Crop improvement, adoption, and impact of improved varieties in food crops in sub-Saharan Africa

doi:10.1079/9781780644011.0000

Cited by 83 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…An iron-biofortified version of this variety, ICTP 8203-Fe which was later called Dhanshakti - was released for production in 2012, and the subsequent efforts to promote and deliver Dhanshakti was focused on the darker red and orange areas in the figure below. Finally, the information generated through this research stream was also useful for other research initiatives, such as the Diffusion and Impact of Improved Varieties in Africa (DIIVA) project, which collaborated with HarvestPlus socio-economics team both during development of the overall methodology and implementation of the data collection efforts in several countries ( Walker and Alwang, 2015 ).…”

Section: Socio-economic Research Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of socio-economic research in developing, delivering and scaling new crop varieties: the case of staple crop biofortification

Birol

Bouis²

2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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The CGIAR biofortification program, HarvestPlus, was founded with the aim of improving the quality of diets through micronutrient-dense varieties of staple food crops. Implemented in four phases – discovery, development, delivery and scaling – the program was designed to be interdisciplinary, with plant breeding R&D supported by nutrition and socio-economic research. This paper explains the need, use and usefulness of socio-economic research in each phase of the program. Ex ante and ex post benefit-cost analyses facilitated fundraising for initial biofortification R&D and implementation in each subsequent phase, as well as encouraged other public, private, and civil society and non-governmental organizations to take on and mainstream biofortification in their crop R&D, policies, and programs. Socio-economics research helped guide plant breeding by identifying priority micronutrient- crop- geography combinations for maximum impact. Health impacts of biofortification could be projected both by using empirical results obtained through randomized controlled bioefficacy trials conducted by nutritionists, and through farmer-adoption models estimating impact at scale. Farmer and consumer surveys and monitoring systems provided the underlying information for estimating farmer adoption models and helped understand input/output markets, farmer and consumer preferences, and additional opportunities and challenges –all of which informed crop breeding and delivery activities, while building the knowledge base for catalyzing the scaling of biofortification.

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Section: Socio-economic Research Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of socio-economic research in developing, delivering and scaling new crop varieties: the case of staple crop biofortification

Birol

Bouis²

2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…The effect of improved seed usage on crop productivity has been discussed extensively in several studies (Teklewold, Kassie, & Shiferaw, 2013;Manda, Alene, et al, 2016;Bezu et al, 2014;Khonje et al, 2015;Walker & Alwang, 2015;Evenson & Gollin, 2003;Suri, 2011;Abro, Dabela & Kassie, 2019). This study examined the effect of improved seed use on productivity in Ghana.…”

Section: Journal Of Agricultural Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Perception, Migration and Productivity of Maize Farmers in Ghana

Azumah¹,

Mahama²,

Yegbemey³

et al. 2022

JAS

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High temperature, erratic rainfall, and drought are the three major physical manifestations of climate change in Ghana. Smallholder farmers in Ghana have shown vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, with some farmers employing migration as an adaptation mechanism. Using primary data collected from 500 maize farmers in seven districts of Ghana, our study draws a link among climate perception, migration and productivity of maize farmers by estimating a two-step Heckman sample selection model and employing inductive coding to analyse the qualitative data. The results show that farmers’ experience, access to farm credit, farm size, location, usage of NPK fertilizer, and local seeds have positive impact on the productivity of maize farmers. Additionally, household size, main occupation, membership in farmer-based organisations, and perception of declined soil fertility have significant effects on migration decisions of smallholder maize farmers. The qualitative reports show that perceived increase in temperature, drought, flooding, and erratic rainfall has led to a decline in the productivity of maize farmers. Among others, we recommend that relevant stakeholders (i.e., policy makers and NGOs in the agricultural space) should focus on promoting the use of improved seeds, and NKP fertilizer, coupled with the provision of farm credit and expansion of farm sizes to enhance the productivity of maize farmers in Ghana. Also, smallholder farmers should be supported to engage in alternative livelihood enterprises, join farmer-based organisations and to adopt techniques that enhance soil fertility in order to reduce climate-induced migration among maize farmers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drought stress in the Sahel could be moderate or severe (short/intermittent and long periods of water deficit, respectively) throughout the growing season. Given such climatic variability, developing plant varieties with drought tolerance, particularly in terms of yield stability, becomes among the major priorities in breeding programs (Rapsomanikis, 2015;Walker & Alwang, 2015). Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a C4 cereal crop adapted to different environmental conditions, including drought-prone areas where many other staple crops fail (National Research Council, 1996;Smith & Frederiksen, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

Genome‐wide association studies identify putative pleiotropic locus mediating drought tolerance in sorghum

Maina

Harou²,

Falalou

et al. 2022

Plant Direct

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Drought is a key constraint on plant productivity and threat to food security. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), a global staple food and forage crop, is among the most drought-adapted cereal crops, but its adaptation is not yet well understood.This study aims to better understand the genetic basis of preflowering drought in sorghum and identify loci underlying variation in water use and yield components under drought. A panel of 219 diverse sorghum from West Africa was phenotyped for yield components and water use in an outdoor large-tube lysimeter system under well-watered (WW) versus a preflowering drought water-stressed (WS) treatment.The experimental system was validated based on characteristic drought response in international drought tolerant check genotypes and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that mapped the major height locus at QHT7.1 and Dw3. GWAS further identified marker trait associations (MTAs) for drought-related traits (plant height, flowering time, forage biomass, grain weight, water use) that each explained 7-70% of phenotypic variance. Most MTAs for drought-related traits correspond to loci not previously reported, but some MTA for forage biomass and grain weight under WS co-localized with staygreen post-flowering drought tolerance loci (Stg3a and Stg4). A globally common allele at S7_50055849 is associated with several yield components under drought, suggesting that it tags a major pleiotropic variant controlling assimilate partitioning to grain versus vegetative biomass. The GWAS revealed oligogenic variants for drought tolerance in sorghum landraces, which could be used as trait predictive markers for improved drought adaptation.

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Crop improvement, adoption, and impact of improved varieties in food crops in sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 83 publications

References 61 publications

Role of socio-economic research in developing, delivering and scaling new crop varieties: the case of staple crop biofortification

Role of socio-economic research in developing, delivering and scaling new crop varieties: the case of staple crop biofortification

Climate Perception, Migration and Productivity of Maize Farmers in Ghana

Genome‐wide association studies identify putative pleiotropic locus mediating drought tolerance in sorghum

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