scaling foundational and adapted yield gap strategies · group leaders in that same district who...

AULELIANALUKOSI, TANZANIA

ScalingfoundationalandadaptedyieldgapstrategiesOneAcreFundEricSolomonson

Presentationsummary

1. Whatwedoandwherewework(~5minutes)

2. Workingtoadapttheprogramtoheterogeneousconditions(~15minutes)• Varietyrecommendations• Topdressfertilizerapplicationtiming• Improvingbioticandabioticstressfeedbackmechanisms• Addressingsoilacidity

AbundledapproachtoagriculturaldevelopmentInputs:• Improvedseed• Fertilizer• Post-harvestproducts• Non-agriculturalproducts(solarlamps,cookstoves,menstrualpads)

Financing:• Grouploan• Flexiblerepaymentcadence

Distribution:• Trucksdeliverpurchasedproductstodistributionsites• Allsitesarewithinwalkingdistance

Training:• Rowandplantspacingatplanting• Efficientfertilizeruse(microdosing,timing,placement)• Landandsoilmanagement(composting,tillage,erosionmgmt.)• Post-harvest(drying,storage)

Abundledapproachtoagriculturaldevelopment

providesservicebundle1fieldofficer to200smallholderfarmers

FINANCING

TRAINING

MARKETFACILITATION

DISTRIBUTION

reaching1,000people

OperationsatScale

Pilots

KENYA

TANZANIA

MALAWI

ETHIOPIA

UGANDA

BURUNDI

RWANDA

ZAMBIA

MYANMAR

Wherewework

Programspecifics

Country Launched Clients Crops MaizeYield MaizeProfit

Kenya 2006 210,500 Maize,bean,redonion,collards,grevillea 4.16t/ha(15LR) +$112/farmer

Rwanda 2007 127,000 Maize,bean,banana,potato,grevillea 3.32t/ha(15A) +$32/farmer

Burundi 2012 45,900 Maize,bean,potato 2.43 t/ha(15A) +$56 /farmer

Tanzania 2013 17,600 Maize 4.08t/ha(2015) +$189 /farmer

Uganda 2016 3,800 Maize TBD TBD

Malawi 2016 2,700 Maize TBD TBD

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Per acre kg yield difference between OAF and Control median

Agronomicresponsivenesstotheprogramisafunctionofgeospatiallyvariableagroecologicalconditions– soil,rainfall,temperature,bioticstresses,etc.

Varietytrialsandarea-specificrecommendationsRationale:• Theimprovedmaizevarietiesthatwesellhavedifferentmaturityperiods

andbiotic/abioticstressresistances,makingcertainvarietiesmoresuitableforparticularareasthanothers.

Approach:• Useacombinationofbreederinput,meteorologicaldata,farmer

preferencedata,anddistributedyielddatatodeveloparea-specificvarietyrecommendations.

• Ground-truthfindingswithfieldstaffandtrainthemonhowtoeffectivelyprovidevarietyrecommendations.

• Fieldstaffprovidearea-specificguidanceduringprogramenrollmentastowhichimprovedmaizevarietiesmaybemostsuitableforthefarmer.

VarietytrialsandrecommendationsResultstodate:• Weestimatethat~30%of1AFfarmersinKenyawouldachievean8-15%

maizeyieldincreasebychangingthevarietytheyarecurrentlygrowingtoanother(bettersuitedfortheconditions)thatweoffer.

• Groupleaderswhogrewdemonstrationplotsduringthe2015longrainswereabout2.5xaslikelytopurchasethatvarietyduringthe2016longrainsasweregroupleadersinthatsamedistrictwhodidnotgrowthevarietyasademonstrationplot.Similarly,farmerswhodidnotgrowdemonstrationplotsthemselves,butwhosegroupleadersgrewdemonstrationplotswereabout2.5xaslikelytopurchasethatvarietyduringthe2016longrainsaswerenon-demonstrationplotfarmersinthesamedistrict.

AdaptingmaizetopdresstimingRationale:• Variabletemperatureandvarietygenetics

resultininconsistenciesinhowwelldays-after-plantingandheight-basedtopdresstimingguidancelinesupwithtimingofmaizenutrientrequirements.Leafcountisamorereliableproxy.

Approach:• Shiftingfrom“kneeheight”and“shoulder

height”inKenyatoV6andV10applicationsofCAN.

• ConsideringsingleV8applicationinareaswheresplittopdressapplicationmaynotbenecessary.

AdaptingmaizetopdresstimingResultstodate:• 1AFon-farmtrials(n=200)aroundBungoma,Kenyahaveshown7-26%

maizeyieldincreases,dependingonthesite,whenapplyingtopdressatV6andV10ratherthankneeheightandshoulderheight.

• Wearecurrentlyrunningalarger-scaleevaluationinwesternKenyafocusingontrainingqualityandfarmercompliance;wedonotyethavefinalresults.

• Thistrainingfocusesonidentifyingwhichleavesshouldbecounted,howmanyleavestocount,andhowmanyplantstocount.

WeareexploringtheuseofSMSasamediumforprovidingmorelocalizedtopdresstimingguidance,specifiedtothemeteorologicalconditionsoftheareaandthevarietythatthefarmerisgrowing. Thismaycomeintheformofaprompttobegincountingleavesinthenextfewdays.

Trackingdrought,pests,anddiseaseRationale:• Theincidenceandseverityofvariousinsectsandplantdiseases,aswellas

moisturestress,canvarybetweenlocations.Inordertoeffectivelyrecommendgenetic,agronomic,orchemicalmanagementproductsandrecommendationswemustunderstandthegeographicvariabilityofthesebioticandabioticstresses.

Approach:• Crophealthhotline – wehaveadedicatednumberforfarmerstocallwhen

theyareexperiencingsomesortof“crophealth”issue.Welogtheissue,provideatentativediagnosis,andsuggestapotentialwaytoaddressit.

• Crophealthresponseteam – oncehotlinecallsaboutaparticulartopicreachedadefinedthreshold,anagentissenttothefieldtoverifytheissue.

• Crophealthapp – wearelookingintoopportunitiestousesmartphonesandimagerecognitionalgorithmstofacilitatetheprocessofstressidentification.

AddressingsoilacidityRationale:• Soilacidityinhibitsplantgrowth,buttheextenttowhichsoilacidityisan

importantfactorvariesgeographically.Agriculturallimeisaneffectivewaytoreducesoilacidityand,byextension,increaseyields.However,thevalueoflimegeographicallyvarieswithunderlyingsoilcharacteristics.

Approach:• Samplesoilsacrosstheprogramtobetterunderstandwhereacidityis

prevalent.• Runagronomictrialstobetterunderstandtheeconomicvalueofapplying

smallquantitiesoflime.• Workwithfarmerstobetterunderstandtheirperceptionoflimeandwhat

drivesadoption.• DrawuponsoildataanduseSMSasamediumforprecisionlime

recommendations.

AddressingsoilacidityResults:• Impact:1AFon-farmtrials(n=900)haveshownthatapplicationofsmall

quantitiesoflimecanincreasemaizeyieldsbyanywherefrom1%to40%inthefirstseason,dependingonthelocation.

• Adoption:InRwanda,farmersurveysrevealedthat43%offarmersinKibogora and83%offarmersinNyamasheke believedtheydidnotneedlimedespitesoilsinbothdistrictsbeingpredominatelyacidic.1AFthenrandomlyadministeredin-fieldpHtestsforfarmersinthesedistricts.Farmerswhoreceivedthetestpurchaseanadditional19kgoftravertine,increasingfrom7kgto26kg.

InKenyawearealsointheprocessofreviewingresultsfromtrialsinwhichwepromotedlimepurchaseviaindividualizedSMS,throughone-timefreegiveaways,andthroughfieldstaffandfarmereducationinitiatives.

WrapupWe’vefollowedasomewhatstep-wiseyieldgapstrategy,focusingonseedandfertilizerinitially,andincreasingourfocusonorganicresourcemanagement.

ThenextareaweareinvestinginisthisideaoflocaladaptationoftheOneAcreFundprogram.We’dliketoinvestigatetheextenttowhichthisstepcanfurthercloseyieldgapsintheareaswework.

Thisrequiresafocusonbalancingeconomicvalueandoperationalcomplexity–developingsimplifiedstrategiestoadapttoheterogeneousconditions.• Yieldgapanalyses• SMSrecommendations• Fieldstaffuseoftablets• Bypassingspatialvariability

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