene, could potentially provide maize-dependent populations with up to half their daily vitamin A needs.

In this controlled efficacy study, children from the Eastern Province of Zambia were randomly assigned to three feeding groups and received either white maize, orange maize, or a daily vitamin A supplement. After three months, both groups that received either the orange maize

or vitamin A supplements showed significant increases in their total body stores of vitamin A, with no changes observed in the group that received white maize.

Lead scientist Sherry Tanumihardjo said “we were surprised to find that most of the children in this study already had substantial stores of vitamin A. We attribute this to the success of fortifying sugar with vitamin A, the provision of vitamin A supplements to young children, and perhaps better diets. Yet, despite having adequate vitamin A stores, we still saw this store increase in children as a result of eating the orange maize. So, I’m confident that orange maize would be especially effective in


A young girl gets a valuable dose of vitamin A by eating this nutritious orange maize. Vitamin A deficiency blinds up to half a million children annually and increases risk of death from disease. By consuming vitamin A maize, children could potentially get up to 50% of their daily vitamin A needs. Photo by: Eliab Simpungwe (HarvestPlus)


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increasing body stores of vitamin A in populations suffering from vitamin A deficiency.” Unlike the form of vitamin A found in supplements and fortified foods, the body regulates conversion of beta-carotene into vitamin A, and consuming high levels of beta-carotene is not harmful to health.

In Zambia, HarvestPlus has provided orange maize to more than 10,000 farming households and is now working with the private sector with the goal of reaching 100,000 famers by 2015. According to Eliab Simpungwe, HarvestPlus Country Manager for Zambia, “the orange maize has been embraced by consumers once they have had a chance to taste it. When they also understand the benefits of vitamin A in the diets they are all the more enthusiastic about orange maize.” The orange maize varieties released are also high yielding, disease and virus resistant, and drought tolerant.

Chipata district chief lauds FTF R&D program, encourages farmers to “seriously participate” in the initiative for their own benefit

Chief Misholo in Chipata District where the

Feed the Future (FtF) is implementing their projects has encouraged his farmers to take their participation in the USAID sponsored FtF programme effectively. The Chief acknowledged that he was happy with the implementation of the projects in his chiefdom. He further indicated that the efforts by the project would help in reducing food insecurity in his chiefdom and enhance crop production.

A Zambian school girl enjoying a nutritious meal of beans, greens and vitamin A-rich ‘nshima’ that has been made from orange maize. Photo by: Eliab Simpungwe (HarvestPlus)

The Zambian Government has officially recognized biofortification, which it includes in the National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan for Zambia 2011-2015. Musonda Mofu, Acting Executive Director of the National Food and Nutrition Commission in Zambia and who was also on the study team, said “there are still many pockets where vitamin A deficiency remains a problem in Zambia. Food-based approaches such as orange maize can provide people—especially women and children—with a good portion of their daily vitamin A needs through nshima or other traditional foods made from maize, that we Zambians eat every day. For us, this is cost- effective and a safe approach to improving nutrition.”

The journal article could be found at: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2014/10/08/ajcn.114.087379.abstract?sid=ead6eb3f-bcab-4927-a22b-98b7dc9b7c7b.

New study finds that orange maize... from page 2

farmers in his chiefdom.Chief Misholo indicated that

agriculture was the most economical activity that his subjects were mostly

involved in. He further stated that the project’s involvement of his subjects has contributed to their enhancement of the nutritional status at household level and income generation activities.

Chief Misholo thanked the project team for having chosen his chiefdom to participate in the implementation of the Feed the Future Programme. He indicated that his farmers are committed to agriculture and that the knowledge they have gained from the project would be applied in their

The Chief said this when he attended a meeting were officials from the Feed the Future Programme and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock held with

day to day agricultural practice. He emphasised that the move by the project to support the development of farmers in his chiefdom was

Chief Misholo (center) during the meeting of farmers in his chiefdom that are participating in the Zambia Feed-the-Future Research & Development Program.



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important and a welcome gesture. He also appealed to the project to consider involving more farmers from his chiefdom so that the knowledge and project activities could be spread to as many farmers as possible.

Photos of the farmers that turned up for the meeting that was held by the Zambia Feed-the-Future Research & Development Program team in Chawa Agricultural Camp, Chipata

Furthermore Chief Misholo encouraged the farmers who turned up for the meeting to continue practicing agriculture that will see them food secure at their household level.

And Area Agricultural Camp Extension Officer Passmore Mutanga encouraged farmers in

his camp to continue adopting project activities for increased production and productivity. He indicated that this would make farmers food secure.

- Report by Muswa Siapolya

Chipata district Chief encourages... from page 4

Highlights of the 2014 Program Steering Committee monitoring visit to project sites in the Eastern Province of Zambia

During the 2nd quarter of this year, the members of the

Zambia FtF R&D Program Steering Committee conducted monitoring visits to various project sites in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The main objective of the visits was to evaluate actual, on-the-ground progress being made by the program. The following are chronological highlights of these monitoring visits.

DAY 1 (Chipata District)

Courtesy call to the Permanent Secretary of the Eastern ProvinceThe FTF R&D Program SC members paid a courtesy call to the office

of the Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Province, Dr Mulenga Chilese. The team briefed the PS about the activities being conducted by the Program in the Eastern Province. The team highlighted the Program’s work on the groundnut value chain, combating malnutrition through biofortification, and crop diversification through maize-legume systems. The SC expressed its hope that this work could be sustained by the farmers.

The PS expressed his appreciation for the work that the R&D Program was undertaking in the province. He encouraged the Program’s SC to move technologies quickly from research to the farmers. “There is a great potential to double or triple productivity, and have people make a good living, if the results of research reaches the farmer,” the PS said.

After the briefing, the PS expressed his interest to go with the group to personally see what is happening on the ground, hence joining the SC in the visits on that day.

Members of the program SC meeting with PS Mulenga Chilese, in his office in Chipata.

Msekera Research InstituteAfter the courtesy call, the team led by the PS then proceeded to ZARI’s Msekera Research Station where staff of the station took the group on a tour of the FTF R&D activities currently underway at the research station. The team saw the various technologies of all the FTF R&D component projects (i.e., groundnut trials, orange-fleshed sweet potato trials, soybean, cowpea, conservation agriculture practices, cassava diseases mitigation trial, and Orange Maize demo plot).

The SC and Program implementing partners with the PS (middle) listening to a presentation by a staff of ZARI’s Msekera Research Station.



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On-farm activitiesFrom Msekera, the group split into two teams: one team went to Katopola, Mnoro and Chanje Central Camps where they had a chance to see aflatoxin mitigation trials (agronomic and biocontrol aspects), Orange Maize, groundnut agronomy trials, and seed multiplication activities; while the other team proceeded to Chawa, Mthaya, and Kapita camps where they monitored OFSP, SIMLEZA, and cassava trials.

After the day’s activities, the PS commented that he was very impressed to see the buzz of research activities happening under the Program. He expressed his appreciation to USAID for supporting this initiative. He was particularly impressed by the level of farmer participation. He, however, felt that while the scientists had managed to communicate the research agenda to the farmers to a level where the farmers were actively participating and benefiting from the research initiatives, there has been a communication gap between the researchers and the policy makers.

(Top) A woman farmer in Chanje presenting to the visitors and other farmers the various products that her group makes from Orange Maize. (Bottom) The PS (left), some SC members and partners listening to farmer participating in the aflatoxin mitigation trials in Katopola.

Highlights of the 2014 Program Steering Committee... from page 5

(Left) The SC and Program implementing partners viewing an OFSP

nursery at the joint demo site in the Katete FTC. (Right) A project beneficiary

in Kangweleme explaining to Program visitors about the cassava PVS trials

that he is managing in his field.

He called upon the researchers to continuously publicize their work through scientific journals as well as the media so that the research findings of the Program are made available to as many sectors of society as possible, especially policy makers. He summarized that, based on what he saw that day; the country could really progress if Zambia refocuses back its priorities towards agriculture.

On-farm activitiesAs with the previous day, the group then split into teams: one team went to Kangweleme, Matunga, and Nkhunga Camps where they monitored OFSP and cassava trials and Orange Maize Demos; while the other team visited Vulamkoko and Kawalala camps soybean mother and baby trials, cowpea mother trials, and soybean agronomy trials (showing the effects of nitrogen fixation and inoculation). In the latter sites, the SC also had a chance to monitor the progress of the Aflasafe-Zambia Efficacy trials in groundnuts.

DAY 3 (Lundazi District)At the start of Day 3, the SC paid

a courtesy call to the Acting District Commissioner of Lundazi, Mr Bandawho. The SC briefed the DC on the activities of the R&D Program. The DC thanked the SC for choosing Lundazi as one of the Program’s beneficiary districts. He hoped that the program will bring change in the lives of smallholder farmers. He urged the Program to link farmers to markets

DAY 2 (Katete District)To kick-off Day 2 of the monitoring visits, the SC paid a courtesy call to the Katete DACO. After this, the group then proceeded to the Katete Farmer Training Center (FTC).

Katete Farmer Training CenterBoth teams visited the Katete FTC where the Farm Manager, Rexina Mwale, oriented the teams on the Joint FtF R& D Program demo sites whose aim is to give an opportunity to farmers to learn various Technologies in one setting. The farm manager provided a detailed explanation of each research activity and how farmers were benefiting from the same.



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if the economic benefits of the program are to be realized.

Lundazi Farmer Training CenterThe team then proceeded to Lundazi FTC where they had a chance to see a joint site hosting all the activities and crops under the FTF R&D Program. The farm manager of the FTC explained the various technologies being demonstrated under the joint demo sites. He proudly reported that farmers have been flocking to the FTC to see and learn from the demos, which he said was an indication that the objective of sharing knowledge to the intended beneficiaries of the Program is being achieved. He added that he expects about 600 farmers to attend the FTC Field Day scheduled for 10 April.

On-farm activitiesFrom the Lundazi FTC, the

(Top) The SC visiting group listening to an explanation being made by a woman farmer at the Lundazi FTC. (Bottom) A farmer in Hoya practicing conservation agriculture under the SIMLEZA Project explaining about his field to the visiting group.

group again split into two teams: one team proceeded to Kapichira to see groundnut PVS and Aflasafe Efficacy trials; while the other team went to Hoya where they saw the cassava disease mitigation trials, SIMLEZA, and OFSP trials.

Round up of monitoring visit and review and recommendations of ongoing activitiesAfter the on-farm visits, the two teams regrouped at the Lundazi FTC for an evaluation and roundup of the activities of the past three days. The SC expressed their great appreciation of the work being done by the various implementing partners of the Program, but more so of the dedication and hard work shown by the farmer-beneficiaries. The SC further encouraged the partners to continue with their enthusiasm for the benefit of the smallholder farmer.

In the discussions regarding

issues and challenges observed, the members of the group aired several questions and comments, which were addressed as follows:

Improve flow of informationIt was noted that some of the farmers did not completely understand that they were participating in a research undertaking and, therefore, had different expectations of what the research would offer them, while others were unwilling to share information. The Implementing partners were encouraged to do a lot of sensitization before engaging any more farmers in the research activities.

Market informationIt was noted that many farmers still lacked market information. It was suggested that the program be linked to the Department of Agribusiness and Marketing as one way of

addressing this challenge. Another proposal was to tap into the mobile phone-based Market Information System of the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU). Partners were encouraged to make farmers aware about such available technologies. It was also emphasized that farmers should be encouraged to bulk their produce as bulking strengthens the farmers’ marketing position (i.e., voice, volume, and value).

Meeting of targetsThe SC also wanted to know how far the projects were in meeting their targets. The SC emphasized that the success of the projects will be measured against the indicators that the individual projects had set for themselves; hence the SC encouraged the implementing partners to put in place effective M&E system to ensure that the set targets are

met.

Engaging the youthAs emphasized by the PS, the SC reminded the implementing partners to come up with ways to attract and encourage young Zambians to participate in the research activities.

Development of Policy BriefsAgain, as a follow up to the remarks made by the PS on the need to make policymakers aware of the successful technologies of the Program that has the potential to benefit all Zambian farmers, the SC requested each project to submit a 1-2 page summary write-up showcasing their most successful technologies which they think are ripe for scaling up and scaling out. These individual project technology write-ups will then be organized into an FTF R&D Program Policy Brief which will be shared to relevant policymakers in the GRZ.



Zambia FtF R&D Program Implementing Partners: This newsletter is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this newsletter are the sole responsibility of the Zambia FtF R&D Program and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.8page

Seed multiplicationFor sustainability, the SC encouraged the projects to identify a number of farmers who can take seed multiplication and turn it into a business venture. ICRISAT advised that with groundnut both formal and informal seed systems will work.

General impressionsDespite the late start of the season due to delayed rains, the partners felt that many farmers showed the ability to adjust. It was also a general consensus that a lot activities are happening on the ground and that relevant government policies are being aptly applied to support the Program

The Program SC and implementing partners during the wrap-up and evaluation session of the monitoring visit held at the Lundazi FTC at the end of Day 3.

and the farmers (i.e., the Agriculture Policy seeks to increase production and productivity, nutrition, and diversification). The GRZ representative felt that everything was coming out well with the Program.

The SC also noted that the nutrition aspect of the program (Orange Maize-based products) was very impressive. The program had taken care of the gender mix. It was also emphasized that farmers need to also focus on the nutritional benefits of the crops.

Highlights of the 2014 Program Steering Committee... from page 7

Research relevant to everyday life, especially of farmers -- PS Eastern Province

Eastern Province Permanent Secretary (PS) Hon. Mulenga

Chilese stated that research is an important component of the everyday lives of the people. He said this when he toured the Zambia Feed-the-Future R&D demo sites at the ZARI-Msekera Research Station in Chipata, Eastern Province.

The PS thanked USAID for funding the programme in Eastern Province. He, however, encouraged the researchers to publish their research findings being undertaken at the research station in relation to the programme so that other stakeholders can be kept abreast with the developments in research and also provide them a

platform comment on the research findings.

He further stated that it is from the research findings that government makes decisions that influence policy towards increase of agricultural production and productivity with the view of reducing poverty among small scale farmers.

PS Chilese indicated that the long term future of Zambia is in the agricultural sector as it can be sustainable unlike mining. He further stated that it was for this reason that agricultural has been put as an important pillar towards economic growth of the country.

The PS expressed gratitude that agricultural research was still alive in the province.

- report by Muswa Siapolya

A program researcher explaining to PS Chileshe (front row, 4th from L) about the doubled-up legume system technology demo plot during the latter’s tour of the ZARI-Msekera Station in Chipata.

Documents

Nourish Zambia Newsletter (Issue 5, December 2014)