Why do research on aflatoxins?

Aflatoxins are a major constraint for groundnut production because they are toxic metabolites, which are unhealthy to the consumer. Animals and humans who consume crops contaminated by aflatoxins may develop loss of appetite leading to malnutrition or growth retardation, and lever disease such as lever cancer or lever failure and finally death. This means you cannot sell groundnut if it is contaminated by aflatoxins beyond a certain level.

What did you find in your research?

The participants of the Ethiopian exchange group came from five different partner organisations of the DCG. The Malian hosts, the DCG Mali and the Malian Arid Lands Development Organisation (MALDO), facilitated the visit to the regions of Nioro du Sahel and Nara that took place in the end of 2011.

These regions, like many of the Northern areas of Mali, play an important role to Malian (and cross-border) pastoralism. During the last decades, partly due to the severe Sahelian droughts, the pastoral stocks in Mali got severely diminished. Nowadays, the arid zones are facing climate change induced hazards like reduced rainfall, desertification and deforestation. The increasing pressure on natural resources, like water and grazing land, also leads to tensions between farmers and pastoralists.

The principal goals of the Ethiopian visitors was to learn how Sahelian pastoral communities are adapting to the mentioned challenges, to learn lessons about interventions that support the adaptation to a changing climate and finally, to disseminate and replicate best practices of the Sahelian pastoralists in Ethiopian pastoralist regions. For acquiring relevant information, they interviewed governmental and non-governmental development actors, had focus group discussions with livestock market management committees and pastoral community members, made field observations and drew historical timelines.

One of the findings from visiting different cattle markets was that Mali has established quite a good infrastructure for cross-border trade with Senegalese buyers. Other positive aspects are the existence of smaller regional cattle market centers, which are quite well equipped and collectively managed by local cooperatives. Similar groups are also responsible for managing the pastoralist rangelands: On the one hand, the pastoral corridors used for transhumance (also by Mauritanian herders) and on the other hand, pastoral perimeters that usually cover 20.000 to 30.000 hectares of rangeland, which can be used as dry season grazing reserves (e.g. the Baoule grazing area).

In addition to those established grazing areas, pastoral organisations, the government and NGO initiatives are funding watering ponds and boreholes for animal watering, vaccination parks and protection measures against wildfires and desertification, to ensure that pastoralists are not displaced from their original areas. Other initiatives to protect pastoral livelihoods are to support the regeneration of different grass and plant species, the promotion of milk production, the establishment of better facilities at livestock markets, like slaughterhouses for added value to livestock products, and pastoral capacity building through literacy classes, schools etc. The government subsidises industrial feed like cotton cake for livestock fattening. Furthermore, collaborative mechanisms between herders and farmers, which include the use of farm residuals as pasture, are supported to reduce conflicts.

The Ethiopian visitors agreed that cattle markets and vaccination parks in Ethiopia could be improved. There is a need for more storage facilities and periodic animal vaccination, like it is common in Mali. Furthermore, they found that the harmonised cross-border cattle trade between Mali and Senegal can be used as an example for East Africa and increased trade between Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. Although grazing reserves like the pastoral perimeters in Mali have been tried out in Ethiopia without success, further research about the Malian model and assessment of its potential could be useful. Pastoral corridors, on the other hand, are regarded as a very good means for sustainable natural resource management and the mitigation of conflicts between herders and farmers in pastoral areas.

The Ethiopian exchange partners were able to learn a lot about potentially appropriate technologies, which could be explored further for their adaptability in the Ethiopian pastoral context. In particular, the decentralising Malian policy initiatives have strengthened the position of pastoralist associations and made it possible for them to collaborate in the management of grazing land, cattle markets and in projects like the purchase and distribution of industrial feed. A shift to agro-pastoralism is not being promoted by Malian governmental institutions.

The DCG’s Ecofarm project, which was conducted at project sites in Ethiopia, Sudan and Mali, showed that the combination of seed-priming and micro-dosing of mineral fertiliser can lead to improved yields of millet, sorghum and groundnut. In Mali, the combination of the two technologies has in addition been mechanised: The usual animal-driven sowing machine has been modified so that seed sowing and micro-fertilisation of the seeds can happen at the same time. Thus, the amount of labour could be reduced as another benefit in addition to the higher yields and profitability of these technologies.

After the 2012 visit of Dr. E.A. Abdalla to Mali to learn about this technology, two trials were conducted by the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) in Sudan. At the El-Obeid Research station and at a farm in the village of Faris the machine was tested for sorghum, millet and groundnut sowing. The ratios for fertiliser doses and seeds were adjusted and the treatment carried out by two workers and one donkey, respectively.

Both the on-station and the on-farm trials showed positive results: The amount of working days per person and ha was reduced by around half a day for all crops on the research station and around one day on the farm, groundnut being the most labour-intense crop and millet the least labour-intense in both trials. When the sowing was conducted manually, three work steps were required to prepare the ground, place the grains and cover the holes. The mechanical planting only required two people, one to control the machine and one to guide the animal (donkey).

The productivity increase through the use of the animal-drawn machines varied among the crops, being 8% for groundnut, 27% for sorghum and 51% for millet. These values were comparable to the results from the Ecofarm project in Mali. Although reductions in labour time and increased productivity through the use of the planting machine could already be shown through those two trials, the Sudanese experts agree that more on-farm testing and training of farmers (and animals) is necessary.

The problem of food insecurity has become more intensely pronounced in recent years with the threat posed by recent trends, such as climate change, water and rainfall scarcity, as well as ecosystems and biodiversity degradation. In Sub-Saharan Africa, most rural communities are languishing in abject poverty, yet the agricultural systems being promoted there have unacceptably high environmental, economic, and social costs. Nearly 80% of the population in Sub-Saharan countries lives in rural areas with 70% of this rural population being directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. It is thus against this scenario and statistics that, rural farmers have to consequently adopt farming practices that conserve fragile soils and improve their fertility for improving crop production in marginal rainfall regions.

Ethiopia’s climate is highly variable, and is projected to become more variable due to climate change, with the potential for increased frequency of extreme weather events. Since the 1970s, the magnitude, frequency, and impacts of droughts have become more severe and drought has become the most significant and recurrent climate-related hazard affecting the country. Water is a specifically fragile resource with the frequency and intensity of drought projected to increase. Addressing long-term climate change is thus required to reduce the impacts on livelihoods and bolster major economic sectors such as agriculture, which is the mainstay of the country.

The vulnerability to climate-related hazards and food insecurity is closely linked to land degradation. About 85% of the land surface in Ethiopia is considered susceptible to moderate or severe soil degradation and erosion. In the Highlands, those problems are reducing the sustainability of agricultural production, thereby making it difficult for rural populations to meet their basic needs. Repeated ploughing to achieve fine seedbeds using maresha, the almost complete removal of crop residues after the harvest and insufficient application of manure are major contributors for soil degradation in Ethiopia. Tillage has long been used by farmers to loosen the soil, make a seedbed, and control weeds. However, not all outcomes of this practice are positive; it has been discovered that tillage operations, over time, cause a decline in soil fertility and overall productivity resulting from deterioration of soils’ physical, chemical, and biological properties.

Among the solutions being floated to mitigate the impact of climate change is adapting to droughts through sustainable farming methods. Conservation farming (CF) practices hold the promise of providing both a strategy for mitigating climate change and also working as an adaptive mechanism to cope with climate change. CF is being promoted as a panacea to the production challenges, confronting rural smallholder families particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In CF crops are grown using Conservation Tillage (CT) and legumes are included in rotation with other crops. Legumes fix nitrogen, improve fertility of the soil, increase crop yields and provide proteins to the family.  CT involves the planting, growing and harvesting of crops with minimal disturbance to the soil surface through the use of minimum tillage, mulch tillage, ridge tillage, or no-till. Besides, CF is a system that promotes balanced application of chemical inputs (only as required for improved soil quality and healthy crop and animal production), and careful management of residues and organic wastes. CF practices emphasize maximum use of available water resources through early and timely planting, soil protection through organically fertilizing ground-cover plants, and watershed management. This reduces long term dependency on external inputs, enhances environmental management, and improves water quality and water use efficiency. Reduced tillage leads to lessened human inputs, in both time and effort. Conservation farming aims at reversing a persistent trend in many production systems of reduced infiltration capacity of soils due to compaction and crust formation and reduced water holding capacity due to oxidation of organic materials (due to excessive turning of the soil). From this perspective, conservation tillage is a form of water harvesting, where runoff is impeded and soil water is stored in the root zone of the crop. This means that conservation tillage constitutes a very interesting approach to achieve improvements in water productivity and “crop per drop” increases, and thus contribute to reversing the impacts of climate change.

Different studies conducted in several countries indicated that CF contributed to increased crop yield. An Australian study showed that CF provides more reliable yields than those achieved under conventional tillage. A Kenyan study indicated that maize grain yields varied from a lowest of 0.9 t/ha for conventional ploughing (control) during short rains in 2002 to highest average of 4.3 t/ha in ripper + fertilizer treatment in long rains. The highest average yield per season of 2.5 t/ha was achieved with ripping combined with fertilizer compared to conventional tillage practice of 2.0 t/ha.

CF, in its current manifestation, was introduced three decades ago and is currently being practiced on more than a hundred million hectares of land worldwide in more than fifty countries. In Zimbabwe, there was a 230 percent increase in the land on which CF was being practiced between the 2004/5 and 2005/6 seasons, and CF led to higher yields for maize, sorghum, soybean and cowpeas. In Zambia, farmers practicing CF on average produced about 100% more maize and 60% more cotton per hectare than did farmers practicing conventional ox plough tillage. CF with ox-drawn rippers likewise holds the potential to outperform conventional ox ploughing, offering higher returns to peak season labour and to land. CF is especially more beneficial for farmers with limited access to oxen draught power. Rippers, commonly known as a sub-soilers, can be used to operate deeper than Maresha by up to 5- 10 cm.

CF resulted in improved tef and maize yields in Ethiopia. Ripping + ridging + fertilizer yielded improved maize grain yields with 40% over conventional practice (using Maresha and no fertilizer). Also CF practices using rippers with wing-ploughs and fertilizer resulted in significantly higher tef yield than conventional practices. Combined conservation agricultural practices (ridging, sub-soiling or reduced tillage with maresha and wing plough) with fertilizer resulted in almost doubled tef grain yield compared to conventional use of Maresha and no fertilizer. It was also indicated that conservation agricultural practices with no added fertilizer increased tef grain yields with 20–50% for ripping + wing plough and ripper + ridging as compared to conventional non-fertilized tillage using maresha. Nevertheless, CF is a rarely practiced method of crop production in Ethiopia.

The adoption of CF in Ethiopia would enable farmers to benefit from improved crop yields and other associated economic gains and also contribute to the sustainable management of land resources in the country. Besides, the policy environment in the country is favourable for promoting CF as the government has recently developed a national strategy for Sustainable Land Management practices in which the CF is an important component. Despite such a sound policy framework, the practical implementation of the CF on the ground has not yet materialized. The promotion of CF under this project is hoped to help shake-up the current impasse in taking the SLM policy into action and facilitate the conditions for greater involvement of the government in materializing its own policy in the long run. Therefore, the adoption of CF, which aims to conserve soil and water by using surface cover (mulch) to minimize runoff and erosion and improve the conditions for plant establishment and growth could minimize the impact of climate change and land degradation in Ethiopia.

Climate change is one of the most serious threats to sustainable development, both currently and in the future. Adverse impacts of climate change have already been observed on natural resources, food security, human health, the environment, economic activity and physical infrastructures (IISD 2007). Drylands of Africa are one of the most vulnerable regions and severely affected by the current climate change and variability.

Kordofan region comprising the States of North and South Kordofan is situated in the mid-west of Sudan and it covers an area of about 380 000 km², representing 20% of the total area of the country .More than 90% of the region’s total area is drylands and crop and livestock production are the main livelihood sources for over 80% of the population. Farming is dominated by small-scale farmers and carried out under risky environmental conditions and fragile natural resources base. This region was identified by The NAPA (2007) as particularly vulnerable to climate change and in terms of sustainability climate change is considered as the most serious threat to drylands farming both currently and in the future. HCENR case studies in Sudan (Kordofan region) confirmed that there is ample evidence of climate change during the last three decades and projections (1961-2060) indicated that there is a continuous decline in sorghum and millet yields and by 2060 this decline is expected to reach 72 and 62 %, respectively. Indicators suggest that there is a considerable drop in rainfall, rise in temperature, increased rainfall variability, rainfall onset, short growing season and accelerated land degradation. These changes will affect traditional smallholder farmers in this region through: Increased likelihood of crop failure; Increase in diseases and mortality of livestock; loss of biodiversity; increased livelihood insecurity; conflicts; outmigration and dependency on food aid. 

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), also confirmed that climate change occurring in dry areas in more rapid rate and will make dryland agriculture even more risk-prone especially in the developing world. Further ICRISAT(2009), has released innovations for the adaptation of dryland agriculture to reduce the impacts of climate change and, the adoption of these innovations will result in substantial increase in yields that could completely offset the negative impacts of climate change on yields as noted by William Dar, ICRISAT Director General.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need for stepped up efforts to cope and adapt to the effects of climate change in Kordofan region. Thus a wide variety of adaptation options and innovations have been proposed as having the potential to reduce vulnerability of drylands agricultural systems to risks related to climate change. It is therefore important to immediately test and implement these innovations to better cope with current climatic variability and its adverse effects such as food insecurity.

Pastoralism is a livelihood system and a way of life for more than 10 million citizens accounting to 12-15% of the total population in Ethiopia. The pastoral groups reside in six National Regional States of Ethiopia (Oromia, Somali, Afar, SNNP, Gambella, and Benishangul Gumuz). They inhabit the entire lowlands of the country, which constitutes about 61 % of the country’s total landmass. These areas are prone to rainfall variability, extreme drought and flash floods. The people in the pastoral lowlands are mainly pastoralists and agro-pastoralists who have an immediate daily dependence on climate sensitive livelihoods and natural resources (pasture and water).

Arid and semi-arid grazing systems in East Africa are seen as highly vulnerable to a combination of climate change and socio-economic factors. More generally, it is assumed that pastoral areas not only face an increased risk of drought events, due to a growing variability of rainfall but also higher temperatures. In addition, many recent studies pointed out an increased frequency of meteorological drought episodes, unseasoned flash floods and outbreaks of diseases in the pastoral regions of Ethiopia.

In the past frequent and prolonged droughts have claimed the livelihoods of people, destroyed crops, and contributed to the death of many animals. Ethiopia’s response to climate change today will bear directly on the food security and livelihood prospects of pastoralists. So far, efforts in Ethiopia to respond to the problem of growing climate change-induced hazards in the pastoral areas have been promising and expanding through time. Despite this, the scale and intensity of climate change-induced hazards (particularly drought, unseasoned floods, disease outbreaks, expansion of invasive bush species) is growing fast and the magnitude of damages from such climatic and natural hazards continues to rise. This all demonstrates the urgency of addressing the climate problem through initiating effective and realistic adaptation plans (which primarily focus on utilizing and scaling up of locally available adaptation practices); and building institutional capacity in the hazard prone pastoral areas of the country.

The practical measure expected is to cope with the threat of climate change through the development of locally responsive and appropriate adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation to climatic variability may not be new for the pastoralists as there has always been variability in the weather patterns. The challenge, however, is to respond to both rapid and strong change in the current climate system. A diverse portfolio of location specific and sustainable adaptation as well as locally appropriate options is needed to be identified, documented and utilized. In addition, it is important to identify those, which at the same time are environmentally friendly and available to the poor, as the poverty is the key factor of vulnerability.

Despite the wide publicity given to climate change, there is still very limited effort made in systematically documenting the locally available adaptation options ready to use in pastoral areas. In addition, the policy response is not as strong as it should be because of a lack of sufficient data about the existing local adaptations practices. In order to support and strengthen the existing policy, it is necessary to generate adequate information and evidence for added value and practice of the prevailing local adaptation measures by conducting systematic studies, which can feed the policy environment. Moreover, intervention efforts of adaptation to climate change by both GO and NGO actors are not supported by well-organized and systematically documented facts. Hence, this project aims to bridge this gap by examining the pastoralists’ vulnerability to climate change, assessing local and institutional adaptation strategies and technologies, and documenting good practices and existing institutional arrangements for adapting to climate change.

The existing information and materials on climate change adaptation in pastoral areas are scattered, too general and rather exploring what pastoralists have and not have in terms of adapting and mitigating climate change effects. Therefore, the research will result in a comprehensive documentation of locally available technologies, strategies and good practices that can be exchanged across the pastoral regions. Practices, technologies available and institutional arrangements will be identified and analyzed and recommended to be implemented. Most of these practices are known but not studied to the level that they can be applied or scaled up in combination in pastoral areas. This various knowledge can be exploited and synergetic effects could be utilized. The information can be provided to the government and to pastoralists on the grass roots level, so that they could better adapt to the effects of climate change and thereby enhancing their resilience capacity.

The documentation will help to exchange experience among different groups of pastoralists as the local adaptations are very diverse among them; and to reinforce national and local level adaptation plans and programs.

In Ethiopia, there are strong indications that climate change is having a direct impact on rural livelihoods, and awareness of climate change is increasing among planners and policy makers. However, much is still unknown about the effects of climate change on different livelihood systems and the adaptation and mitigation strategies that are being employed by the people living in different ecological zones. This is making it difficult to move forward on policies to combat the effects of climate change.

Little is also known about the synergies among mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development and more importantly, there is no agro-ecologically and socio-economically disaggregated information on effects of climate change and adaptation strategies.

This report reviews existing assessments and initiatives on the effects of climate change on food security and nutrition, with a focus on the most affected and vulnerable regions and populations and the interface between climate change and agricultural productivity, including the challenges and opportunities of adaptation mitigation policies and actions for food security and nutrition.

With this report, the HLPE provides a document for national and international policymakers, the private sector and civil society that reports on the following:

The current and future challenges to food security from the physical effects of climate change – changes in temperature and precipitation means and variability – with focus on the most affected and vulnerable regions and populations (Chapters 1 and 2). The state of knowledge on and need for agricultural adaptation to climate change, in the context of the already large challenges to food security from population and income growth in a world where many food-producing systems are already stressed and unsustainable (Chapter 3). Agriculture’s current contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for agriculture in mitigation while meeting the growing demand for food (Chapter 4). Coordinated and coherent national and international policy strategies and actions for dealing jointly with the food security and climate change challenges (Chapter 5).

The goal of this HLPE report is to synthesize existing research findings and highlight key issues to help national and international policy makers devise effective and equitable policies to combat the additional challenges to global food security from climate change.

This report focusses on ways to lessen vulnerability through social and productive safety net programs and policies with respect to food and nutritional security, taking into consideration differing conditions across countries and regions. The study includes a review of the impact of existing policies for the improvement of living conditions and resilience of vulnerable populations, especially small scale rural producers, urban and rural poor as well as women and children. The HLPE also reports on the impact and benefits of social protection measures on improving local production and livelihoods, and promoting better nutrition.

It is structured as follows. Chapter 1 introduces key concepts and definitions of food security, vulnerability and social protection, and the essentials of a human rights based approach to implementing the rights to food and to social protection. Chapter 2 reviews empirical evidence on a range of social protection instruments that promote food security: food and agricultural input subsidies, agricultural insurance mechanisms, public works programmes, food price stabilisation, grain reserves, school feeding and supplementary feeding, and conditional or unconditional cash transfers. Chapter 3 argues that social protection instruments function best not alone but in national systems, as part of integrated programmes and with strong linkages to complementary sectors, and reviews relevant experiences from Brazil, India and Africa as well as conceptual approaches such as the ‘Social Protection Floor’. Chapter 4 explores cross-cutting issues in the design and implementation of social protection and food security programmes, recognising that many challenges remain unresolved – these include targeting, modalities (cash or food), dependency, graduation, affordability, scalability and accountability. Chapter 5 presents our conclusions.

2 ONG membres de GCoZA (AMADE et AEN) installent des dispositifs de captage des eaux de ruissellement des toits dans six sites différents. Le site de Nara fut construit en type « Rain Foundation », les autres étant installés selon le type « Barefoot Collège » : (i) Région de Koulikoro: Nara, (ii) Région de Tombouctou: Birchanga, Tindjambane, Djeigalia et Tassakane et (iii) Région de Gao: Zalablabe.

Les dispositifs de chacun des sites ont été évalués. Ces évaluations ont montré que des impluviums ont été bien conçus et mis en œuvre pour capter l’eau de pluie. Des Comités Villageois furent mis en place et instruits pour une gestion efficiente et durable des installations. En prenant en compte les précautions ou mesures préconisées, ces impluviums constituent une solution alternative pour l’alimentation en eau potable pour les zones déshéritées, défavorisées, les populations démunies. En effet, il a été vérifié que les eaux de pluie recueillies restaient, du point de vue physico-chimique, potables. Sur le plan bactériologique, les précautions et mesures préconisées (telles que la sécurisation par une haie) permettraient d’éviter les contaminations possibles.

"This report tells the story of an agreement on access to teff genetic resources in Ethiopia, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, that was hailed as one of the most advanced of its time. This agreement between the Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and the Dutch company Health and Performance Food International was entered into in 2005. It was seen as a pilot case of the implementation the Convention on Biological Diversity in terms of access and benefit sharing, and expectations were high. And yet, implementation of the agreement failed. The Dutch company was declared bankrupt in 2009. And, as a result of several circumstances, Ethiopia was left with fewer possibilities for generating and sharing the benefits from the use of teff genetic resources than ever before. How was this possible? Exactly what happened, and what can we learn? How can we ensure that future access and benefit-sharing agreements will have better prospects of success? These are the central questions of this report, which provides an in-depth analysis of the course of events with regard to the agreement as well as a related patent on the processing of teff, and concludes by deriving recommendations concerning future access and benefit-sharing agreements as well as for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity." (From the Executive summary of the report)

The Ecofarm project was part of a chain of projects conducted by DCG on soil fertility management and agriculture development that have been implemented in Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia. The objectives of these projects were to increase agricultural productivity, preserve the environment and improve human nutrition. The first initiative was the project “Integrated Plant Nutrient Management” (IPNM) that was running in Mali from 2000 to 2004. This project produced the scientific foundation for using microdosing of mineral fertilizer, a method that consists of applying very small amounts of mineral fertilizer (4-5 kg per hectare) adjacent to the seeds when planting.

The Ecofarm project was developed on the basis of IPNM project, but the Ecofarm project was wider in scope focusing on microdosing, seed priming, development of improved fodder ratios for livestock, introduction of improved crop varieties and promotion of trees like Moringa oleifera and baobab as a garden crop, as well as integration of fruit trees and different Acacia species. Seed priming is a method for pregermination of seeds that has the effect of kick starting plant growth. The project was undertaken in Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia in collaboration between farmers groups, national NGOs, national research institutes and Noragric at Ås.

A major result from the project is a yield increase by 50 to 100 % when microdosing and seed priming is combined. Mineral fertilizer has previously not been considered an option for the Sahel by development actors, but the Ecofarm project documented that microdosing is highly profitable. The project created a lot of interest and many organizations have been using the ideas of the Ecofarm to develop new projects.

More important than the initiation of the new projects is, however, that the farmers are using the technologies even without any support from development organizations. This is particularly the case for seed priming and microdosing. In project areas in Mali more than 50% of the farmers (random sampling in previous project areas) are using seed priming and microdosing two years after the completion of the project and more than 40% of land is under seed priming and microdosing in two out of three project areas. The tree Moringa has also become important for human health and there are many testimonies of improved child health as a result of Moringa consumption. The reason why Moringa can improve health is that it is very rich in vitamin A, which is the vitamin the most in deficit in the Sahel. Many farmers have also greatly benefited from improving feeding methods for goats and sheep.

Building on the experience gained through the IPNM and Ecofarm projects, DCG is now carrying out several projects that aim to increase soil fertility for increased agricultural output and at the same time increase farmers' resilience to climate change.

Traditional dry-land farming in western Sudan is the main source of livelihood for more than 75% of the population. The objectives of the Ecofarm Research Project (2007-2010) in Kordofan Region in Western Sudan, were to increase agricultural production and improve food security. Several crop and livestock technologies were tested to verify their suitability. 

On-station and on-farm trials were carried out to study the effect of seed priming and micro-fertilization on pearl millet, sorghum, groundnut, sesame and cowpea. These results indicate that micro-fertilization and seed priming has the potential to improve productivity and food security. These technologies are simple, with low financial cost, low risk and affordable to resource-poor farmers.

Livestock research activities covered on-farm mineral saltlick supplementation trials on lactating goats and cows and strategic supplementary feeding on sheep using cowpea hay. Conventional rations used in dry lot fattening and finishing of ruminant livestock are mainly based on use of oilseed cake and sorghum grains. Potential protein sources are hays of leguminous crops such as cowpeas and groundnut. This trial was done with the objective of comparing cowpea and groundnut hays with oilseed cakes for ram fattening. 

The overall working hypothesis of the paper is that the programme has positive contribution in improving household welfare and reduces the incidence, depth and severity of poverty in study areas. The analysis is based on primary household-level data collected from 959 randomly selected households in three drought prone woredas of Northern Ethiopia in 2009.

Findings from the reserch show that the program has a significant impact on poverty reduction through increasing household incomes and consumption and overall family employment. In conclusion, the expansion of household food security package provision has profound and far-reaching socioeconomic impacts on the lives of rural people in the study areas.

Each case study is describing a technical intervention (from traditional to innovative) with a specific implementation approach (from project-promoted to spontaneously). By identifying common elements of success, the publication presents the positive efforts for productive conservation efforts at the local level with simultaneous global environmental benefits.

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Conservation agriculture – the practice of not plowing farmlands and leaving crop residue in the field for improved soil fertility and water conservation – is used by a majority of farmers in Australia, Brazil and by many in North America and other middle and highincome countries. Research and testing of the approach since the 1960s has confirmed to these countries that conservation agriculture brings optimal production at the best cost. In the world’s drylands agro-ecosystems and the marginal farming areas of low-income countries, conservation agriculture can bring direct benefits to smallholder farmers. The practice has the potential to benefit food security in many drylands agro-ecosystems in Central and West Asia, the Middle East and in North and sub-Saharan Africa.

For low-income countries, today’s paradox for conservation agriculture is that it can benefit their smallholder farmers at minimal additional cost; but this thinking has so far not been recognized by their food security planners and policy makers. Likewise, donors and development partners active in rural development have yet to embrace the practice as a viable approach to improve livelihoods in low-income countries – even as this is how much of their agriculture is managed at home.

The two factors needed for the successful adoption of conservation agriculture for drylands farming are appropriate technologies and a favorable policy environment. Locally-made low-cost seeders are needed and require a local market for repair and technical services to farmers. These markets are taking shape today, and are expected to mature in the medium term.

But probably the most critical factor needed to encourage the uptake of conservation agriculture is a change in perception among decision makers in low-income countries. For conservation agriculture to spread, ministry officials, extension services and influential large-scale farmers in these regions need to be engaged and informed of the benefits. ICARDA’s work over the past five years in Syria and Iraq, has shown that as a small number of farmers try the approach, news of the results can rapidly travel to neighboring villages and towns. This report contains examples, thinking and evidence. Its goal is to help policy makers and development partners better appreciate how conservation agriculture works, so they can formulate programs to evaluate how it can contribute to their rural development and food security goals, paving the way for its adoption in a national agricultural strategy.

The report has a dual objective:

- to illustrate the constraints, opportunities and potential for the sustainable rural and agricultural development of dry areas;

- to make recommendations for decision-makers and operators involved in international development cooperation with a view to consolidating policies supporting the sustainability of the production systems in these areas.

This report is based on a series of case studies which highlight specific development cooperation experiments and provide support for more theoretical considerations. The aim is to identify courses of action geared towards the sustainable management of agro-ecosystems in dry areas and to analyse their integration in the adaptation and planning strategies of rural territories. In doing so, the report facilitates progress in defining the specific challenges facing these areas, in particular in terms of development of technical innovations, governance of land and natural resources, involvement of the local communities, support for family farming activities, promotion of agricultural products from dry areas and consolidation of public policies.

The study results did not support government’s claim that Ethiopia’s inflation is a non-monetary phenomenon. On the contrary, monetary developments remain important and significant factors in explaining high food inflation in Ethiopia. Large and persistent budget deficits, rapid expansion of domestic credit, the growth of treasury bills, the shift from food aid to cash transfers and other things contribute to the rapid growth in money supply and put pressure on prices. Hence, a forceful policy tightening might be required to reduce the current soaring food prices in the country. The money supply is the ‘Black-box’ that this study has discovered as a major source of the current soaring food prices in the country. It is an important factor expected by donors and economists, even though the government claims the hoarding of goods by traders and the unbalanced growth of different sectors as the main causes. Moreover, there are also other important factors that explain Ethiopia’s soaring food inflation, including the general price level, world grain price index, lagged world DAP price index, domestic benzene price index, non-food price index and shocks in the goods and money markets. The continuous depreciation of Birr against dollar and the degree of inflation inertia are also important factors causing food inflation in the country. Moreover, results show that the soaring food inflation is almost uniformly distributed among regions.

Though rises in agricultural prices may have stimulating effects on the agricultural sector, and hence a positive income effect on the rural households who are net sellers, it has a substantial negative welfare effect on net-food buyer rural households such as pastoralists, food-insecure and resource poor households. Moreover, since the rise in the prices of some inputs outweighs the rise in agricultural prices its effect on the net seller rural households is also minimal. Therefore, stabilization policies in order to dampen inflation expectations on prices, a prudent fiscal policy as a tool for a sustained economic growth and as a means of avoiding sources of macroeconomic imbalance are quite apparent possible means to reduce the rapidly rising agricultural prices.

Results of market imperfection analyses show that markets in most Ethiopian regions are weak and at their infancy stages. Particularly, markets in the pastoralist areas are poorly developed and in most cases inaccessible to the pastoralists. As evidenced by many studies, markets in Ethiopia are inefficient. They are not responsive to economic incentives such as price, wage rate, interest rate, etc; they are weakly integrated both spatially and temporally; marketing margins are large; market actors are few and have much power to influence prices; there are information asymmetry; etc. The outcome is higher prices for final consumers, very low prices for producers, and abnormally high profits for market intermediaries. Hence, production and consumption will be less than optimal. In the absence of the necessary market infrastructure, producer organizations and collective marketing groups provide alternative 

institutional innovations to enhance the uptake of market-oriented and productivity-enhancing technologies, to link farmers to markets, and foster market participation and commercialization of smallholder production.

Results of the enforcement contracts show that the encouragement of private institutions’ involvement in relational contract enforcement is found to be less costly and efficient. Because of interlinked incentives, brokers’ involvement in the enforcement of relational marketing contacts was found to be the most important one. The analysis of factors affecting the enforcement of agricultural products marketing contracts using Logit model identified duration of the relationship, age and frequency of transaction as the significant factors affecting the enforcement of relational contracts between producers and traders positively, while the deteriorating traditional values and transaction costs have a significant negative impact. An effective enforcement of agricultural products marketing contracts may be achieved through governmental and/or private institutions interventions that target market information access, development of cooperatives and traditional institutions and associated support programmes.

The analysis of the terms of trade between livestock and cereals for pastoral households shows that the price of livestock and their products has risen faster than that of cereals recently, diminishing the purchasing power of cereal producing households, and thereby eroding their terms of trade. Given that more than two thirds of the pastoralists are destitute, the effect that the favourable terms of trade have on pastoral households’ livelihood might not be significant. In a situation where most households do not have more livestock to sell to buy more amount of food, the effect goes to the few households who are net sellers. Appropriate intervention measures by policy makers and development partners that target improvement of production and productivity of livestock, livelihood diversification, provision of market information and infrastructure that improves the decision-making of the households might improve the effect of ‘favourable’ terms of trade for pastoral households. If pastoralists are able to produce more livestock they get better returns, the cash generated meets expenditures for goods and services that they cannot produce at home, including non-animal source foods, along with the opportunity to improve the unstable terms of trade. This not only helps them to improve their livelihood and health of their households, but also creates demand for other goods and services in the local and national market arenas, thus promoting trade and economic growth.

Serious dry season feed shortage is a common phenomenon in marginal and semi-arid area of Ethiopia. The reason is that during the dry season, most of the households of pastoral communities having private landholding stopped practicing seasonal mobility to search feed and water. As result, the wet season grazing landscapes are severely exposed to continuous grazing throughout the year, which will in turn lead to vegetation and soil degradation. The recurrent drought also affects seasonal mobility of pastoral households due to livestock losses and leaves many with few heads of livestock (Yonnis, 2002). The use of wet season grazing landscapes for crop production (private farming) also exposes the ecosystem to extreme soil degradation. This will eventually, under mine the potential to achieve, food insecurity for vulnerable households whose livelihood is entirely depend on livestock production (Amaha, 2006).  

Lack of moisture also interrupts the late growth and seeding of long cycle crops (maize and sorghum) which negatively affects realizing food security through food-crop production. This late growth interruption leads to the use of long cycle crops as a potential source of livestock feed in dry season and drought period, although they are harvested after losing their feed quality.

Pastoralists in Jijiga plains have recently developed an innovative practice in the use of sorghum and maize residue as a source of livestock feed in the dry season and drought period (Belaynesh et al, 2009). A few pastoralists have experience conserving limited size of standing hay in their private landholdings to be grazed in dry season. However, crop residue and conserved standing hay lose their feed quality before providing sufficient nutrients to the animals. During the wet season, considerable amount of the natural pasture is misused, that could be properly conserved for the dry season during which there is a serious feed shortage. This underutilized productive resource that will be mobilized with limited investment can be achieved by introducing small-scale feed conservation technologies. For instance, conserved sorghum/maize residues in the form of silage improve feed quality than used as it is. Similarly natural pastures sanding hay have low feed value than harvested one.  

In dry-lands of Ethiopia, livestock production takes place in uncertain environment which posses challenge to achieve food security and reduce poverty. Developing dry season feed conservation options for sustainable livestock production can better contribute to achieving food security, and support the national poverty reduction strategy. Moreover, as is a new innovation it enables sedentarized pastoralists to use alternative feed resources to adapt challenges from unpredictable environment that exposed them for critical dry season feed shortage.

There have been a number of studies under taken on rangeland conditions (Ahmed, 2003; Belaynesh, 2006; Amaha, 2006; Abule, 2007), its rehabilitation potential (Amaha, 2006; Belaynesh, 2006; Shashe, 2007; Alemu, 2008) and feed resources characterization (Seyoum and Zenash, 2001). There are also studies emphasizing on identification of challenges and opportunities in pastoralists’ mobility as traditional grazing land management that helps conserve feed for dry season (Homann, et al., 2004; Proud, 2009). However, these did not address options in feed conservation technologies that could be relevant to sedentarised pastoral production systems. Therefore, it is imperative to asses and identifies potential feed resources and affordable feed conservations technologies that could be used for sustainable animal production in the regions.

An examination of Sudan's ecological zones indicates that the majority of its land is quite vulnerable to change in temperature and precipitation. The country's inherent vulnerability may best be captured by the fact that food security is mainly determined by rainfall, particularly in the rural areas where more than 65% of the population lives.

Mean annual temperature lies between 26º to 32º but in some places it reaches 47º C causing a lot of stresses and heat related diseases. Rainfall is erratic and varies significantly from the North to the South. The unreliable nature of rainfall together with its concentration during the short growing season increases the vulnerability of the rain-fed agricultural system. A trend of decreasing annual rainfall in the last 60 years (0.5%) and increased rainfall variability is contributing to drought conditions in many parts of the country. This pattern has led to serious and prolonged drought episodes. For example, Sudan experienced a succession of dry years from 1978 to 1987 resulting in severe social and economical impacts including many human and livestock fatalities and migration and displacement of several million people. Drought problems such as these will increase if trends continue.

Sudan also experienced many devastating floods, of two specific types, during the past several decades.  The first type occurs during torrential rain when high levels of water overflow the River Nile and its tributaries,   usually due to above normal rainy seasons in the Ethiopian Plateau. Severe floods were reported in 1946, 1988, 1994, 1998 and 2001. The other type of flood occurs as a result of heavy localized rainfall during the rainy summer season and such incidents were reported in 1952, 1962, 1965, 1978-1979, 1988 and 1997. In addition to drought and floods there are other climate extreme events such as dust storms, thunderstorms and heat waves whose occurrence though less frequent, still pose serious threat to local livelihood.

Beside the adverse economic impacts of these climate changes related phenomena there are also associated social impacts.  For example during drought events conflicts occur due to competition over diminished natural resources. Also - as has happened many times - food shortages lead to famine, followed by displacement and refugees which in turn leads to misuse of the natural resources that remain. During floods and droughts people typically move to cities where their arrival causes stress and shortages of already limited services. The displaced also live in very acute conditions that can lead to disturbances that undermine stability and security.

This project seeks to address the key challenges of soil degradation and related problems of drylands facing most resource-poor farmers and how improved zero tillage could provide a more suitable answer to these problems.

This study will critically assess the impacts of water harvesting techniques in relation to livelihood in the affected drought and flood prone areas.

Background

Although rainfall constitutes a major resource for water, it is lost almost completely through direct evaporation or through uncontrolled runoff (Oweis et al., 1999). The appropriate choice of water harvesting technique depends on the amount of rainfall and its distribution, soil type and depth, land topography, and local socioeconomic factors, and therefore these systems tend to be very site specific. Different indigenous techniques and systems were developed in different parts of the world, and they are still referred to in the literature by their traditional names, among which are Haffir and Teru in Sudan (Oweis et al., 1999).

The increase in desertification of agricultural land through changing climatic conditions and exploitation of the natural resources is forcing farmers and agro-pastoralists to adapt to their changing surroundings. This has led to the spread of water harvesting techniques particularly those aimed at catching water in times of flood, in arresting the problem of pastoralist movement, hence, changing the livelihoods of the affected communities in drought and flood prone areas of Southern Sudan.

Justification

High inter-annual variability and erratic rainfall distribution in space and time has contributed to water-limiting conditions during the cropping season. For such areas with inadequate rainfall or runoff-susceptible land, carefully selected water conservation and harvesting techniques offer the potential to secure agricultural production and reduce the financial risks associated with crop failure.

It has been noted that the worldwide potential for the introduction of water harvesting techniques has not been fully assessed especially in the arid and semi-arid areas (Oweis and Prinz 1994). It has also been recognized that, while more efficient technologies, such as rainwater harvesting can improve the plight of the poor, the mere creation of optimum techniques are not enough. The donor community has put in a lot of efforts on the development of water harvesting techniques, an example is Pact Sudan's Water for Recovery and Peace Program (WRAPP) which is one of the most comprehensive water projects that has been operating in Southern Sudan to date. WRAPP programs tackle comprehensive issues affected by water access, such as conflict resolution, gender empowerment, livelihoods and health. Its activities are spread throughout all the states in Southern Sudan and the transitional areas of Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.

This study aims at reporting on the available traditional and introduced water harvesting techniques in Southern Sudan and assessing their effects and impacts on livelihoods. To enhance economic development and improved livelihoods in Southern Sudan, improved access to potable water for humans and increased water access for crops and livestock is of paramount importance. 

This study would provide a check for some of the existing water harvesting techniques, constraints in their adoption, and how they can be improved to enhance livelihood.