Abdou TenkouanoRegional Director for Africa @ AVRDC - The World Vegetable

Center (www.avrdc.org)

Jacqueline d'Arros Hughes

Deputy Director General – Research &

Partnerships

Bridging Vegetable Research and Practice

to Overcome Malnutrition and Poverty

in sub-Saharan Africa

ACFID, 21 -22 Nov 2013 Sydney (Australia)

Agricultural R&D

- Evolving Role in Evolving Context

Key Drivers

• Climate Uncertainty – Less Water

• Demographics – Less Labor & Land

• Markets & Trade – Beyond Farm Gate

Small plots:

1mm rainfall = 10m3/ha

(can’t do much under

rain-fed agriculture)

= 500 cans of 20 L (can

do a lot in small plots)

Climate Uncertainty –Water

Harvesting

Demographics – Who and Where Is The

Farmer?

Women - 75% of Work

Force

Urban youth – untapped

labor

Markets & Trade – Increasing returns

for vegetable growers

Courtesy: Benjamin Dent

Envisioned

conditions of

the people

Achieving Impact - Best Practices

Income, dietary diversity, social capital

Initial

conditions

of the people

Priority Interventions

To strengthen national vegetable research

and development capacity and linkages

Capacity Building

Efficient Value Chain Management

Va

rie

tie

s

& S

ee

ds

Po

st

Ha

rve

st

Nu

trit

ion

E

du

ca

tio

n

Eff

icie

nt

& Sa

fe

Pro

du

cti

on

Bridge research and

practice

(i) fast-track production

& post-harvest

options

(ii)Build capacity of

youth for profitable

self-employment

Best Practice Hubs (BPHs)

Good Seeds

Good Practices

Post Harvest

Education (Nutrition)

Production Tools

Market Linkages

Youth (Communities)

Field Days

Communication

RESEARCH

TRAINING

Fast-Tracking – Village Model Farms

VMF

VMF

VMF

VMFVMF

Training and Linking to Markets

BPH VMF

African eggplant

Farmers get US $1,200

per ha per season

Low to high altitude

About 90 t/ha

Egg shaped

Sweet taste

Long harvest period

Achieving Impact Together

R DTarget

clientNGOs

CBOs

Up Scaling BPH – TAVOCA & VINESA

Traditional African

Vegetables for West

(Ouest) and Central

Africa

Burkina Faso,

Cameroon, Ghana

September 2013

Vegetables for

Income and Nutrition

in Eastern and

Southern Africa

Ethiopia, Malawi,

Mozambique,

Tanzania

October 2013

Thank You !!!