lakes region’ kampala, uganda. - test.cialca.org
TRANSCRIPT
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Following a call for proposals of the Directorate General for Development Cooperation
(DGDC – Belgium) in April 2004, three proposals were approved:
‘Sustainable and Profitable Banana-based Systems for the African Great
Lakes Region’, led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
Kampala, Uganda.
‘Enhancing the resilience of agro-ecosystems in Central Africa: a strategy to
revitalize agriculture through the integration of natural resource management
coupled to resilient germplasm and marketing approaches’, led by the Tropical
Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Center for Tropical
Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT), Nairobi, Kenya.
‘Building Impact Pathways for Improving Livelihoods in Musa-based Systems
in Central Africa’, led by the International Network for the Improvement of
Banana and Plantain of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI-
INIBAP), Kampala, Uganda.
As the above projects proposed to operate largely in the same parts of Rwanda, Burundi,
and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), with similar national partner
institutes, and due to the complementary nature of the activities proposed, above institutes
agreed to operate as a Consortium to ensure cooperation and complementarily and avoid
technical and financial duplication at the national level.
Whereas under the first funding phase (2006-2008) CIALCA still consisted of three
separate projects, under the second funding phase (2009-2011) CIALCA operates officially
as one project under the title „Improving agriculture-based livelihoods in Central Africa
through sustainably increased system productivity to enhance income, nutrition security,
and the environment‟.
The Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA)
is a Consortium of the International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) and their
national research and development partners that aims at close technical and administrative
collaboration and planning in areas of common interest, thereby enhancing returns to the
investments made by DGDC and accelerating impact at the farm level.
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CIALCA Contacts:
CIALCA-Kinshasa/Bas-Congo - 13, Avenue des Cliniques, Commune de la Gombe, INERA Building, Kinshasa-Gombe, DR Congo, Mr. Lodi Lama Jean-Paul, [email protected]
Tel: (+243) 815136746
CIALCA-Bujumbura – Prévulgarisation ISABU, Rohero I, Boulevard YARANDA, Avenue de la Cathedrale, BP 795 Bujumbura, Burundi, Mr. Jean-Prosper Kanyaruguru, [email protected]
Tel: (+257)77734708
CIALCA-Bukavu - Avenue Fizi, N°4, Commune Ibanda, Bukavu, South Kivu, DR Congo, Mr.
Charles Bisimwa, [email protected] Tel: (+243)998611672 or (+243)817379006 or
(+243)853711144
CIALCA-Kigali - c/o CIAT Rwanda, Kacyiru, Boulevard de l'Umuganda, Concorde building, 1st
floor, Kigali, Rwanda, Mrs. Solange Zawadi, [email protected] Tel: (+250)788864712
Bioversity-Kampala (Guy Blomme, [email protected] ; +256754466788)
IITA-Kampala (Piet van Asten, [email protected] ; +256752787812)
TSBF-CIAT-Nairobi (Bernard Vanlauwe, [email protected] ; +254733801581)
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Acronyms: Acronym Explanation
ADA
ADIC
Adaptation or Farmer-managed adaptation trials
Association pour le Développement Intégral des Communautés
ADISCO Appui au Développement Intégral et à la Solidarité sur les Collines
ADVS Association des Distributeurs des Vivres et des Semences Améliorées
AEE Africa Evangelical Enterprise in Rwanda
AFSR Appui à la Filière Semencière du Rwanda
AHI African Highlands initiative,(Uganda)
AM(F) arbuscular mycorrhizae, (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi)
BAIR Bureau d'Appui aux Initiatives Rurales
BBTD Banana Bunchy Top Disease
BBTV Banana Bunchy Top Virus
BLIS banana- and legume-based intercropping systems
CADI Centre pour l'Autosuffisance et le Développement Integré
CAPAD Confédération des Associations des Producteurs Agricoles pour le Développement
CIALCA Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa
CIAT Centro International de Agricultura Tropical
CORPs community own resource persons
CRS Catholic Relief Services
DAP di-ammonium phosphate
DfID Department for International Development
DIGE (Two-dimensional) Difference Gel Electrophoresis
DIOBASS DIOBASS Platform
DR Congo Democratic Republic of Congo
DRIS Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System
EAHB East African Highland bananas
ELISA Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
EPR Eglise presbytérienne au Rwanda
Foc Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Cubense
FPD fruit peel disease
FusaGx Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux
FYM Farmyard manure
GEL Guichet d'Economie Locale
GPC Global Plant Clinic (UK)
IMC International Medical Corps
INERA Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles
ISABU Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi
ISAR Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda
ISFM Integrated Soil Fertility Management
KRC Knowledge Resource Centre
LOFEPACO Ligue des Organisations des Femmes Paysannes du Congo
LWF Lutheran World Foundation
MBILI Managing Beneficial Interactions in Legume Intercrops
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MUAC mid-upper arm circumference
NARS National Agricultural Research Stations
NGO Non Governmental Organisation
NPK Nitrogen, Phosphorous (Phosphate), Potassium (Potash)
OM organic matter
PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Acronym Explanation
pVACs provitamin a caretenoids
RADA Rwandan Agricultural Development Authority
SED standard error of difference of mean
SENAFIC Service National des Fertilisants et Intrants Connexes
SENASEM Le Service National des Semences
SWC soil and water conservation
TAS triple antibody sandwich
TOT Trainers of Trainers
TSBF Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility
UCL Université Catholique de Louvain-La-Neuve
UNIKIS University of Kisangani
VCG Vegetative compatibility group
VECO Vredeseilanden Congo
XW Xanthomonas wilt
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge DGDC, Belgium for funding this project, the many
national and international research and development partners for their dedication in getting
the work done, as well as the collaborative spirit and help in writing this technical report.
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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 1
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 5
2. CHARACTERIZING THE FARMERS AND THEIR SYSTEMS ................................................. 6
2.1. PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL ...................................................................................................... 6
2.2. BASELINE SURVEY ............................................................................................................................... 6
2.2.1. Capital ........................................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.2. Agricultural Production Systems.................................................................................................. 7
2.2.3. Household Welfare ...................................................................................................................... 8
2.2.4. Market Access and Enabling Environment Factors ....................................................................... 8
2.3. CHARACTERIZATION OF LEGUME SYSTEMS ............................................................................................ 9
2.4. CHARACTERIZATION OF BANANA SYSTEMS ........................................................................................... 9 2.5. MARKET SURVEYS ............................................................................................................................... 9
2.6. NUTRITION SURVEYS .......................................................................................................................... 10
3. CIALCA PRODUCTS READY FOR DISSEMINATION ............................................................ 12
3.1. ADAPTED AND PREFERRED LEGUME AND BANANA/PLANTAIN GERMPLASM ........................................... 12
3.2. IMPROVED CASSAVA-LEGUME INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS ..................................................................... 13
3.2.1. Increased productivity through integrated soil fertility management in cassava-legume
intercropping systems in the highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo ................................................. 13
3.2.2. Farmer adaptive testing confirms increased crop productivity through ISFM in cassava-legume
intercropping systems in the highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo ................................................. 15
3.3. IMPROVED LEGUME ROTATION AND INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS ............................................................. 17
4. CIALCA PRODUCTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT....................................................................... 19
4.1. SITE- AND SYSTEM-SPECIFIC SOIL FERTILITY AND DROUGHT INTERVENTIONS ........................................ 19
4.1.1. Soil fertility management in legume systems.............................................................................. 19
4.1.2. Soil fertility management in banana cropping systems................................................................ 24
4.2. RETAINING WATER TO CONTROL EROSION AND IMPROVE PRODUCTION ................................................. 27 4.2.1. Water harvesting in Bugesera, Rwanda ...................................................................................... 27
4.2.2. Soil erosion control in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo.............................................................................. 28
4.3. IMPROVED BANANA- AND LEGUME-BASED INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS (BLIS) ........................................ 29
4.4. INTEGRATED PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR BANANAS ............................................... 29
4.4.1. Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) ........................................................................................ 30
4.4.2. Fruit peel disease ....................................................................................................................... 33
4.4.3. Xanthomonas wilt ..................................................................................................................... 34
4.4.4. Fusarium wilt ............................................................................................................................ 36
4.5. IMPROVING SEED SYSTEMS ................................................................................................................. 37
4.5.1. Novel macropropagation techniques .......................................................................................... 37
4.5.2. Use of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to enhance tissue culture plantlet growth. .............. 38
4.6. BANANA AND PLANTAIN GERMPLASM CHARACTERIZATION IN DR CONGO ............................................ 39
4.7. HUMAN NUTRITION AND POST-HARVEST ............................................................................................. 40
5. UPSTREAM RESEARCH AT BELGIAN UNIVERSITIES (KUL, UCL, GEMBLOUX) .......... 42
5.1. DROUGHT STRESS - CHARACTERIZATION, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ADAPTED GERMPLASM
(AT K.U.LEUVEN) .............................................................................................................................. 42
5.2. SOIL NUTRIENT DYNAMICS IN BANANA SYSTEMS (AT THE UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN–LA-
NEUVE (UCL)) .................................................................................................................................. 44
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5.3 AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION PROCESSES ............................................................................................ 46
5.4. COLLABORATION BETWEEN CIALCA AND THE FACULTÉ UNIVERSITAIRE DES SCIENCES
AGRONOMIQUES DE GEMBLOUX (FUSAGX) FOR BBTV RESEARCH ...................................................... 48
6. ENHANCING ADOPTION AND REACHING SCALE ............................................................... 48
6.1. INNOVATION AND EXTENSION THROUGH DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS ...................................................... 48
6.2. TRAINING OF TECHNICIANS, EXTENSION STAFF, AND FARMER ASSOCIATIONS ........................................ 49
6.3. OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION ...................................................................................................... 50
6.4. LEGUME SEED MULTIPLICATION.......................................................................................................... 51
6.5. MARKET ACCESS AND AGRO-ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT..................................................................... 52
6.6. HUMAN NUTRITION AND POST-HARVEST PROCESSING .......................................................................... 55
6.7. INVOLVEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS FOR DISSEMINATION OF CIALCA
PRODUCTS THROUGH SATELLITE SITES IN THE VARIOUS MANDATE AREAS ........................................... 57
6.8. CIALCA AS A PLATFORM FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPLIMENTARY PROJECTS ................................. 60
7. CAPACITY BUILDING ................................................................................................................ 62
8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION .......................................................................................... 62
ANNEX 1: CAPACITY BUILDING (BSC, MSC AND PHD STUDENTS) ............................................. 63
ANNEX 2: CIALCA PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................................... 68
ANNEX 3: DETAILED LOG FRAME ..................................................................................................... 71
ANNEX 4: BELGIUM-BASED UNIVERSITY STAFF SUPPORTED BY/INVOLVED IN CIALCA ... 76
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Executive Summary
Formed in 2005, the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central
Africa (CIALCA) brings together national, regional and international partners to focus
their resources on improving the livelihoods of people recovering from decades of civil
conflicts in the Great Lakes area of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR
Congo) and Rwanda. The CIALCA project is implemented by the National Agricultural
Research Systems (NARS) of Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in
collaboration with the three CG centres: Bioversity International, IITA and TSBF-CIAT.
This report presents the activities and progress of CIALCA phase 2 for 2009.
The report describes the continuing focus on characterizing farming systems, and those
CIALCA products ready for dissemination and those under development. The report also
details the current status of upstream research at Belgian universities (KUL, UCL, and
Gembloux). There is also a section describing how CIALCA is enhancing the adoption of
its findings and reaching scale in the target area. Progress in both academic capacity-
building and in other stakeholder areas is highlighted, as well as plans for monitoring and
evaluation. The report also refers to CIALCA‟s collaborators, complementary projects and
any publications arising from the CIALCA work.
Summary of progress in 2009
Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) options for cassava-legume intercropping have
been fine-tuned and evaluated in almost 600 farmer-managed adaptation trials. These options combine improved germplasm, soil fertility management (using mineral fertilizer and organic
inputs) and agronomic measures (crop arrangement), and result in more than 50% increase in crop
yield and economic benefits. This CIALCA product has gained a lot of attention and is being promoted by several development partners within and beyond the mandate areas.
ISFM options for maize-legume intercropping and rotation systems have likewise been
developed and evaluated in farmer-managed trials in Rwanda and DR Congo. The integration of improved dual-purpose soybean or climbing beans varieties into the cropping system entails 30-
80% yield increase for the subsequent cereal crop. Profitability is maximized by strategic use of
mineral fertilizer.
Site-specific soil fertility management recommendations are under development. In the Sud-
Kivu mandate area, for example, we demonstrated that farmers‟ perception of soil fertility
corresponds with acidity-related constraints and cation deficiencies. Variability in soil fertility results in variability in response to mineral fertilizer, but fertilizer use efficiency can be maximized
through strategic placement of both mineral and organic inputs. In Rwanda, findings from farmer-
managed adaptation trials demonstrated that fertilizer use efficiency is increased when combined with organic inputs, and more so in drought-prone areas. In Bas-Congo, findings demonstrate that
the combined use of green manure and fertilizer in cassava-based systems is a highly profitable
alternative to the traditional slash-and-burn practice. We collaborate with other initiatives in the Central-African Great Lakes region to develop site-specific and farmer-friendly ISFM guidelines
and to promote efficient fertilizer use.
On-farm trials on ISFM initiated in CIALCA-I to address key cropping constraints in banana-based farming systems were continued. These included trials with alternative manure management,
mulching, and zero-tillage practices.
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PhD research on banana crop modelling with linkages to Ugandan-based scientists is continued
to strengthen the farm systems models for trade-off analysis.
PhD and MSc students in Burundi, DR Congo, and Rwanda have continued their research on on-station and on-farm mulch x zero-tillage trials that were installed during CIALCA-I. The trials
show that a combination of zero-tillage and mulching improves banana performance, but that large
differences in plant response exist due to differences in ecology (i.e. soil type and climate). The bean intercrops seems to perform better on poor soils when the banana canopy is not closed and
more light penetrates to the ground. A banana fertilizer response model was developed and
published. Measurements on nutrient dynamics in non-fertilized systems that rely on organic inputs continue as part of PhD research.
On-station and on-farm evaluation of water harvesting techniques in the Eastern Province of
Rwanda demonstrated that soil fertility constraints rather than drought is the major constraint for crop production. Increases in crop yields obtained through application of fertilizer and organic
inputs exceed effects obtained through surface management options that improve infiltration and
reduce run-off.
Options for soil erosion control evaluated include the use of progressive terraces using earth
embankments and hedgerows, curbing soil loss by 80%. These options need to be combined with appropriate soil fertility management options on hillsides to ensure profitable crop production,
especially when earth embankments are used. The simple use of hedgerows of a dual-purpose
perennial legume species such as Calliandra may have higher benefits to farmers in the short and
medium term than the commonly promoted radical terracing.
Banana-legume intercropping trials have been initiated in Burundi and South Kivu during 2009.
Special focus is targeted on identifying the shade tolerance range and the optimum for selected leguminous crops in addition to assessing the impact of de-leafing on banana plant vigour and
production in a bid to recommend the best banana/shade – legume combination to farmers.
Improved legume germplasm has been evaluated in Gitega, Burundi, and farmer associations have started multiplying preferred varieties. In all mandate areas of the TSBF-project, improved
legume germplasm with benefits for soil fertility, income and human nutrition is now available and
utilized by farmer households.
Banana germplasm is tested at over 20 sites in the region, with evaluation taking place in terms
of plant performance and consumer acceptability. Together with KUL, pot trials on drought stress and drought x nematode interactions are taking place in the region at IITA-Uganda to strengthen
the upstream lab work at KUL.
Musa germplasm characterization work in DR Congo expanded from the Kivus to Oriental province during 2009. UNIKIS, Kisangani can be seen as the Musa germplasm hub in DR Congo
with further characterization missions planned during 2010 in Ituri, Haut Uélé, Bas Uélé, Maniema
and Equateur.
A diagnostic survey with special focus on Musa germplasm and BBTD (using CIALCA survey
questionnaires) was conducted during 2009 in Tshopo district, Oriental Province, DR Congo in the framework of a VLIR-Belgium-funded banana project. CIALCA funded 2 University of Kisangani
(UNIKIS) MSc students who participated in the surveys. Further VLIR/CIALCA collaborative
banana research work is planned in Oriental province during 2010-2011.
Research on AMF in banana systems revealed that bananas on P-deficient soils seemed
particularly benefiting from the symbioses with AMF. Inoculation with AMF strains seemed
particularly beneficial when AMF strains originated from the soils where the inoculated plants
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were planted. Soil tillage practices decreased AMF frequency and intensity in the banana root
systems.
The Rwandan PhD student on banana x soil biological factors (i.e. nematodes and AMF) successfully defended her thesis at UCL in October 2009. The results revealed the importance and
potential of AMF on poor soils, particularly those that are low in phosphorus.
A CIALCA phytopathologist joined the team in Burundi to strengthen CIALCA‟s work on Musa
diseases (e.g., BBTV, a banana fruit peel disease and Foc). In addition to ongoing PhD work on
BBTV in Burundi, a Rwandan PhD joined CIALCA to work on Foc strain identification and rapid detection, and variety screening.
In March 2009, RADA in collaboration with CIALCA trained 60 Trainers of Trainers (TOT) in
Rubavu district, Western Rwanda on banana Xanthomonas wilt identification and control. In addition, RADA/CIALCA led the uprooting of 110 ha of XW infected plantations in Rubavu and
Rutsiro districts, Western Rwanda. The uprooted diseased banana fields were replanted with
climbing beans (one season) and will subsequently be planted with maize (one season). Banana plantation re-establishment will be done in March 2011.
Macro-propagation of banana planting materials has been rapidly adopted by a number of NGO‟s and research partners in the region. Methods to further enhance the efficiency of the system
and reduce the input costs are being explored.
With the aim of enabling small-scale farmers to produce planting materials independently and/or provide them with a means to earn some extra income CIALCA trials focusing on the construction
of novel low-cost prototype macropropagation units was initiated at the end of 2009.
In the framework of a CIALCA PhD study, a survey was carried out in South-West Uganda,
Kirundo (Burundi), and North and South Kivu (DR Congo) to assess banana cultivar prevalence
and to establish the dietary patterns and nutrition status of smallholder household members. This
work is being complemented with KUL lab work on the retention of provitamin A caretenoids (pVACs) during fruit ripening and fruit preparation.
Constraints to banana marketing were identified and models to reduce transaction costs and improve farmer access to markets were developed. These results have been inserted into market
training events with NGOs.
Through its Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM), the German
Development Cooperation has endorsed a proposal to fund a Communications Expert for 4 years,
who will coordinate the activities of the Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC), beginning in
September 2010. The Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC) is conceived to support and facilitate the achievement of positive impacts. When fully operational, the KRC will identify and activate impact
pathways to disseminate new project knowledge and innovative technologies to end-users and
stakeholders. The KRC will develop a comprehensive „knowledge into use‟ strategy in collaboration with stakeholders, and considerable effort will be invested in repackaging e.g.
scientific publications, reports, technical extension information into client-adapted materials
(posters, leaflets, videos, radio announcements, fact sheets, etc.).
A team of IITA and VODAP technicians have started the development of 12 short videos on
banana technologies. Each video lasts between 3 and 6 minutes and voice-overs are made in
English, French, Kinyarwanda, and Kiswahili. The content of the videos is similar to that of the CIALCA technical sheet series.
A report was released highlighting the GIS-based results of banana-based cropping systems. The document illustrates large differences in yields, cultivar choice, resources invested, and agro-
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ecology and can be used to define extrapolation domains for CIALCA banana technologies.
Research on agricultural innovation processes revealed that there are discrepancies between
stakeholders (i.e. from policy makers to farmers) in terms of constraints and opportunities in
banana systems. This appears particularly relevant in Rwanda where the government encourages farmers to adopt cultivars and crop management practices that are not always deemed relevant by
farmers.
In CIALCA-II, tools were developed to allow participatory M&E of the project activities. The
tools will be fully implemented and functional in 2010.
A large number of Training of Trainers events occurred with over 50 partners in the region. In
total, over 1000 trainers were trained on improved banana management technologies including
germplasm, seed systems, IPM, and improved crop and soil management.
CIALCA is currently supporting/involved in 20 BSc, 19 MSc and 18 PhD students (Annex 1).
25 BSc, 10 MSc and 1 PhD student have already defended their theses. CIALCA has been actively
supporting research staff inside and outside the region to pursue further scholarship opportunities that can build on and support the ongoing CIALCA research.
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1. Introduction
CIALCA: Collaborating for greater impact
CIALCA has shown that it is possible to rapidly and cost-effectively achieve impact in areas that have been largely bypassed by the CGIAR system due to war and civil strife. The establishment of
partnerships between international and national partners has resulted in a sharing of resources,
experiences and ideas that have enhanced research capacity in the targeted countries and have set
the scene for large-scale impact during the second phase of this ground-breaking inter-centre collaboration.
During the first phase of the project, the CIALCA team has worked with more than 4,000 farm households to evaluate crop varieties and technologies aimed at increasing yields, restoring soil
fertility and improving the resilience of agro-systems. 16 products, which are further disseminated
by NGO partners during the second phase of the project, have been developed or fine-tuned. These include improved varieties, a cassava-legume system that increases yields of legumes by 300% and
of cassava by 200%, intercropping and rotational practices that double yields, easy-to-use
propagation techniques, pest and disease management options, new ways to process soybean,
techniques to reduce soil erosion and improved management of natural resources. Farmer associations that received training in seed multiplication are now producing large amounts of seeds
from the best performing varieties.
A crucial component of the project‟s strategic approach to improving livelihoods is facilitating
access to markets. The baseline surveys confirmed that farmers use little or no inputs and have poor
access to markets. Since poorly functioning markets discourage investment in preserving the natural resource base, CIALCA is developing strategies to reduce transaction costs as well as to
improve the bargaining position of farmers and their access to markets. Participatory market
research is also helping farmers identify market opportunities.
After establishing that most people in the target areas were not getting the diversity of nutrients
needed to sustain health, CIALCA set up demonstration gardens at health and nutrition centres. A
training-of-trainers approach involving NGO workers, health centres and key community contacts, is also used to disseminate knowledge on nutrition.
It is estimated that more than 100,000 people in the target areas are aware of the Consortium. The
high visibility of CIALCA in the region has attracted new partners and donors for some 11 'spin-off' activities addressing issues that bear on the CGIAR partners' common goal of removing
roadblocks along the research to development chain. Among others, the Central Africa component
of a Pan-Africa project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to increase legume productivity, family nutrition, soil health, cropping systems and farm income, will be implemented
by the Consortium, while the German Organization for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is funding a
communication expert to be based at the CIALCA office in Burundi to disseminate more widely the knowledge and information generated by the project.
The growing interest of farmers and the expanding network of partners are expected to significantly
improve income and food security in the region, along with the intangible benefits that are realized when partners with different disciplinary and professional backgrounds come together.
CIALCA is actively contributing to the region‟s research capacity through its involvement in 20 undergraduate, 19 masters and 18 doctoral projects, an aspect of the project that is highly
appreciated by the national partners.
6
2. Characterizing the farmers and their systems
Information collected during the various characterisation surveys/studies is available as
CIALCA technical reports or as scientific papers.
http://www.cialca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=14&Itemid=66
2.1. Participatory Rural Appraisal
CIALCA works in 10 key geographical areas in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. Each mandate area has been characterised in terms of key
variables, included agro-climatology, biotic and abiotic constraints, socio-economic factors
and access to markets. Participatory rural appraisals (PRA) have determined the important
characteristics of the communities, such as their major farming systems and their
engagement with markets, and have gauged the presence and strength of local
organisations.
See: 1. CIALCA Technical report 1: Farrow et al (2006). Characterization of the Mandate Areas
of the Consortium of Improved Agricultural Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA).
2. CIALCA Technical report 7: Sanginga et al (2007). Participatory Rural Appraisal of the livelihood status of farmers in CIALCA mandate zones of DR Congo, Rwanda and
Burundi.
3. Sanginga, P.C., S. Kantengwa, A. Farrow, B. Vanlauwe, K. Bishikwabo, P. Van Asten, S. Abele, J.-P. Lodi-Lama
, G. Blomme and C. R. Katana. 2007. Entry Points for Research to
Improve Agricultural-based Livelihoods in Central Africa: Insights from Party Numbers.
ISAR National Conference, Kigali, Rwanda. ISAR National Conference. Sustainable agricultural productivity for improved food security and livelihoods. 25
th -28
th March 2007;
Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda. pp. 600-622.
2.2. Baseline Survey The baseline survey was a follow up of the PRA exercise providing an in-depth study of the PRA
findings. The main objective of the baseline study was to collect data to enable construction of
farmer typologies based on the presence of specific production units or access to resources. Such typologies enable targeting of various interventions, technology assessments and ex-post impact
assessments. The baseline survey was carried out at the household level in each action site using in-
person questionnaire interviews for a random sample of 2,670 households. The survey partly followed the sustainable livelihoods framework of the Department for International Development
(DfID), UK. A report detailing the findings of the baseline survey is being drafted and will be made
available through the CIALCA website. Here, a summary is presented, highlighting the ownership
levels of capital or household assets, which in turn influence the agricultural practices/production systems and are moderated by the overall conditions operating beyond the scope of a single farm,
determining the environment in which farming is taking place.
2.2.1. Capital
The findings show that, with the exception of social capital and natural capital, the other three types
of capital, namely financial, physical and human are generally not developed in the study areas,
though clear differences exist in the level of development of each capital across the 10 mandate
areas. Financial capital seems to be the least developed, as many farmers do not have access to off-
7
farm income and formal credit. Informal credit sources mainly family and friends have remained
the dominant means of access to credit as presented in Table 1 but the amounts involved with such
sources have remained insignificant and unable to pull the recipients out of poverty.
Table 1: Sources of credit
Country Mandate area
Fam
ily
Fri
end
s
Sav
ing
s/cr
edit
gro
up
Mo
ney
len
der
s
Tra
der
s
Go
ver
nm
ent
NG
O
Ban
k/M
FI
Far
mer
gro
up
/ass
oci
atio
ns
n
(%)
Burundi Gitega 12 26 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 198 Kirundo 10 22 3 2 5 1 1 2 0 195 Rusizi plains 12 23 11 1 2 0 0 3 0 151
DR
Congo
Bas-Congo 15 33 1 0 6 0 1 0 1 402 Nord-Kivu 35 53 5 1 8 0 4 0 0 393 Sud-Kivu 17 32 3 0 5 0 4 0 1 465
Rwanda Gitarama 11 17 12 5 4 0 0 10 1 101 Kibuye-Gisenyi
21 24 22 3 2 0 1 9 0 149
Source: Baseline survey results, 2006
The dominant maximum level of education among the households is primary school, which does not seem to be a critical impediment on the households‟ ability to effect a higher level of
agricultural productivity that would usher in better livelihoods (Figure 1). However, a relatively
high proportion of households particularly in the Kivus and in Burundi have no formal education. 203399149101454383391150194197
0
20
40
60
80
100
__
__
__
__
Gite
ga
Kiru
nd
o
Ru
siz
i p
lain
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Burundi DR Congo Rwanda
Pro
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n o
f h
ou
se
ho
lds (
%)
Others
Secondary school-long cycle
Secondary school-4years
Primary school
Adult literacy
No formal education
n =
Figure 1:Cumulative % of education levels of respondents
2.2.2. Agricultural Production Systems
Data analyses on crop choice and spatial distribution reveal farmer preferences for banana, cassava and leguminous crops. For some regions, crops such as sweet potato, maize and sorghum are also
8
perceived as important. The farming systems are of a basic subsistence nature characterised by
generally low mechanisation and input levels as presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Summary of input use: proportion of total households using selected input types
Country Mandate area Chemical
fertilizer Organic
inputs Pesticides n
(%) Burundi Gitega 53 70 16 198
Kirundo 6 42 7 195 Rusizi plains 17 9 15 151
DR
Congo Bas-Congo 5 7 3 402 Nord-Kivu 0 2 1 393 Sud-Kivu 1 21 3 465
Rwanda Gitarama 21 41 27 101 Kibuye-Gisenyi 4 46 13 149 Kigali-Kibungo 7 46 9 399 Umutara 8 20 5 212
2.2.3. Household Welfare
Household welfare has been assessed in terms of food security, health status of the household
members and household food and non-food expenditures. Results on food security status (Figure
2) reveal a relatively high proportion of households in Burundi (Kirundo and Gitega) and Sud-Kivu as being food insecure (in terms of food consumption quantities).
212399149101465398402101195198
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Figure 2: Households food security status
There is a positive link between areas with high food insecurity and a poor asset (capital) base particularly human capital (as proxied by education level), natural capital (as proxied by land sizes
and livestock ownership) and physical capital (proxied by ownership of durable goods and house
construction materials).
2.2.4. Market Access and Enabling Environment Factors
Findings generally show that most households in the mandate areas sell their produce at the farm
gate or in local markets but not in urban or regional markets which are usually associated with lucrative prices. Only 7 – 15% of the households sell their produce in urban and regional markets.
9
Most of the agricultural produce is sold fresh without any value addition. Value addition plays an
important role in increasing the shelf life of produce and enabling the farmers to get a higher
premium for their product.
In all the mandate areas, contact with agricultural extension agents is quite limited. In Burundi, more than half the households had no contact with an agronomist in the past one year. Nord-Kivu
had the highest proportion of households, 90% not having contact with an agricultural extension
agent while Sud-Kivu had the lowest proportion of households, 38% not having contact with an extensionist. In Rwanda, 61-75% of the households never had contact with an agricultural
extension agent in the past one year.
2.3. Characterization of legume systems
CIALCA Technical report 8: Pypers et al (2007). Participatory evaluation and characterization
of improved legume germplasm at the CIALCA action sites in DR Congo and Rwanda.
2.4. Characterization of banana systems
It has been found that the mandate areas and their action sites are very regionalized and quite
heterogeneous for physical properties, for socioeconomic criteria and for crops and their productivity. Food insecurity is particularly high in Burundi and South Kivu, notably in high
population density areas. In these areas, the number of livestock owned is generally low. Banana
yields tend to be the highest close to the Albertine rift. Bananas and plantain for cooking and
roasting is particularly dominant in North Kivu and East Rwanda, whereas banana for beer production is particularly dominant in South Kivu and Central Burundi. Soil fertility is a major
source of concern in the area. The large variability in productivity and food security suggests that
there is ample scope for improvements in the farming systems in many areas. Poor agronomic management was identified by many farmers as a major constraint to crop yields. Proper and large
scale fertilizer use may be a solution to the soil fertility problem, yet fertilizer is seldom applied.
The potential and profitability of fertilizer adoption will also be strongly related to access to input
and output markets. Irrigation may appear to be a solution for areas with pronounced dry seasons, but watering of banana plants seems not to be an option that is explored by farmers thus far.
See: CIALCA Technical report 11: H. Bouwmeester, P. Van Asten and E. Ouma. (2009). Mapping
key variables of banana based cropping systems in the Great Lakes Region: Partial outcomes of
the baseline and diagnostic surveys.
A diagnostic survey with special focus on Musa germplasm and BBTD (using CIALCA survey
questionnaires) was conducted during 2009 in Tshopo district, Oriental Province, DR Congo in the
framework of a VLIR-Belgium-funded banana project. CIALCA funded 2 University of Kisangani (UNIKIS) MSc students who participated in the surveys. The survey reports will be available in
2010.
2.5. Market surveys
The banana trade in Rwanda, Burundi and the South Kivu province of DR Congo is characterized by high and increasing population pressure, where bananas play a key role in providing food and
revenue to farmers, traders, and consumers. Vibrant cross border trade exists amongst the three
countries in which cooking banana types are a prominent feature
Rwanda and Burundi are net importers of bananas mostly from South Kivu, Uganda and Tanzania.
Most of this trade is via road transport, although water transport via Lake Kivu also plays a facilitating role to this trade between the DR Congo and Rwanda.
10
Beer bananas provide a key source of rural revenue, whereas cooking bananas play a crucial food
security role for both rural and urban populations. The dessert and plantain types are mainly traded
in the urban areas.
Margins obtained by traders vary along the chain according to the importance of the type of banana
traded in a particular area. For instance, in Rwanda and in the South Kivu province, higher margins are obtained from the cooking types by the rural traders as compared to the urban traders. However,
in Burundi there is no clear pattern of the margins obtained from the cooking types, but the margins
for the beer types are even along the chain, whereas the margins for the dessert types tend to be higher towards the urban retail end of the chain. Likewise, the margins for the dessert bananas in
South Kivu are also higher for the urban traders as compared to the margins of the rural traders.
Insufficient finances, inadequate transport facilities, difficulty in assembling the produce, inadequate storage, unfair taxation and inconsistent price signals are among the challenges faced by
the banana traders in the area. Suggested potential interventions include increasing access to
finance, increasing public investment in road infrastructure to lower transaction costs associated with transportation and improving the efficacy of local tax administration. Further interventions
include promotion of desired banana varieties in target areas and development of formal banana
beer processing technologies for increased job creation and revenue generation.
(see: CIALCA Technical report 9: Jagwe et al (2008). Banana Marketing in Rwanda, Burundi
and South Kivu.)
In North Kivu, DR Congo, banana traded locally and with neighbouring countries Uganda and Rwanda. There is little technical knowledge of banana production and marketing. There is no
simple linear market chain from rural, urban and Goma market to export outlets. Instead, exporters
buy their produce closer to the source, mostly directly from the producers or at rural markets where prices are lowest. Production and trade are greatly affected by the security situation in North Kivu
that generally started to improve around 1998 but worsened again in 2003.
(see: CIALCA Technical report 10: Maheshe et al (2009). Banana Marketing and Cross-Border
trade study. The case of North Kivu, DR Congo.)
2.6. Nutrition surveys
Whereas many other developing countries have experienced recent improvements in levels
of childhood and maternal nutrition, many in Sub Saharan Africa, including the CIALCA
mandate areas, have remained stagnant or even decreased.
CIALCA is helping communities establish and sustainably make use of the links between
agriculture, nutrition and health to enhance their livelihoods. From a report on the literature
review on agriculture, nutrition and health aspects in the regions, it was found that major
gaps still exist on the actual dietary practices and food security characteristics of these
communities.
From a survey conducted in Burundi and DR Congo it has been concluded that:
1. Food crops of highest priority in the two countries include; cassava, sweet potato,
beans and banana
2. The community members still obtain some food items such as mushrooms, guavas,
white ants and mole rats from natural habitats through gathering and trapping
11
3. Community members in the two countries receive food aid from NGOs (WFP,
GTZ, FAO etc.) that are in the region
4. Majority of community members have had no formal or informal education on
nutrition and young child feeding. The few mothers who have had the education got
it majorly from health facilities
5. Most common diseases affecting children below five years in the region include;
malaria, malnutrition, intestinal worms and diarrhoea
6. Most of the preschool children are consuming low diversified diets, on average
they consume foods from 3 food groups in a day
7. The consumption of the banana products is higher in DR Congo as compared to
Burundi. Boiled banana is the highly consumed post-harvest banana product with
66.9% of the households having consumed it in the one week preceding the survey.
In both countries the least favourite products are banana bread and banana pancake
8. The communities in DR Congo and Burundi have access to a number of fruits and
vegetables; the most popular fruits are Avocados and Passion while the most
popular vegetables are Amaranths and bean leaves
9. Majority of the households (75.6%) are uncertain about their household food
security
10. Stunting (low height for age) is the most prevalent form of malnutrition followed
by underweight and lastly wasting
The survey report recommended that:
1. There is need for the government and NGOs to capacity build community members
on sustainable strategies of ensuring food security, this could include, sustainable
agricultural methods that promote both crop diversity and adequacy and support of
other income generating activities.
2. Care givers especially women should be sensitized on; sustainable use of locally
available food items, proper cooking methods, infant and young child feeding
practices and hygienic practices especially when handling food.
3. Since this was a cross-sectional study and it didn‟t give a picture of what happened
throughout the year, there is need to carry out a longitudinal survey to help
establish the annual agricultural and food consumption patterns, this will help some
up with better conclusions and thus better intervention strategies.
(see: CIALCA Technical report 12: Ekesa B (2009). Agricultural practices, dietary diversity,
Nutrition and health status of small holder communities in Gitega-Burundi and Butembo- DR
Congo. Formative survey carried out under a collaborative project between CIALCA and HealthNet TPO in April 2008.)
12
3. CIALCA products ready for dissemination
3.1. Adapted and preferred legume and banana/plantain germplasm
Improved legume germplasm is considered as the principal
entry point for improving agriculture-based livelihoods, and is
a key component of technologies developed to improve productivity, income and nutrition of farmer households. Improved varieties have been identified for the mandate areas in Bas-Congo
and Sud-Kivu in DR Congo, and in the mandate areas in the Eastern Province of Rwanda (see
CIALCA 2007 and 2008 annual reports). In 2009, legume germplasm evaluation trials have been
carried out in the Gitega Province of Burundi. A number of best-bet bush bean, climbing bean, groundnut, soybean and pigeon pea varieties were selected based on performance in other mandate
areas with similar agro-ecology, as well as from the legume program of ISABU (Figure 3).
Participatory trials were carried out in the 4 action sites (Giheta, Buraza, Makebuko and Mutaho) during two consecutive seasons, following similar protocols as used in other mandate areas (Photo
1). Characteristics sought in newly introduced varieties include: high yield potential; benefits for
soil fertility (high biomass production, promiscuous nodulation and N-fixation capacity and low
harvest-index), resistance to environmental stresses (pests and diseases, soil acidity or general low soil fertility), farmers‟ preference traits (market price, grain colour, size, density, taste etc) and
nutritional value (protein and micronutrient content).
After two seasons of evaluation with farmer groups in
the action site, adapted and preferred varieties were
identified for each of the species. In most cases, varieties performing well in the Sud-Kivu mandate
area (especially on the southern axis), were also found
to perform well in Gitega. For bush beans, for
example, variety MLB49 outperformed other varieties because of its resistance to acid and poor soils, and
variety Marungi was highly preferred because of its
early maturity and grain colour. Best-performing climbing bean varieties were AND10 and G13607,
while TGx1740-2F (“SB19”) was the most preferred
soybean variety, as was also observed in other regions. Currently selected varieties are further evaluated and
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Figure 3:Grain yield for selected bush bean varieties observed in the action
sites in Gitega (averaged across sites and treatments).
Photo 1: Legume germplasm evaluation trial , Buraza, Gitega Province, Burundi.
Photo 2: Seed multiplication of selected climbing bean varieties, Murongwe Centre, Gitega
Province, Burundi.
13
multiplied at the ISABU station in Moso and the Murongwe station (Photo 2). Participating
farmers in the action sites have started multiplying the preferred varieties. At the same time, farmer
groups have been evaluated, and seed multiplication training will be conducted with selected
groups, as was done in other mandate areas.
Seed multiplication activities will be closely linked with market activities. For each of the selected
varieties, variety cards will be produced in French and Kirundi for promotion and dissemination purposes (see CIALCA reports 2007 and 2008).
Local and exotic banana and plantain variety evaluation
Growth, yield and post-harvest use data is continuously collected in the 20 Musa germplasm trials
(containing local and exotic varieties) established across the 3 CIALCA countries (Photo 3).
3.2. Improved cassava-legume intercropping systems
Development of cassava-legume intercropping technologies started in the mandate areas in Bas-
Congo and Sud-Kivu during the 2008 A season (September 2007 – January 2008). Demonstration and adaptation trials were carried out during 2008 and 2009, and this has culminated in a fully
developed technology, with clear recommendations for farmers. Results obtained have been
analyzed, documented and submitted for publication in an international journal. Many farmers have
taken up the technology in the action sites, and continue to adapt some of the components, which is being monitored and evaluated. Tools are under development to facilitate planting in lines, and
reduce labour requirements at planting. Several development partners have taken up the technology
for dissemination in satellite sites within the mandate areas, but also beyond, e.g. by CRS in different regions in DR Congo and Rwanda.
3.2.1. Increased productivity through integrated soil fertility management in cassava-legume
intercropping systems in the highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo
Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are confronted by low productivity and limited
investment capacity in nutrient inputs. Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) aims at increased productivity through the combined use of improved germplasm, judicious fertilizer
application and organic matter management, adapted to the local farming conditions. Participatory
demonstration trials were conducted in the highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo with 12 farmer groups during 3 seasons, to evaluate the effect of various ISFM components on productivity and
economic benefits of cassava-legume intercropping systems. Treatments included the farmers‟
common practice (local common bean and cassava varieties, seed broadcast and manure addition)
Photo 3: Local and exotic Musa germplasm evaluation trials at INERA, Mulungu, South Kivu (left) and at Mutwanga, North Kivu, DR Congo (right).
14
and sequentially added ISFM components: improved bean and cassava germplasm, modified crop
arrangements, compound NPK fertilizer application and alternative legume species (groundnut or
soybean). The use of improved germplasm did not result in yield increases without simultaneous
implementation of other ISFM components (Figure 4). Modifying the crop arrangement by planting cassava at 2 m between rows and 0.5 m within the row, intercropped with four legume
lines, increased bean yields during the first season and permits a second bean intercrop, resulting in
a total productivity increase of 1 t ha-1
and an additional revenue of almost 1000 USD ha-1
. Crop arrangement or a second legume intercrop did not affect cassava storage root yields. Fertilizer
application increased both legume and cassava yield, and net revenue by 400 – 700 USD ha-1
with
a marginal rate of return of 1.3 – 2.3. Replacing the common bean intercrop by groundnut increased net revenue by 200 – 400 USD ha
-1 partly because groundnut grains have a higher market
value than bean grains, but mostly due to a positive effect on cassava storage root yield. Soybean
affected cassava yields negatively because of its high biomass production and long maturity period;
modifications are needed to integrate a soybean intercrop into the system. The findings demonstrate the large potential of ISFM to increase crop productivity. Benefits were however not observed in
all study sites. In poor soils, productivity increases were variable or absent, and soil amendments
are required. A better understanding of the conditions under which positive effects occur can enable better targeting and local adaptation of the technologies.
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Figure 4: Legume grain yield (top) and cassava storage root yield (bottom) as affected by germplasm (L = local, I = improved), cassava crop arrangement (C = common practice, 1 = 1 m × 1 m, 2 = 2 m × 0.5 m) and fertilizer application ( - = without, F = with fertilizer). Error bars represent standard errors of difference for the site × treatment interaction. Trials were installed in seasons 2008 A and 2009 A in Kabamba, and in 2008 B in Lurhala and Burhale.
15
3.2.2. Farmer adaptive testing confirms increased crop productivity through ISFM in cassava-
legume intercropping systems in the highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo
Adaptive trials were carried out with 585
households in four action sites during two consecutive cropping cycles (2008 B – 2009 A
and 2009 A – 2009 B). Two sites located north
of Bukavu were characterized by a higher inherent soil fertility and lower altitudes (1400-
1700 m above sea level), relative to two sites
located south of Bukavu (1600-2000 m above
sea level). Farmers received “packages” containing cassava and legume planting
material, NPK (17:17:17) fertilizer, a leaflet
with basic information, and a field book for data collection. Farmers received training prior
to distribution of the packages and trial
installation. Site facilitators and technical teams
of farmers were employed to assist the participants with trial installation and data collection. During the season, all trials were visited by
agronomists to verify correct implementation and data collection. At harvest, facilitators and
technical teams assisted farmers to ensure correct measurement of crop yields.
Two packages were formulated to evaluate different aspects of the technologies through a simple
design with three plots. In both packages, the first plot was a farmer‟s common practice, where the legume seed was broadcast and cassava cuttings were planted without a specific arrangement. In
the second and third plot of the first package, cassava was planted at the recommended spacing of
1m by 1m, and two bean lines were planted in between the cassava rows. In the third plot, fertilizer
was applied at 100 kg ha-1
. In the second plot of the second package, cassava and beans were planted similarly as in the first package. In the third plot, however, cassava was planted at a
modified spacing of 2 m between lines by 50 cm within the line, with four lines of beans between
the cassava rows. Plant densities were identical in all plots (10,000 cassava plants and 100,000 bean plants ha
-1). In the second package, all three plots received fertilizer at 100 kg ha
-1. After
harvest of the beans, the bimodal rainfall pattern allowed a second intercrop, and soybean was
planted. One line was planted in between the cassava in the 1 m by 1 m arrangement, while in the 2 m by 50 cm arrangement, two legume lines were planted (100,000 soybean plants ha
-1 in both
arrangements) (Photo 4). Additional fertilizer (50 kg ha-1) was applied in the respective treatments.
Following data was collected: planting, weeding and harvest dates, emergence rates, weed cover,
plant stand at harvest, legume grain yield and cassava storage root yield and numbers. At harvest, farmers scored each plot in terms of labour demand, vegetative growth, disease prevalence, yield
and produce quality.
In the traditional practice, average bean grain yields were 1000 kg ha
-1 on the northern axis, and
600 kg ha-1
on the southern axis (Figure 5 - see also Photo 5). The subsequent soybean crop
yielded about 700 kg ha-1
on both axes. Fertilizer addition increased bean grain yields by 11 and 24
% on the northern and southern axis, respectively, and modifying the cassava crop arrangement from 1 m by 1 m to 2 m by 50 cm increased yields by 6 and 17 %, respectively. Effects were more
pronounced on the subsequent soybean crop: fertilizer application and improved crop arrangement
increased grain yields by 23 % and 21 % respectively. Relative to the traditional practice, these measures represented an increase in legume productivity by 44-60 %. Legume yields varied largely
between participants. Bean yields in the farmers‟ practice without fertilizer addition varied between
0 and 3.0 t ha-1
, and yields of the subsequent soybean crop varied between 0 and 2.1 t ha-1
. Fertilizer application increased bean and subsequent soybean yields by more than 20 % in 40 %
and 48 % of the cases, respectively. Changing the cassava crop arrangement from 1 m by 1 m to 2
m by 50 cm increased bean and subsequent soybean grain yields by more than 20 % in 35 % and 44
Photo 4: Demonstration trial in Kabamba, Sud-Kivu during the second season, showing the possibility of intercropping a second bean crop in the 2 m × 0.5 m crop arrangement.
16
% of the cases, respectively. Fertilizer application or the modified crop arrangement rarely resulted
in yield decreases exceeding 20 %. Cassava storage root yields were much larger on the northern
axis (on average 23 t ha-1
) than on the southern axis (on average 7 t ha-1
). Fertilizer application
increased cassava yields by almost 20 % on both axes. The cassava crop arrangement of 2 m by 50 cm did not negatively affect cassava yields, relative to the recommended 1 m by 1 m arrangement.
Variability between farmer participants was likewise high. Yields varying between 0 and 58 t ha-1
were recorded. In 43 % of the cases, fertilizer application resulted in more than 20 % yield increase. In two thirds of the cases, cassava crop arrangement did not result in more than 20 %
yield difference. Negative effects of fertilizer application or modified crop arrangement were rarely
observed.
In conclusion, farmer adaptive testing confirms that a simple agronomic measure modifying the
crop arrangement can largely increase legume productivity in cassava-legume intercropping systems, without negatively affecting cassava production. Additional judicious fertilizer application
can further increase both legume and cassava yields.
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Figure 5: Legume grain yield (left) and cassava storage root yield (right) on two axes as affected by cassava crop arrangement (traditional, 1m by 1 m or 2 m by 0.5 m) and application of fertilizer. Sites on the southern axis are
characterized by a higher altitude and lower inherent soil fertility, relative to sites on the northern axis. Error bars represent maximal standard errors of difference between means.
Photo 5: Cassava-soybean intercropping, adopted by a farmer in Luhihi, implemented using the 2 m × 0.5 m crop arrangement and
improved cassava and soybean germplasm.
17
3.3. Improved legume rotation and intercropping systems In Sud-Kivu, demonstration trials were established to evaluate rotational benefits of improved
soybean and climbing bean varieties, relative to local varieties and a maize monocrop. This
evaluation started in season 2008 A and continued during 4 consecutive seasons. Results confirmed
rotational benefits, which were largest after two cycles (Figure 6). Maize following improved varieties of climbing bean or soybean produced almost 30% more maize yield than maize following
local legume varieties, and 80% more than the maize monocrop. Combined with a micro-dose
application of NPK, these improved legume rotation systems can more than double system productivity. This illustrates the importance of legumes with high biomass production but low
harvest indices, and that improved climbing bean varieties can have equal rotational benefits as
soybean (Photo 6). Net N inputs from biological N fixation are currently being assessed. The use of these improved legume varieties is currently being promoted to development partners.
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Figure 6: Maize grain yield during 2008 B (1st maize crop, 2nd trial season) and 2009 B (2nd maize crop, 4th trial season) as affected by different preceding crops and varieties (CB = climbing beans, SB = soybean) and application of NPK fertilizer. Improved CB and SB varieties used are VCB81012 and TGx1835-10E (“SB24”).
These findings instigated a number of new
activities. Firstly, although farmers in the area acknowledged the positive rotational
effects, they prefer intercropping to
rotation for reasons of crop diversity and risk (mainly drought) aversion. Secondly,
climbing bean cropping requires staking
materials, which are often scarce. Therefore, evaluation trials were installed
to evaluate the possibility of climbing bean
– maize intercropping whereby the maize
plants serves as stakes for the climbing bean. At the same time, intercropping
maize and soybean using a two-by-two
staggered arrangement called MBILI (kiswahili for „„two‟‟, and an acronym for
„„Managing Beneficial Interactions in
Legume Intercrops‟‟) was demonstrated, which had shown to be effective in the mandate areas in Rwanda, as well as elsewhere (Mucheru-Muna et al., 2010). MBILI intercropping was highly
appreciated by farmers, especially in the action sites on the northern axis (Photo 7). The
intercropping system allows producing about 1 t ha-1
of soybean and 4 t ha-1
of maize with a favourable land equivalency ratio of 1.47. Currently, farmer adaptation trials are on-going with 216
farmers to further evaluate and promote the MBILI system.
Photo 6: maize cropped after maize (left) and after an improved climbing bean variety (right) in Burhale, Sud-Kivu. The latter shows better N nutrition and crop stand.
18
In Gitega in Burundi, climbing bean – maize rotation is a common practice, whereby the stalks of
the maize grown during the A season are used as stalks for the beans in the subsequent B season.
Currently, evaluation trials are on-going with various improved climbing bean varieties, to compare
rotational benefits with the local, early-maturing variety (Photo 8).
In Rwanda, demonstration and adaptation trials
on legume rotation and intercropping were conducted, and interaction with organic and/or
mineral inputs evaluated (Photo 9). Results
obtained after evaluation during 4 subsequent seasons indicate that beans are more responsive
to fertilizer than soybean (Figure 7). For beans,
yields can be doubled using di-ammonium
phosphate (DAP), while for soybean, fertilizer
response was marginal, possibly due to the
longer duration of the crop which in drought-prone conditions results in poor performance.
Generally, no positive interactions were
observed between organic and mineral input addition; effects were substitutive. The
subsequent maize crop, however, produced
higher yields in the rotation system with soybean: yields were slightly (10%, P<0.1)
larger relative to the maize preceded by a bean
crop. These increases are much smaller in
comparison with benefits obtained in other mandate areas because the shorter growing
season and the strong preference for early to
medium maturity varieties such as Peka-6. This does not allow high biomass production and
limits the rotational benefits. An investment in
DAP application at 200 kg ha-1
results in very
profitable yield increases of 800 kg beans ha-1
and almost 2 t maize ha
-1. This was confirmed in
adaptation trials carried out by 480 farmer
households during the 2008 B – 2010 A seasons.
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
contr
ol
DA
P
FY
M
DA
P+
FY
M
contr
ol
DA
P
FY
M
DA
P+
FY
M
leg
um
e g
rain
yie
ld (
kg h
a-1
)
SED
common beans soybean
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
contr
ol
DA
P
FY
M
DA
P+
FY
M
contr
ol
DA
P
FY
M
DA
P+
FY
M
maiz
e g
rain
yie
ld (
kg h
a-1
)
SED
common beans soybean
Figure 7: Legume grain yield (left) and subsequent maize grain yield (right) observed in farmer demonstration trials in
the mandate areas in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, as affected by DAP fertilizer application, farmyard manure (FYM) addition, or combined application of both inputs at half rates. Error bars represent the SED for the crop × input
interaction.
Photo 7: The MBILI arrangement in a soybean – maize intercropping system was evaluated in Luhihi, Sud-Kivu and highly appreciated by farmer groups.
Photo 8: improved climbing bean varieties grown in a demonstration trial in Gitega, Burundi, to evaluate rotational benefits on a subsequent maize crop.
19
4. CIALCA products under development
4.1. Site- and system-specific soil fertility and drought interventions
4.1.1. Soil fertility management in legume systems
Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) offers technologies for increased crop production in
densely populated areas such as the highlands of the Sud-Kivu province. An understanding of crop
constraints in relation to farmers‟ assessment of soil fertility allows local adaptation and better targeting of soil amendment strategies, which is particularly relevant in areas where farmers have
access to limited quantities of inputs. Soil fertility constraints for maize and bean production were
assessed in eight replicate field trials with sole or combined applications of fertilizer, cattle FYM
and lime, and in a complementary greenhouse nutrient omission trial with 30 representative soils. Farmers distinguished two major soil classes based on landscape position and colour (“Civu” and
“Kalongo”), and two fertility levels (“fertile” and “poor”) within each class. Oddly, fertile soils
were lower in soil organic matter content than poor soils. Only in fertile soils, fertilizer application increased crop yields by 40-100%, but highest yield increases were obtained with FYM
application. Leaf samples analysis and interpretation using the Diagnosis and Recommendation
Integrated System (DRIS) revealed that P and N were the most deficient nutrients. Poor soils were
also deficient in K and Mg as confirmed by the nutrient omission trial: K omission only reduced yields in poor soils by 30%, and yield losses caused by sole application of N, P and K (relative to
an addition of all plant macro- and micro-nutrients) were correlated with plant Mg concentrations.
This demonstrates that farmers aptly assess soil constraints using their local soil fertility classification, which corresponds with levels of “basic” cations (K, Mg and Ca) rather than with
soil organic matter.
(Submitted for publication in Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems)
Response to NPK (17:17:17) fertilizer application was highly variable in the adaptation trials on
cassava-legume intercropping in the Walungu territory (Figure 8), in contrast to the more fertile
Photo 9: Demonstration trial in Umutara, Rwanda, to evaluate
benefits from rotation and intercropping with soybean and common bush beans, and application of mineral fertilizer
and/or organic inputs.
20
sites in the Kabare territory. In the latter sites, rather consistent but small increases in yield were
observed, while in the Walungu territory, yield responses varied between zero and almost 2 t ha-1
.
0
1000
2000
3000
0 1000 2000 3000
Grain yield without fertilizer (kg ha-1
)
Gra
in y
ield
wit
h f
ert
iliz
er
(kg
ha
-1) Northern axis (territoire de Kabare)
Southern axis (territoire de Walungu)
Figure 8: Response to fertilizer [NPK (17:17:17)] in beans (grain yield with fertilizer as a function of control yield) in
cassava intercropping systems as observed in action sites on the northern axis (Kabamba and Luhihi) and southern axis (Burhale and Lurhala) in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo.
Photo 10: climbing beans without inputs (left) and with high quality organic
manure (right), strategically applied in the planting holes, observed in Lurhala, Sud-Kivu.
In some cases, negative responses were observed, which were related to poor fertilizer
management. This demonstrates that fertilizer use can be highly profitable, but accompanying
measures and training on proper use are needed. Combining fertilizer with organic manure or
compost improves fertilizer use efficiency and efforts are ongoing to evaluate strategic placement of fertilizer and manure in the planting hole, as well as the effect of the quantity and quality of the
organic resource applied. Strategic use of high quality manure results in very large yield increases,
especially on climbing beans, improving yields in the control of less than 200 kg ha-1
to over 2000 kg ha
-1 (Photo 10). In most cases, especially in the poor red soils, highest yield increases were
obtained with combined use of fertilizer and organic inputs (Photo 11). This practice is currently
being recommended to farmers (Figure 9), and has resulted in a growing demand for fertilizer.
Similar activities have been conducted in Gitega, Burundi, where both response to major nutrients (N, P and K) and effects of combined use with organic manure or lime were investigated.
Preliminary results confirm that P is the most limiting nutrient in almost all soils evaluated, and
that largest yield increases are obtained using combined application of manure and fertilizer. Liming generally did not improve maize performance.
21
control
manure
manure + fertilizer
In the Eastern Province of Rwanda, fertilizer use efficiency was investigated through farmer-
managed adaptation trials. Farmers evaluated response to DAP applied solely (at 200 kg DAP ha-1
),
or applied in combination with local organic manure (OM)/compost (at 5 t OM ha-1 + 100 kg DAP
ha-1
) to common beans, soybean or maize during 3 subsequent seasons. Results show that response
to fertilizer was largest in soils of medium fertility (using the control yield as a proxy) (Figure 10
below). In soils with lower control yields, response to fertilizer was small either due to poor crop
Photo 11: effect of manure application and combined manure and fertilizer application on climbing beans, observed in Lurhala, Sud-
Kivu.
Figure 9: Recommended practice for fertilizer and organic matter application to climbing
beans and maize in poor acid soils.
22
management (late planting, weeding,…) or because
other crop constraints than N and P deficiency
occurred. In fertile soils with high control yields, little
additional yield was observed in the treatment with fertilizer application. When agronomic efficiencies are
plotted against control yields, a typical dome-shaped
envelope curve, with highest efficiencies observed when control yields ranged between 750 and 1500 kg
ha-1
. Generally, efficiencies were higher in Umutara
(Photo 12) than in Kibungo or Bugesera. When
fertilizer was combined with organic manure, agronomic efficiency of fertilizer generally increased.
Especially in the drier sites in Bugesera, fertilizer
efficiency almost tripled when combined with organic
matter. Maximal fertilizer use efficiency (obtained when control yields ranged between 500 and 1500 kg ha
-1) was larger when combined with organic matter (7 kg grain per kg fertilizer applied)
than when applied solely (5 kg kg-1
). Variability in response is currently being investigated, and
related to specific soil properties or management.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Yield without inputs (kg ha-1
)
Yie
ld w
ith
fe
rtiliz
er
(kg
ha
-1)
Bugesera
Kibungo
Umutara
Bush beans
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Yield without inputs (kg ha-1
)
Yie
ld w
ith
1/2
fe
rt. +
1/2
OM
(kg
ha
-1) Bugesera
Kibungo
Umutara
Bush beans
-2.5
0.0
2.5
5.0
7.5
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Yield without inputs (kg ha-1
)
AE
(kg
kg
-1)
Bugesera
Kibungo
Umutara
Bush beans
-2.5
0.0
2.5
5.0
7.5
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Yield without inputs (kg ha-1
)
AE
(+
OM
) (k
g k
g-1
)
Bugesera
Kibungo
Umutara
Bush beans
Figure 10: Response to sole fertilizer (top left) and combined fertilizer and OM (top right) application, and agronomic
efficiency of fertilizer use (bottom left and right) in function of control yield in common beans, observed in farmer adaptation trials in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.
Photo 12: fertilizer response (left: with DAP fertilizer, right: without fertilizer) observed in a
farmer-managed adaptation trial on common
beans in Umutara, Rwanda.
23
In Bas-Congo, specific soil fertility
management activities were conducted
for cassava production, using
combinations of NPK (17:17:17) fertilizer and locally available green
manures. Slash and burn of the natural
vegetation after 2-5 seasons of fallow is the common practice, but yield
increases obtained are small (5-8 t ha-
1) (Figure 11). Fertilizer application
results in significant yield increases,
but responses in both study sites were
differed, with maximal yield increases
ranging between 10 and almost 30 t ha
-1. The use of Chromolaena or
Tithonia green manure at 2.5 t dry
matter ha-1 resulted in similar (for
Chromolaena) or larger (for Tithonia)
yield increases in comparison with
simple slashing and burying or burning the natural vegetation.
Additional fertilizer application
resulted in further yield increases in
one of the two study sites, resulting in cassava storage root yields of over 40 t
ha-1
. A financial analysis showed that
in the most responsive site, the use of Tithonia green manure, solely or
combined with NPK fertilizer at a
moderate rate was most profitable
(with benefit/cost ratios of 5 – 6), followed by sole fertilizer use
(benefit/cost = 3.5 – 5). Treatments
with Tithonia and fertilizer also had largest residual effects on a
subsequent cassava crop. In the less
responsive site, however, little yield increases above 20 t ha
-1 were
obtained, and the sole use of
Chromolaena green manure was the
most profitable practice (benefit/cost = 6). Land pressure is lower and fallow
periods are quite long; also green
manures, especially Chromolaena, are relatively easily available in sufficient
quantities. Therefore, current
conditions favour use of green manures over fertilizer because of the
high market price of fertilizer, and
relatively lower cost of labour. However, further population growth will require intensification and
investment in mineral nutrient inputs.
0
10
20
30
40
50
CON NV SB CON NV SB
sto
rag
e r
oo
t y
ield
(t
ha
-1)
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
Mbuela Kiduma (a)
0
10
20
30
40
50
CON 40K 120K 200K CON 40K 120K 200K
sto
rag
e r
oo
t y
ield
(t
ha
-1)
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
Mbuela Kiduma (b)
0
10
20
30
40
50
NV CH TI NV CH TI
sto
rag
e r
oo
t y
ield
(t h
a-1
)
without fertilizer with fertilizer (40K) with fertilizer (120K)
Mbuela Kiduma
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
(c)0
10
20
30
40
50
NV CH TI NV CH TI
sto
rag
e r
oo
t yie
ld (
t ha
-1)
without fertilizer with fertilizer (40K) with fertilizer (120K)
Mbuela Kiduma
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
0
10
20
30
40
50
NV CH TI NV CH TI
sto
rag
e r
oo
t y
ield
(t h
a-1
)
without fertilizer with fertilizer (40K) with fertilizer (120K)
Mbuela Kiduma
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
(c)0
10
20
30
40
50
NV CH TI NV CH TI
sto
rag
e r
oo
t yie
ld (
t ha
-1)
without fertilizer with fertilizer (40K) with fertilizer (120K)
Mbuela Kiduma
SED (between sites)
SED (within site)
Figure 11: Cassava storage root yield as affected by slashing-and-burying (NV), or slashing-and-burning (SB) the natural vegetation, relative to a control (CON) with the natural vegetation cleared from the plots (a), fertilizer application at rates of 40, 120 and 200 kg K ha-1 (b), and application of Chromolaena (CH) or Tithonia (TI) green manures, with and without additional fertilizer application at 40 and 120 kg K ha-1 (c) in two experimental sites. Error bars represent standard errors of difference (SED) within and between sites.
24
4.1.2. Soil fertility management in banana cropping systems
4.1.2. a. Banana zero-tillage intercrop systems
Trials on mulching and zero-tillage practices are currently being conducted in 8 sites in the region:
3 sites in Rwanda, 3 sites in Burundi, and 2 sites in South Kivu. The treatments include: (i) tillage and removal of mulch; (ii) no-tillage and retention of self-mulch; (iii) no-tillage and application of
5cm depth Hyparrhenia mulch annually, and (iv) no-tillage and application of 5 cm Tripsacum
mulch annually. In all treatments, bush beans are planted as intercrops. The trials show that application of external mulches has a positive effect on the banana plant performance and the same
applies for beans. However, large regional variations exist. In Figure 12 below, the results of the
South Kivu and Burundi sites can be observed. It‟s clear that banana performance is excellent on
the young sedimentary (Cibitoke) and volcanic (Mulungu) soils, leading to a dense banana canopy and a subsequent low yield of beans. However on the poor ferralsols and nitisols at the other sites,
banana performance is much lower, thereby allowing more light to reach the beans and
subsequently positively impact bean yields. (Photo 13)
The studies on banana zero-tillage systems include the PhD work of two students from DR Congo
and Burundi who focus on the impact of these practices on soil physical and soil chemical properties, respectively.
Photo 13: Banana mulch and zero-tillage trials including bean intercropping at the INERA-Mulungu station in DR Congo.
25
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Cibitoke Gitega Kirundo Mulungu Walungu
Control
Hyparrhenia
Self mulch
Tripsacum
Average of Hauteur de la plante en cm
site
Traitement
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Cibitoke Gitega Kirundo Mulungu Walungu
Control
Self mulch
Hyparrhenia
Tripsacum
Rendement de haricot 2009B (fevrier 2009) en kg/ha
Site
traitement
Figure 12: Effect of mulching on banana plant height and bean yield.
4.1.2. b. Resource utilization and nutrient dynamics in low input East African highland
banana cropping systems as affected by plant density.
Research on the effect of plant density on the productivity of East African Highland bananas (EAHB-AAA) and on soil nutrient dynamics has been carried out in Rwanda since 2007. The
research project aims to (1) identify existing banana planting densities (2) to demonstrate the
effects of plant density on banana growth and yield and (3) to quantify nutrient recycling over banana cropping cycles, while identifying scenarios for short and long-term sustainable banana
production. On-farm assessment (diagnostic survey) was conducted in three contrasting agro-
ecological zones (Ruhengeri, Butare and Kibungo; high, medium and lowlands respectively). On-
station density trials were established in the same environments (Photo 14 a+b). The planting densities were 1,428, 2,500, 3,333, 4,444 and 5,000 plants ha
-1. Two cooking and one beer
cultivar(s) (Ingaju, Injagi and Intuntu) were used. Crop growth traits, cycle duration, biomass
production, yield and harvest index were assessed.
26
The diagnostic survey data shows that densities are distributed following rainfall patterns (Figure
13).
High plant densities (>1,800 mats ha-1
) were found in high rainfall areas (>1,400 mm year-1
), while the lowest plant densities (1,000-1,200 mats ha
-1) were recorded at low altitudes with only 1,000-
1,200 mm year-1
. Lower soil and leaf nutrient contents (especially N, K, Ca and Mg) were observed
on weathered soils (Ferralsols, Acrisols) and were accompanied with low yields in comparison to
the more fertile soils (Andosols, Nitisols). The choice of plant density varied with region and depended on farmers‟ objectives. Bunch size, field size and intercrops were cited to mainly
influence farmers‟ choice.
The on-station trials showed that a higher plant density extends the crop cycle duration. Compared to both Rubona and Kibungo, Ruhengeri had the highest yield for the mother crop.
A yield plateau was observed at 4,444-5,000 plants ha-1
for both sites (Figure 14).
Figure 13: Banana plant density (mats ha-1) and rainfall distribution in Rwanda
(modified from Van Ranst and Verdoodt, 2003).
Figure 14: Effect of plant density on bunch yield (t ha-1) for mother plants (M) and ratoon (R) crop at Kibungo (K) and Rubona (R) sites. Average data for all cultivars is presented. Bars indicate standard errors.
27
4.2. Retaining water to control erosion and improve production
4.2.1. Water harvesting in Bugesera, Rwanda
On-station evaluation of water-harvesting options
suggested that benefits can be obtained from tied ridging
1 (Photo 15), but that benefits obtained
from mineral and/or organic inputs are much
larger (see CIALCA 2008 report). This option was tested in 2009 on maize production in
farmers‟ fields in Bugesera, Rwanda, and
compared with a control (without surface
management), and farmers‟ common practice (“butage”, whereby soil is worked towards the
maize line during the first weeding operation).
Effects of addition of manure (at 5 t ha-1
), fertilizer (NPK at 30 kg N ha
-1 and urea top-dress
at 60 kg N ha-1
) or both inputs (at half rates) was
evaluated to evaluate interactions between surface management and nutrient addition.
Results from the first season suggest that only
input application significantly increases yields (Figure 15). No effect of “butage” or
tied ridging was observed on total
aboveground biomass yield. Although tied-
ridging reduces run-off and increases infiltration, it has limited effects on maize
yield. Fertilizer application increased yields
by 71%, while manure application increased yields by only 32%. No positive interactions
between both inputs were observed. This
confirms that soil fertility management is more important than retaining water for
1 Tied ridging involves planting the crop on prepared ridges, and then blocking the furrows at regular intervals. These ties act as mini-
dams, which collect the rainwater and minimise the flow of water off the field. They are effective in both a wet and dry season. In a wet
season, the crop is elevated on the ridge and suffers less from water-logging. In a dry season, the trapping of rainfall and conserving it in
the field enhances the yield.
Photo 14 a+b: A CIALCA PhD student conducting banana planting density trials in Rwanda.
Photo 15: tied ridges in an on-farm trial in Bugesera, Rwanda.
C
B
AB
A
C
B
AB
A
C
B
ABA
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
no inputs FYM NPK 1/2NPK+1/2FYM
ma
ize
to
tal
bio
ma
ss
yie
ld (
t F
M h
a-1
)
no surface management
"butage"
tied ridges
Figure 15: Effects of input application and surface management on maize fresh total biomass yield, as observed in replicated on-farm trials in Bugesera, Rwanda.
28
improved maize production. This is currently being evaluated with a limited number of farmers in
the area.
4.2.2. Soil erosion control in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo
Effects of physical embankments (“fanya juu”), Calliandra hedges and zero-tillage on soil erosion
have currently been evaluated during 6 seasons in an on-station trial at Mudaka, Sud-Kivu (see also
CIALCA 2008 report). Soil loss measurements confirm that physical embankments and Calliandra hedges effectively reduce
erosion. During the September –
November 2009 period with almost 700 mm of rain, 18 kg m
-2 of soil was
lost in treatments without without
hedges or embankments; this corresponds to almost 2 cm of topsoil
lost (Figure 16). Physical
embankments and Calliandra hedges
reduced erosion by 64% and 41%, respectively. In combination, both
measures reduced erosion by 80% to
minimal levels of soil loss. Tillage management had a minimal effect on
soil erosion: zero-tillage tended
(P<0.1) to reduce soil loss only when no embankments or hedges were
installed.
Although the physical embankments have largest benefits for soil erosion control, the technology brings acid subsoil to the surface. Even after 6 seasons of investment in moderate quantities of
lime, manure and fertilizer, crop performance on the terraces is poorer than on slopes without
embankments (Photo 16). Crops on the terraces appear less green and vigorous, probably because acidity limits nodulation and N fixation. Progressive terraces using Calliandra hedges are therefore
a much more viable option to small-scale farmers. The area lost to the hedge, however, represents a
loss in crop yield, even after six seasons during which much larger soil quantities were lost on the
unprotected slopes. This highlights the need for a dual-purpose species such as Calliandra, which offers benefits as fodder and stakes, because erosion control alone does not result in short or
medium-term economic benefits.
Photo 16: soybean performance without (left) and with (right) physical embankments after six seasons of continuous cropping in an on-station trial at Mudaka, Sud-Kivu.
0
5
10
15
20
25
ZT NT ZT NT ZT NT ZT NT
without
Calliandra
with
Calliandra
without
Calliandra
with
Calliandra
without embankments with embankments
so
il l
oss
(kg m
-2)
SED = 3.9 kg m-2
Figure 16: Soil loss observed during September – November
2009 as affected by physical embankments, Calliandra hedges and tillage management (ZT = zero-tillage, NT = normal
tillage) in an on-station trial at Mudaka, Sud-Kivu.
29
4.3. Improved banana- and legume-based intercropping systems (BLIS) Intercropping is a common practice amongst farmers in the central African region where
demographic pressure is high and arable lands are sparse. Farmers have been using intercropping
for generations to maximize the utilization of land and minimize the food insecurity risk. Beans
(and other leguminous crops) are a major source of protein in the region and are grown in all agro-ecological zones. CIALCA is building on this tradition to try to maximize productivity, diversify
the protein source, and improve the sustainability through banana-leguminous crop intercropping
trials. On station trials (BLIS-II) assessing a cooking banana „Incakara‟ (AAA-EAHB) and
leguminous crop (bush bean, climbing bean and Soya) yields under different shading levels were
established in two contrasting agro-ecological zones, Mulungu (INERA Research station, South Kivu, DR Congo) (Photo 17) boasting rich soils and abundant rainfall, and dryer and less fertile
Moso (ISABU Research station, Rutana, Burundi). Three shading levels (full canopy, 7 and 4
functional banana leaves) were created through banana leaf-pruning. Special focus is targeted on
identifying the shade tolerance range and the optimum for selected leguminous crops in addition to researching the impact of de-leafing on banana plant vigour and production in a bid to recommend
the best banana/shade – legume combination to farmers.
In a first phase, 1,440 „Incakara‟ (known as „Barhabesha‟ in south Kivu) suckers were planted (2 x 2m spacing) at each site at the end of 2009. The second phase of the trial (early 2010)
consisted in the planting (monocrop and intercrop) of the three leguminous crops according to a
completely randomized block design. The leguminous crops consisted of: bush bean (MBL49-89A/MBL49-89A), climbing bean (AND10/G13706) and Soya (SB24/Yezumutima) for
respectively Mulungu and Moso.
On farm banana-leguminous trials will be established in existing banana plots at 4 sites and
on 84 farms in south Kivu, DR Congo during February 2010. These on farm trials will focus on banana de-leafing (full canopy and 7 functional leaves) and on comparing growth and yield of
improved varieties of bush bean, climbing bean and soybean with local varieties. In addition, a
detailed survey of banana-leguminous intercropping systems will be conducted in Burundi in 2010.
Photo 17: A banana-leguminous crop intercropping trial at the INERA Mulungu, South Kivu research station. Different shade levels (through banana de-leafing) and leguminous crop growth (bush bean, climbing bean and Soya) are being
assessed.
4.4. Integrated pest and disease management options for bananas
A characterization survey carried out in 2007 by CIALCA revealed that banana bunchy top disease (BBTD), Fusarium wilt, Xanthomonas wilt and a certain fruit peel disease (FPD) are causing
concern amongst farmers as they reduce yield and are increasing their spread throughout the
region.
30
CIALCA is currently studying these four diseases though lab work, on-station and farmer
participatory research trials.
4.4.1. Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD)
Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) was reported for the first time in Burundi in 1988 (Sebasigari
and Stover, 1988). Since then, the disease has spread throughout the Rusizi valley and is starting to reach higher altitudes as no specific measures are being taken to control it.
A survey was conducted within the framework of CIALCA in three major banana-producing
regions in Burundi (Bujumbura-Bugarama axe, Bujumbura-Rumonge axe, Cibitoke province) during September and October of 2008. Distribution, incidence and level of farmers‟ knowledge on
BBTD and BBTD management practices were assessed in the different locations. Results indicate
that the disease and its vector, Pentalonia nigronervosa, are present in all three regions surveyed with an average incidence of 24% and 42%, respectively. Moreover, the occurrence of P.
nigronervosa is significantly higher in low altitude locations (respectively 56% and 42% in
Cibitoke and Rumonge) compared to the high altitude region of Bugarama (25% occurrence).
95% of interviewed farmers confirmed the absence of resistant or tolerant varieties. Their knowledge of disease symptoms was good, however they stated that there was a lack of available
information on the management of the disease.
BBTD – Resistance or Tolerance of screened varieties?
A Musa screening trial was established at the ISABU Mparambo Research station (Cibitoke) in
March 2007. Out of the 40 genotypes included in the trial, only 8 have not exhibited typical bunchy top symptoms on any of the 10 plants planted per genotype. These are: Musa balbisiana type tani
[BB]; „Kayinja‟ [ABB]; „FHIA03‟ [AABB]; „Prata‟ [AAB]; „Gisandugu‟ [ABB]; „Pisang Awak‟
[ABB]; „Saba‟ [ABB] and „Highgate‟ [AAA, subgroup „Gros Michel‟] Plant samples were taken
from these visibly healthy cultivars using the PhytoPass sampler system and analyzed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) at the Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de
Gembloux (FUSAGx) in Belgium. Results indicated that the virus is present in „Pisang Awak‟,
„Saba‟ and „Highgate‟ samples. Further Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and PCR detection tests will be carried out in 2010 to confirm the extent of latent infections in the
symptomless varieties.
In conclusion, „Pisang Awak‟, „Saba‟ and „Highgate‟ can be considered as tolerant, therefore
potentially acting as a reservoir for the virus. Preliminary results also indicate that genotypes with one or 2 B genomes tend to be more tolerant of BBTD but more susceptible to Fusarium wilt. Five
cultivars („FHIA03‟, „Highgate‟, „Pisang Awak‟, „Prata‟, „Saba‟, „Musa balbisiana type Tani‟) out
of the 8 BBTD symptomless genotypes were not affected by Fusarium wilt.
P. nigronervosa – An aphid omnipresent throughout banana producing regions
The banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa is a key vector of BBTD. Data on aphid populations were
collected from December 2007 to December 2009
in two regions in Burundi (Isale, Bujumbura-rural
province, 1,311 masl and Rugombo, Cibitoke province, 893 masl). In addition, 12 yellow traps
were placed throughout the region (in Burundi:
Mparambo ISABU station, IRAZ research station Gitega and in Rwanda: Bugarama ISAR station)
(Photo 18).
From March to December 2009, data on the
epidemiology of BBTD in rural conditions using
clean in vitro planting material within existing
farmer‟s fields or in newly established fields located
Photo 18: PhD student Celestin Niyongere explaining the role of the yellow trap in following P. nigronervosa
populations in the field.
31
more than 30 m from farmer‟s fields was recorded. Trials equally took into account the wind
direction, a major factor enhancing aphid dispersal.
Preliminary data indicates that P. nigronervosa is present in all regions where banana is grown. Banana plants established within farmer‟s fields manifested a higher incidence (41%) of the disease
in comparison to newly established fields (12%) located further away from existing plantations.
This finding is key in helping farmers fight BBTD and implies that incidence is reduced when new plantations are established at least 30 meters from existing plantations. This distance should be
further increased if main winds are directed from the existing plantations towards the new fields. It
is also crucial to destroy all infected plants seeing as they act as a reservoir and source of inoculum for the vector.
P. nigronervosa & BBTD – A spark & fire
Artificial inoculation trials using 10 banana cultivars (Igitsiri, Intokatoke, Igisahira gisanzwe, Poyo, FHIA17, FHIA21, FHIA25, Lacatan, Intobe and Kamaramasenge) under controlled conditions took
place from April to October 2009 in two contrasting agro-ecological regions (Photo 19).
Inoculations were carried out using P. nigronervosa. The trial was simultaneously carried out in Bujumbura (warm climate) and Gisozi (cooler climate, 2,090 masl) using aphids collected in
Cibitoke (high BBTD incidence) and Gitega (putatively BBTD-free, 1,600 masl).
Aphids (Photo 20) collected in Gitega are free of the virus in contrast to those collected in Cibitoke. Aphids
from Gitega can nevertheless acquire and transmit the
virus through rearing on symptomatic banana plants both
at low (Bujumbura) and high altitudes (Gisozi).
Inoculation trials (5-10-20 aphids per plant) confirmed results obtained by Wu & Su (1999),
stating that disease incidence is proportional to inoculum levels (number of aphids used to infect a plant). In addition, the incubation period is inversely proportional to temperature. However, if the
virus has had time to replicate under warmer conditions (2 weeks post-inoculation), the period till
disease expression (incubation period) will not be altered if the infected plant is brought to cooler conditions. Surprisingly, several controls (non inoculated in vitro-derived plants) within the trial
expressed BBTD symptoms. This observation could stem from either a cross contamination during
the inoculation process, or contamination prior to obtaining plantlets (tissue culture lab nurseries).
It is of prime importance to focus the disease management strategy on awareness raising at all stakeholder levels, the use of virus-free planting materials is essential and the risk incurred if
infected materials continue to be transported - as traditionally done - to regions where the disease is
Photo 19: Follow up of plant vigour and BBTD symptoms on artificially inoculated plantlets in Gisozi, Burundi.
Photo 20: An aphid colony on a young sucker that will be used for artificial inoculation in the screen house. Note the presence of ants that live in symbiosis with the aphids and feed on the
honeydew they produce.
32
not yet present is high. Once the source of infection is present in a given banana-producing region,
it will spread naturally via the local banana aphid populations and traditional cultural practices (use
of suckers to establish new fields).
IPM – A feasible option in the fight against BBTD progression
The CIALCA trials listed above have underlined the importance of integrated pest management
(IPM) through awareness raising (i.e.; symptoms, origin and spread of the disease - importance of reporting disease outbreaks – implication of all stakeholders - control of plant material production
and movement at a national/regional level) and good cultural practices (i.e.; collective control -
regular scouting in the field - use of virus-free planting materials - destruction of diseased plants - control of aphids and alternate hosts - halt of plant movement) if we want to reduce the impact of
BBTD in the region.
Within this context, a CIALCA trial focusing on the effects of good cultural practices in the fight against BBTD in the Rusizi plain was initiated at the end of 2009.
In a first step, Munyika (Rugombo commune, BBTD hotspot isolated from other banana
plantations, „Yangambi Km5‟ monocrop) was identified as a pilot village where 19 farmers will carry out good cultural practices. Farmers were trained on symptom and vector identification,
modes of transmission of the disease and control practices. A “new start trial” consisting of
FHIA03, FHIA17 and FHIA23 in vitro plants will be planted 60m away from existing plantations with the hope of highlighting the importance of using virus-free improved genotypes. During the
training, farmers manifested their reserve in carrying out the uprooting of entire mats when only
one or two plants manifested symptoms. The importance of this practice was emphasized to
farmers and adherence will be monitored closely. Moreover, farmers displayed their willingness to participate in the trial and being the first to benefit from improved genotypes in 2010.
In a second step, two contrasting control sites where no cultural practices will be undertaken were
identified. Mparambo II (Rugombo commune, BBTD hotspot, „Yangambi Km5‟ monoculture) and Muyange (Mugina commune, „Igisenyi‟ and/or „Igitsiri‟ in association with other crops).
In all sites, disease incidence and severity (CIALCA scale from 0 to 5, 0: no symptoms, 5: bunchy
top appearance) was recorded as shown in Table 3. In the pilot site, data recording was subdivided into the first 120 m from the road (old plantations surrounding households) and more than 120 m
from the road (new plantations).
Table 3: BBTD incidence and severity recorded on pilot and control sites in Cibitoke province.
Identification Site System N° infected
mats N°
mats Incidence
(%) Severity
(0-5)
Pilot site
Munyika
(<120m) Monoculture 255 974 26.2 4.5
Munyika
(>120m) Intercropping 21 788 2.7 4.4
Control site 1 Mparambo II Monoculture 97 314 30.9 4.4 Control site 2 Muyange Intercropping 38 451 8.5 4.4
Initial results indicate that BBTD incidence varies from one site to another in Cibitoke, with
reduced incidence in Muyange where intercropping is adopted using banana cultivars „Igisenyi‟
and/or „Igitsiri‟. It is unknown whether this is linked to differences in cropping systems, cultivars used or agro-ecological parameters. Furthermore, in a given site (i.e., Munyika) disease incidence
is higher in the vicinity of households. Farmers believe that this is because plants become more
susceptible to the disease when soil fertility is high. Another hypothesis could be the old age of these plantations or simply that leaf emission is higher, favouring disease expression. Lastly,
severity of symptoms observed was high with 71 % of diseased plants manifesting a bunchy top
appearance.
33
Characterization of BBTV isolates collected in the Great Lakes Region
The PhytoPass sampling technique was used to obtain DNA from diseased and symptomless
plants in the region and samples were analyzed at the FUSAGx in Belgium using specific primer
pairs. This technique requires numerous samples to be taken from a same plant in order to make sure that optimum DNA quantities are obtained for PCR. Sequence analysis of the coat protein
indicates that Rwandan isolate PR-138 shows high homology (97-99%) to the “South Pacific
subgroup” containing isolates from Burundi, Fiji, Egypt and India and a lower homology (93-94%) with the “Asian subgroup” (isolates from Philippines and Vietnam)(Norika furuya et al., 2004). On
the other hand, the DNA-R sequences for Burundian isolates BB-119 (Bugarama), BR-120
(Rumonge) and BC-127 (Cibitoke) also respectively showed high homology with isolates of the South Pacific subgroup.
Preliminary results are indicative and will be completed in 2010 with the amplification and
characterization of additional samples. The sampling technique will be dual, the initial PhytoPass system will be completed with the conservation of desiccated leaf tissue on silica gel. In parallel,
samples will be tested by TAS-ELISA (triple antibody sandwich – ELISA), a serological detection
method that is adapted to conditions at local laboratory facilities.
BBTD in the Congo basin
A BBTV diagnostic survey was conducted in the forest zone of the Congo basin (Tshopo district, Oriental province, DR Congo).The average BBTD incidence across Tshopo district was 85 %.
However, disease symptoms were mainly limited to streaks on leaves and leaf petioles. The BBTV
aphid vector (Pentalonia nigronervosa) was observed on 82% of assessed mats and was found on
all cultivars. A further BBTD diagnostic survey will be carried out in Ituri, Haut Uele, Bas Uele and Equateur in DR Congo during 2010. In addition, field observations will be verified using
ELISA testing during 2010.
4.4.2. Fruit peel disease
Diagnostic surveys carried out during 2007 in South Kivu (DC Congo) reported that a fruit peel
disease was affecting Musa in the Nyangezi and Kamanyola areas. Initial research on this disease
was carried out in 2008 by the Université Catholique de Bukavu. The disease was recorded only at
higher elevations (>1700 masl) and its severity was reported to increase during the rainy season.
Fingers of infected bunches were sent for isolation and identification at the Global Plant Clinic
(GPC) in the UK. Morphological analyses revealed the presence of numerous microorganisms such as Colletotrichum musae, causal agent of anthracnose fruit rot (isolated as a sole colonizer or in
association in 4/11 samples). Cladosporium musae, causal agent of leaf speckle, was surprisingly
isolated as a sole colonizer in two distinct samples despite the fact that it is not reported in the
literature as affecting fruit. Fusarium solani was isolated, always in association with other fungi.
Anthracnose fruit rot, also known as wound anthracnose, is reported as an important postharvest
banana disease, but has equally been reported to cause lesions on immature bunches (Jones and Stover 2000). Symptoms appear under high humidity and temperature conditions and through
wounding, causing premature ripening and/or rotting of fruit. A hypersensitive reaction manifested
as red-brown flecks on the peel is induced when green fruit are infected. The infection remains latent until the fruit ripens causing sunken, necrotic spots to develop from the initial flecks. A
salmon coloured conidial mat covers lesions when conditions are optimal for sporulation.
Based on the GPC analyses and literature reports, it is likely that the fruit peel disease observed in
South Kivu is caused partly by Colletotrichum musae. Further studies are warranted as Colletotrichum musae was not isolated in a majority of the samples and other pathogens such as
Cladosporium musae were isolated in equal ratios. Moreover, studies clearly identifying the entry
point of the pathogen (no wound, insect wounds, etc) and artificial lab inoculations using purified
34
strains of Colletotrichum musae, Cladosporium musae and Fusarium solani need to be carried out
to fulfill Koch‟s postulate, unambiguously identifying the fruit peel disease causal agent.
In the summer of 2009, CIALCA staff were invited to
backstop an ISABU mission in
Kayanza (1,850 masl) where farmers had requested help
with an unknown disease
blemishing fruit bunches (Photo 21). Symptoms
observed in the field were
identical to those reported in
South Kivu except that an orange sporulation was
observed in advanced
infections (Photo 22). Fresh samples were collected from
initial to advanced stages of
the disease and analyzed in the ISABU Phytopathology lab.
Morphology and isolations
revealed characteristic
Colletotrichum sp. colonies in advanced lesions. Further molecular analysis is necessary to identify the isolates to the species level and their pathogenicity remains to be tested.
4.4.3. Xanthomonas wilt
On-farm Xanthomonas wilt (XW) (Photos 23 and 24) research is being carried out in eastern and
western Rwanda and in north Kivu with backstopping from on-station and lab work in Uganda. The farmer participatory trials in Rwanda and North Kivu focus on:
1) Lapse of time before a previously heavily diseased (>70%) uprooted field can be
replanted with clean planting material without risk of (re-)infection;
2) Use of break crops (beans, sweet potatoes, maize and fallow) during one cropping season followed by banana plot re-establishment using clean planting materials;
3) Uprooting of diseased mats in mildly infested fields (<45%);
The on farm work in Rwanda runs in partnership with local extension organizations (e.g., Bureau
d'Appui aux Initiatives Rurales [BAIR]), Rwanda Agricultural Development Authority (RADA)
and the Institut des Science Agronomique du Rwanda (ISAR), while on farm work in North Kivu is carried out in collaboration with the Catholic University of Graben, Butembo.
Table 4: % Re-infection rates according to month of replanting. Data presented was taken at 15 months after total uprooting of heavily infested (>70%) fields.
Trial Location Variety Month of re-planting and average percentage of re-
infection 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Western Province Injagi 22 37 9 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
Kamaramasenge 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Province Injagi 23 18 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kamaramasenge 18 8 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
Photo 21: Fruit bunch severely affected by the fruit peel disease in Kayanza (Burundi).
Photo 22: Finger with severe fruit peel disease lesions with orange fungal sporulation.
35
Results indicate that soil mediated transmission was not observed on clean plants planted at least 6
months after the diseased field was uprooted (Table 4). The highland banana variety „Injagi‟ had a
higher infection rate compared to „Kamaramasenge‟.
The Xanthomonas wilt work in Uganda focuses on systemicity and speed of bacterial movements
after inoculations on different plant parts using a contaminated machete vegetative and flowering
stage). In addition, artificial inoculation on different inflorescence parts is being conducted, while studies on the impact of soil fertility, soil humidity and initial inoculum concentration on disease
development have been initiated. As part of a CIALCA MSc study insect vectors of Xanthomonas
wilt will be studied in Rwanda.
In March 2009, RADA in collaboration with CIALCA trained 60 Trainers of Trainers (TOT) in
Rubavu district, Western Rwanda. In addition, RADA/CIALCA led the uprooting of 110 ha of XW
infected plantations in Rubavu and Rutsiro districts, Western Rwanda. The uprooted diseased banana fields were replanted with climbing beans (one season) (Photo 25) and will subsequently be
planted with maize (one season). Banana plantation re-establishment will occur in March 2011.
Photo 23: Xanthomonas wilt symptoms -yellow bacterial ooze in the stem.
Photo 24: Xanthomonas wilt symptoms- yellowing and wilting of leaves.
Photo 25: 110 ha of Xanthomonas wilt diseased fields have been uprooted and replanted with climbing beans (as a break crop) by RADA in collaboration with
CIALCA in Rubavu and Rutsiro districts, Western
Rwanda.
36
Figure 17: Percentage of symptomless plants remaining after continuous uprooting of diseased mats (under both no-
minimum and moderate-optimum farm/disease management) in Rubavu district, Western Rwanda.
Removal of infected mats in fields that had 14 to 45% disease incidence was only partially successful (Figure 17). Most farmers initially applied the XW management recommendations
(uprooting of diseased mats, use of clean tools and early removal of male buds,) with the
perception that the disease would quickly disappear. However, when disease symptoms had not yet totally disappeared after 2 months, farmers got disappointed and did no longer strictly follow the
recommendations. Factors that may have contributed to continuous infections after the initial 2
months include: hand hoe weeding, use of cutting tools for de-leafing or removing suckers, non-sterilization of contaminated tools, sporadic removal of male buds and the occasional browsing
animals in the experimental fields. Farmers were also inclined to remove single diseased plants
instead of uprooting the whole mat.
These results show that all the control measures within the XW management package must be
adhered to in order to manage the disease. It also shows that complete field uprooting may have to
be advocated even when disease incidence is below 45%. A new set of trials is currently being conducted -in fields with < 15% disease incidence- where researchers are strictly supervising
farmer‟s adherence to control measures. It is hoped that this mode of operation will demonstrate
that the disease can be eradicated when control options are rigorously applied.
4.4.4. Fusarium wilt
A CIALCA PhD Project “Diversity, Distribution and Management of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.
cubense (Foc) (Photos 26 and 27) in East and Central Africa” started in 2009. This work focuses
on:
1. Sample collection (100 per country) of Foc-infected Musa varieties (e.g., „Pisang Awak‟, „Kamaramasenge‟ and „Gros Michel‟) in Rwanda, Burundi, eastern DR Congo and the
Kagera region in Tanzania;
2. Isolation, purification (monoconidia) and conservation of isolates; 3. Vegetative compatibility group (VCG) identification of monoconidial isolates (Stellenbosch
University, South Africa);
4. Molecular marker development for the rapid detection of (Foc) VCGs in East and Central
Africa; 5. Screening of Rwandan Musa germplasm for reaction to different (Foc) VCGs collected in
Rwanda;
37
6. Monitoring government „Kamaramasenge‟ mother gardens for Fusarium wilt symptoms.
These mother gardens are being established to produce up to 15,000,000 plantlets for the
establishment of large plantations destined to be commercially processed into juice and wine
for export markets.
Initial VCG characterisation work of Rwandan samples carried out at the laboratory of Plant
Pathology (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) indicates that all isolates belong to Foc Race 1.
4.5. Improving seed systems
4.5.1. Novel macropropagation techniques
Macropropagation is a technique that is used to produce numerous shoots from an existing corm. If carried out correctly, it can be a rapid means of producing a large number of disease-free plantlets
at low cost, thus making it a technology that can be scaled out to resource-poor farmers.
With the aim of enabling small-scale farmers to produce planting materials independently and/or
provide them with a means to earn some extra income a CIALCA trial focusing on the construction of a novel low-cost prototype macropropagation unit (Photo 28) was initiated at the end of 2009.
Units were constructed in two contrasting agro-ecological sites, Bujumbura (800 masl, warm
climate, moderate BBTD pressure) and Gitega (1,800 masl, cooler climate, no BBTD).
The objectives of the study are four-fold: (i) to compare the cost effectiveness of standard macro-
propagation units with units made entirely from local materials; (ii) determine the effect of
genotype, planting date, temperature, and initiation media on sucker growth and quality; (iii) make low-cost macro-propagation units and BBTV free-suckers readily available to resource poor
farmers; (iv) boost farmer‟s income through the multiplication of clean banana planting materials.
The trials will equally provide information on possible BBTD infection rates in the
macropropagation units in Bujumbura considering the omnipresence of the disease.
Photo 27:Typical Fusarium symptoms (yellow leaves with broken petioles
Photo 26: Typical Fusarium symptoms discoloration of vascular
tissue in the leaf sheaths.
38
Photo 28: Assessing banana plantlet production using novel low-cost prototype macropropagation units in Burundi.
4.5.2. Use of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to enhance tissue culture plantlet growth.
The use of tissue culture (TC) materials faces challenges during the establishment phase.
The plantlets are devoid of the sufficient
food resources as provided by the corm,
and lack rhizosphere microbes, some of
which suppress pests and diseases and
enhance nutrient availability. Arbuscular
mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate
symbionts that form an association with
over 80% plant species. They enhance
nutrient uptake and have the ability to
suppress pests and diseases. Musa spp.
associate well with AMF. They can
therefore be used to alleviate soil-related
and pest and disease related constraints.
This has been established under
greenhouse conditions with no evidence
of sustained performance in the field. It is
from this perspective that a field trial was
established at two sites in one of the
major banana and plantain growing
countries, Rwanda, to establish whether
AMF would enhance establishment and
subsequent yield of TC bananas in
Rwanda. Two sites of contrasting soil
fertility were selected.
The trial was established in two banana
growing regions Kibungo and Rubona
using two district banana cultivars,
cooking variety Mpologoma (AAA-EA)
and a dessert variety Kamaramasenge
(AA), both of economic importance to
Rwanda. Three types of inoculants were used: two mixed and one single species, all
isolated from soils from banana plantations in Rwanda. The two mixed inoculants were
derived from soil in Kibungo and Rubona. The treatment explanation presented on the
Effect of AMF on growth of mother plants of Mpologoma (AAA-
EA) and Kamaramasenge (AA) cultivars
0
50
100
150
200
250
Rubona
AMF Kib
Rubona
AMF Rub
Rubona
Glom
Rubona
Contol R
Kibungo
AMF Kib
Kibungo
AMF Rub
Kibungo
Glom
Kibungo
Contrpl K
Apparent volume (cm3)
AM
F t
reatm
en
ts
Mpolongoma Kamaramasenge
Effect of AMF inoculation on Leaf surface area (LSA) of mother
plants of Mpologoma (AAA-EA) and Kamaramasenge (AA)
cultivars
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
Rubona
AMF Kib
Rubona
AMF Rub
Rubona
Glom
Rubona
Contol R
Kibungo
AMF Kib
Kibungo
AMF Rub
Kibungo
Glom
Kibungo
Contrpl K
AMF treatments
LS
A (
cm
2)
Mpologoma Kamaramasenge
Figure 19: Effect of AMF inoculation on leaf surface area of mother plants of two cultivars at 28 weeks after establishment
at the two sites (Rubona and Kibungo).
Figure 18: The effect of AMF inoculation on the apparent volume of mother plants of two cultivars at 28 weeks after field establishment at the two sites (Rubona and Kibungo)
39
graphs is as follows: Rubona AMF Kib,
Rubona AMF Rub, Rubona Glom and
Ribona Control R are treatments
established in Rubona with AMF
inoculum containing AMF species from
Kibungo (Kib), Rubona (Rub), Glomus
(Glom) and non-inoculated control in
Rubona (Control R); and Kibungo AMF
Kib, Kibungo AMF Rub, Kibungo Glom
and Kibungo ConK are treatments
established in Kibungo with AMF
inoculum containing AMF species from
Kibungo (Kib), Rubona (Rub), Glomus
(Glom) and non-inoculated control in
Kibungo.
Observations made in this study showed
effects of AMF inoculum to differ with
cultivar and sites. The cultivar, Mpologoma
(AAA-EA) was more responsive to
inoculation than Kamaramasenge (AA). All
the plant parameters evaluated (Apparent
volume –Height and Girth combined, leaf
surface area and yield) showed similar
trends (Figures 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22). The
two sites differed in their response to
inoculation. Rubona was more responsive
than Kibungo. The two sites differ in soil
phosphate (P) levels which is associated
most with AMF effectiveness, with
Rubona having higher P levels than
Kibungo.
The same pattern is emerging in the first
ratoon plants (Figures 20 and 21).
Observation made on yield also showed
non-inoculated treatments to have bunches
with the lowest weight or no bunches
(Figure 22). The AMF inoculant, AMF
Kibungo, derived from Kibungo soils was
the only inoculant that enhanced yield of Mpologoma in Kibungo. AMF inoculated
Kamaramasenge had higher bunch weights than non-inoculated controls.
The effect of AMF inoculation is sustained from the green house to the field and enhances
field establishment and subsequent yield. The performance is however dependent on
cultivars and soil conditions. It is possible that the low P levels at Kibungo is too low for
AMF functioning and needs to be amended before inoculation.
4.6. Banana and plantain germplasm characterization in DR Congo
Effect of AMF inoculation on growth of first ratoon plants of
Mpologoma and Kamaramasenge at two sites
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Rubona
AMF Kib
Rubona
AMF Rub
Rubona
Glom
Rubona
Contol R
Kibungo
AMF Kib
Kibungo
AMF Rub
Kibungo
Glom
Kibungo
Contrpl K
AMF treatments
Ap
pare
nt
vo
lum
e (
cm
3)
Mpologoma Kamaramasenge
Effects AMF inoculation on leaf surface area (LSA) of first
ratoon plants of Mpologoma (AAA-EA) and kamaramasenge
(AA) at two Rubona and Kibungo
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Rubona
AMF Kib
Rubona
AMF Rub
Rubona
Glom
Rubona
Contol R
Kibungo
AMF Kib
Kibungo
AMF Rub
Kibungo
Glom
Kibungo
Contrpl K
AMF treatments
LS
A (
cm
2)
Mpologoma Kamaramasenge
Effect of AMF inoculation on average bunch weight of
Mpologoma and Kamaramasenge
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Rubona
AMF Kib
Rubona
AMF Rub
Rubona
Glom
Rubona
Contol R
Kibungo
AMF Kib
Kibungo
AMF Rub
Kibungo
Glom
Kibungo
Control K
AMF treatments
Bu
nch
weig
ht
(Kg
)
Mpologoma Kamaramasenge
Figure 20: Effect of AMF inoculation on the apparent volume of first ratoon plants of two banana cultivars at two sites.
Figure 21: Effect of AMF inoculation on leaf surface area of first ratoon plants of two cultivars at two sites.
Figure 22: Effect of AMF inoculation on yield of mother plants at the two sites.
40
Musa germplasm characterization work in DR Congo continued in 2009 in partnership with the
Catholic University of Graben, Butembo, North Kivu; the INERA Mulungu, South Kivu research
station and the University of Kisangani (UNIKIS). Collected banana and plantain germplasm is
being characterized in Musa collections (@ UNIKIS, Kisangani; Butembo and Mavivi, North Kivu; Mulungu, South Kivu).
In North Kivu, there are 30 varieties of cooking bananas, 11 varieties of beer banana, 21 varieties of plantain and 9 varieties of dessert banana in the Butembo collection, while 31 varieties of
plantain have been established at the Mavivi collection. All the collected plantain germplasm in
north Kivu will be established at both collections (Mavivi and Butembo) to assess the effect of altitude on growth and yield. This will complement an initial and still ongoing student research
work on the effect of altitude (4 locations ranging from
1,100 to 2,250 masl) on plantain growth and yield.
A characterization study of bananas and plantains in 27
villages across Tshopo district, Oriental province, DR
Congo was carried out during 2009. The survey reported 56 different cultivars mainly dominated by French
plantains (43%) and False Horn plantains (25%). The
dessert bananas represented 15% of the germplasm with „Gros Michel‟ and „Yangambi Km5‟ (Musa AAA) as
the most widely spread genotypes (3.6 and 3.5 %
respectively).
Four new plantain cultivars (Moikili, Inekele Ikumi, Ndikatinda and Nkalia) were collected and have been
established at the UNIKIS, Kisangani plantain collection
(Photo 29). The UNIKIS collection currently contains 76 plantain genotypes. The survey reported that the French plantain „Litete‟, the False Horn
plantain „Libanga Likale‟ and the dessert banana „Gros Michel‟ are the most appreciated cultivars.
Further morphological characterization work with UNIKIS/UCG students will continue in
2010/2011 covering South Kivu, Maniema, North Kivu, Ituri, Haut Uele, Bas Uele, and Equateur.
4.7. Human nutrition and post-harvest
In the framework of a CIALCA PhD study, a preliminary survey (Table 5) was carried out in South-West Uganda, Kirundo (Burundi), and North and South Kivu (DR Congo) to assess banana
cultivar prevalence and to establish the dietary patterns and nutrition status of smallholder
household members (Photos 30 and 31).
Photo 30: Women group discussions. Photo 31: Household survey - height measurements.
Photo 29: Newly collected plantain genotypes in Oriental province, DR Congo established at the
UNIKIS, Kisangani collection.
41
Table 5: A preliminary nutrition survey was carried out in Uganda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo. Most popular Musa cultivars and products are presented.
Retention of provitamin A caretenoids (pVACs) during fruit ripening in some popular Musa
cultivars
The most popular cultivars at the study sites were identified. The subsequent pre-screening using
the HarvestPlus color chart identified the EAHB and the plantain varieties at each site with the
highest likelihood of having more pVACs (Table 6). For each cultivar the 2nd
and 3rd
hand on green
mature bunches were collected and transported to the IITA laboratory at Namulonge, Uganda for further processing. Samples were taken at ripening stages 1, 3, 5 and 7 and were lyophilized for 72
hours. pVAC analysis was carried at KUL, Leuven, Belgium. Data analysis and interpretation of
results is being carried out. Further work on retention of pVACs in processed Musa fruits and level of bioavailability of pVACs from common processed Musa products/dishes will be carried out in
2010.
Table 6: The most popular Musa cultivars were pre-screened for carotenoids using the HarvestPlus colour chart.
Country Region/Site Cultivar name Genomic
group
Ripening
stage Color code (H+ strip)
Uganda
Bushenyi Entaragaza AAA 1 RHS: 3/3 1205U
Bushenyi Entaragaza AAA 3 RHS: 3/2 120U
Bushenyi Gonja-Manjaya AAB 1 RHS 9/3 7507U
Bushenyi Gonja-Manjaya AAB 3 RHS 9/2 1355U
Bushenyi Gonja-Manjaya AAB 5 RHS 9/2 1355U
DR Congo
South Kivu Nshika AAA 3 RHS 7/2 121U
South Kivu Barhebesha AAA 3 RHS 1/2 101U
South Kivu Musheba AAB 5 RHS 9/2 1355U
North Kivu Musilingo AAB 3 RHS 9/3 7507U
North Kivu Musilingo AAB 4 RHS 9/2 1355U /RHS 9 137U
North Kivu Vulambya AAA 3 RHS 7/2 121U
Burundi Pre-screening not done
Country
Site
Village
No FGDs
#
HHs
Most popular banana
cultivars Most popular banana
products
EAHB Plantain
Uganda Bushenyi
District
Kakanju
& Kagango
6 groups
97
participants
168 1.Entaragaza
2.Mbwazirume 1.Gonja
1. Steamed banana in leaves
(Entaragaza/mbwazirume).
2.Roasted plantain (Gonja)
3.Boiled banana (mbwazirume)
Burundi Kirundo
Commune
Cewe,
Kirundo
Rural,
Gikuyo
6 groups
94
participants
269 Inyamushanga
None
identified as
popular
1.Boiled banana (salt & water),
2.Boiled banana mixed with
beans and amaranths
DR
Congo
Beni
territory
North Kivu
Rwakhwa,
Kisungu,
Mabuku
6 groups
99
participants
163 Vulambya Musilongo
1. Boiled plantain (ndizi from
musilongo)
2.Boiled banana visamunyo-
Vulambya
3. Baby porridge made from
musilongo flour (sometimes
mixed with Cassava flour,
Bukavu
Territory
South Kivu
Kajeje,
Miti,
Mureza
8 groups
238
participants
209 Nshika Musheba
1. Boiled musheba (ndizi)
2. Boiled cooking banana
(Nshika)
3. Baby porridge from Musheba
flour, sometimes mixed with
cassava flour 2;1,
42
5. Upstream research at Belgian Universities (KUL, UCL, Gembloux)
5.1. Drought stress - Characterization, development and evaluation of
adapted germplasm (at K.U.Leuven)
Banana has a peculiar physiology and is hypersensitive to water deficits. Agriculturally, water deficit has a big impact. As soon as the soil begins to dry, transpiration decreases, leaf elongation
stops and the productivity is heavily affected. Water deficit during fruit setting reduces fruit size,
which is an important criterion for markets. Contrary to the leaves, the fruit continues to grow, albeit at a much slower rate.
Bananas stop growing and, by means of high root pressure, remain highly hydrated from the
moment a shortage in water is sensed. The mechanism by which this might occur is that abscisic
acid is produced upon drought sensing. Consequently the stomata are closed, transpiration is limited and growth is arrested. With this drought tolerance mechanism banana is able to survive
long periods of soil water deficit but the disadvantage is that agricultural production is
„oversensitive‟ to soil drying! There is a large gap in knowledge in physiological responses and the genetic variation of banana and traditional methods to characterize the drought tolerance are
failing.
We developed a model to evaluate different criteria for the physiological assessment of the effect of drought under in vitro conditions and have investigated the reactions of the leaf proteome
of the most tolerant variety.
To develop an in vitro model to screen for drought tolerant Musa varieties, we carried out two main
experiments: the characterization and identification of the effects of different (i) sorbitol and (ii)
abscisic acid concentrations on the growth of different Musa species.
Sorbitol lowers the osmotic potential of
the medium and limits the water
availability. This mimics drought and consequently plant growth is slowed
down (Figure 23). By screening
multiple Musa varieties belonging to different genomic groups (AAA,
AAAh, AAB, AABp, ABB and BBB)
we were able to show that there is a significant difference in growth
retardation. Figure 23 shows the
phenotypes of the different cultivars
under both control and stress conditions. The ABB varieties have the
lowest growth reduction (Figure 24).
We consider the ABB varieties as the
most tolerant and the highland
bananas as the most drought
sensitive.
Figure 23: Phenotype of Musa cultivars grown on control and stress conditions 1: AAAh (Mbwazirume) 2: AAA (Williams), 3: AAB (Popoulou), 4: ABB (Cachaco), 5: AABp (Obino l'Ewai), 6: BBB (Lep Chang Kut), six weeks after initiation of the experiment.
43
Figure 24: Estimation of growth reduction of Musa
cultivars due to sorbitol osmotic stress: % of reduction of Dry Weight Gain (GDW).
Figure 25: Principal Component Analysis: score plot of
the 12 leaf proteomes.
Subsequently, we characterized the proteome of the tolerant ABB variety Cachaco via Two-
dimensional Difference Gel Electrophoresis (DIGE). Six control plantlets and six sorbitol (0,2M)
stressed plantlets were analyzed. After extraction of the leaf proteome, 2295 ± 89 different proteins
could be characterized. Principal Component Analysis indicates that the proteome of the sorbitol stressed plants is clearly different (Figure 25). Seventy eight proteins were significantly more
abundant in the sorbitol stressed plants and nine proteins were significantly more abundant in the
control plant (Figure 26) (Student T-Test, FDR, α 0,05). Proteins are currently being identified via tandem mass spectrometry.
Figure 26: Principal Component Analysis. (a) Loading plot of the individual proteins; significant proteins are indicated in blue. (b) up regulation of an individual protein after osmotic stress.
44
As described above, abscisic acid is produced upon drought sensing. In order to see whether there
is a difference in sensitivity to abscisic acid, we applied different concentrations of abscisic acid to
the different cultivars and we are currently quantifying the growth retardation caused by abscisic
acid.
5.2. Soil nutrient dynamics in banana systems (at the Université Catholique
de Louvain–la-Neuve (UCL))
Although root health and interaction with soil microorganisms are amongst the major yield
determinants in Great Lakes banana cropping systems, they have been poorly investigated in this region. Understanding these relationships could help to boost yields. A PhD study was designed to
investigate the effect of plant parasitic nematodes and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on
banana. The studies were mainly conducted at farm-level.
In a field experiment, Pratylenchus. goodeyi
2 had low impact on yield of highland banana (AAA-
EA). Low to medium levels (≤ 50%) of root necrosis were associated with improved plant growth while higher root necrosis (> 50%) had no effect on banana yield reduction (Figure 27).
AM were widespread, however, root colonization, AM fungi population density and diversity
highly varied according to edapho-climatic conditions (i.e. rainfall, soil texture and P content) and soil management practices (tillage). AM colonized healthy banana roots up to 120 cm depth
(Figure 28), while poor vigour plants were colonized to significantly higher levels (P < 0.05)
(Figure 29) and may therefore have been more dependent on their associated AM fungal partners compared to plants having good vigour. Root colonization by AM fungi decreased with soil depth
and with reduction in soil water content, and higher colonization lead to more vigorous root
systems. 2 The root lesion nematode Pratylenchus goodeyi is a major Musa pest
Figure 27: Effect of root necrosis on banana yield in mulched (left) and non-mulched plots (right), Kibuye, Western Rwanda (on farm experiment).
45
Depth 0-20 cm
0
25
50
75
100
Butare
/Acrisol
Giheta
/Nitisol
Gashonga
/Ferralsol
Kibungo
/Nitisol
Ruhengeri
/Andosol
Fre
qu
en
cy
of
arb
us
cu
les
(%
)
Good vigour
Poor vigour
Studies of mycorrhizal status of different banana cultivars revealed that all studied cultivars had
similar root colonization. However, extent of colonisation is largely determined by environmental conditions: rainfall and soil chemical properties (especially soil P). This study highlighted strong
effect of environment on the AM fungi-banana genotype interaction.
a
b
b a
b
a a a a
b
Figure 28: Frequency of occurrence of the arbuscular structures of the AM fungi in banana roots at different soil depth classes in five banana growing areas in Rwanda and Burundi.
Figure 29: Frequency of occurrence of the arbuscular structures of the AM fungi in banana roots in plots with good and poor plant vigour in five banana growing areas in Rwanda and Burundi.
46
The effect of banana plant
inoculation with
indigenous AM fungi was dependent on soil type and
on banana genotype
(Photo 32). Acrisol, having low soil fertility,
coarser texture and low
natural AM fungi populations, favoured
greatest plant growth
increase as compared to
Ferrasol and Nitisol, having low P, higher
natural AM fungi
populations and better soil fertility. Poorer root
development of the banana
variety Musakala coincided with its highest
response to the AM fungi
inoculation compared to
FHIA 17 and Sukali Ndiizi, which suggested
higher dependency of
Musakala on the AM fungi inoculation.
This research opens new perspectives for development of appropriate environmentally friendly technologies for low-input production systems in the east African Highlands (EAH). Further
research should focus on development and promotion of appropriate crop and soil management
practices at farm and watershed scale. These practices should be not only crop- and soil- friendly, but also AM fungi-friendly. Functional groups of the AM fungi populating disturbed environments
(with low soil fertility, high erosion-prone steep slopes, and intensive tillage) in the EAH should be
identified and characterized, while these areas should constitute priority sites for research and
promotion of integrated soil and crop management in banana cropping systems.
5.3 Agricultural innovation processes
This research is being led by the UCL team in Belgium under the supervision of Prof. Philippe
Baret, together with the CIALCA post-doc Dr. Laurence Jassogne and the PhD student Julie Van Damme. The purpose of this research is to better understand the drivers of technology adoption,
adaptation, and development by farmers in the Great Lakes region. Knowing the drivers of these
processes will help CIALCA to better tailor and target technology development and dissemination. The research focuses primarily on banana-based cropping systems (Figure 30), but the system
drivers will apply to all technologies that CIALCA works on in these smallholder systems. The
research involved comprises several steps: (i) characterizing farming systems diversity based on the
CIALCA diagnostic surveys and in depth interviews with banana stakeholders; (ii) constraint
pasteurized soil non-pasteurized soil
Acrisol
Photo 32: Growth of AM fungi inoculated (M+) and non-inoculated (M-) banana plants (cv. Musakala) on different soils (Acrisol, upper image; Nitisol, middle image, and Ferralsol, below image) at ISAR, Rubona, Rwanda.
47
analysis; (iii) identification of innovation pathways; (iv) feedback from stakeholders on innovation
pathways; (v) feedback on effectiveness of identified innovation pathways, and (vi) final selection
of most appropriate innovation pathways.
Figure 30: Example of symbolic representation of farming systems. The coloured bananas represent the percentage beer bananas (blue), cooking bananas (green), dessert bananas (yellow), and plantains (red). The site are Rwanda East (RE),
Rwanda South (RS), Rwanda West (RO), Burundi-Gitega (BU), and DRC-South Kivu (CO).
Results to date show a large diversity of farming systems in the region, with substantial differences
in resources (physical, natural, financial, human, and social capital) between the sites in Rwanda,
DR Congo, and Burundi. Access to markets seems to be an important driver for varietal choice. Analysis from in-depth stakeholder interviews shows that there are large policy differences
between Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo. Whereas the latter two countries leave choices such as
varietal selection and crop management practices largely up to the farmers, in Rwanda the
government has a strong policy of agricultural intensification which includes (i) promotion of cooking varieties, (ii) erosion control and discouragement of intercropping practices, and (iii)
regionalization of crop choices, and (iv) consolidation of cropped land and farmers. It‟s clear that
policy makers and farmers have sometimes conflicting views about the benefits and
effectiveness of such policies and extension
agents often find themselves in the
uncomfortable position of having to encourage farmers to adopt the policy on the
one hand, but facing resistance from farmers
to change their traditional banana cropping systems.
This research on agricultural innovation processes is currently being expanded to
explore the opportunities and constraints to
the adoption of banana x coffee systems.
The latter systems are dominant in parts of Uganda, Tanzania, and East DR Congo.
Photo 33: Banana x coffee intercrop trials in Gitega, Burundi.
48
However, Rwanda and Burundi have been recommending and imposing farmers to practice coffee
monocropping. Recent studies have highlighted that the banana x coffee intercrop systems provide
many socio-economic and biophysical benefits to the farmers, including: (i) increased income from
the land, (ii) better spread of risks and better temporal distribution of income, (iii) maintenance of coffee yields. The results from the region have been presented to coffee experts and authorities in
both Rwanda and Burundi and both countries have expressed interest in further exploring the
potential of these intercrop systems. This has allowed us to start research in Burundi through a PhD student (Anaclet Nibasumba) from ISABU. He is conducting on-farm surveys and on-station trials
at two contrasting sites in Burundi (Gitega, Kayanza) (Photo 33). The on-station trials include both
old and newly established coffee plantations. The trials were setup in 2009. Early results suggest that young coffee plants in particular benefit from the presence of bananas.
5.4. Collaboration between CIALCA and the Faculté Universitaire des
Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux (FusaGx) for BBTV research
Within the framework of a collaboration between CIALCA and the Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux (FusaGx), Burundian CIALCA PhD student Célestin
Niyongere participated in a fully-funded lab training in Belgium. The 3-month-long molecular
biology training course focused on (i) the use of the PhytoPass sampling system to diagnose the presence of BBTV in more than 150 banana leaf samples collected in the Great lakes sub-region
(Burundi, Rwanda, and DR Congo); (ii) the selection within published literature of PCR primer
pairs capable of amplifying BBTV strains and subsequent optimization of PCR conditions; and (iii)
the sequencing of yielded PCR fragments with the aim of characterizing strains. Preliminary results suggest that the PhytoPass sampling system falls short of the objectives set with only 28% (28/102)
of visually severely affected samples containing the virus when detected by PCR. The quality of
the DNA extracted from the PhytoPass has been reported as being the cause. Research in 2010 will additionally focus on identifying a cheap and effective sample collection technique that is able to
yield DNA of sufficiently good quality to be used for PCR. (See also Annex 4 for a list of
Belgium-based University staff supported by/involved in CIALCA.)
6. Enhancing adoption and reaching scale
6.1. Innovation and extension through development partners CIALCA technology dissemination pathway builds on a vertical and horizontal model to reach out
to farmers with improved agricultural technologies.
The vertical pathway consists in development of interfaces with extension of technology and
skills to development partners who have a network of farmer/grassroots organizations as
beneficiaries. Development partners take forward the dissemination process by extending the
acquired technologies to beneficiary farmer/grassroots organizations that are also connected to a network of member households. It is also through development partners that CIALCA out-scales
technologies to non-action sites, in order to ensure adequate geographic coverage. The vertical
extension pathway has three levels of intervention: Level 1 consists in technology development, demonstration and extension to development partners involved with livelihood security
interventions, but lack adequate technological solutions to achieve their goals. At this level,
CIALCA undertakes i) germplasm characterization and adaptation, on-farm trials and participatory evaluation and adaptation of best-fit interventions, and farming systems modelling; ii) participatory
germplasm selection (agronomic and sensory evaluation) to determine farmer preferred varieties;
iii) large scale multiplication of farmer preferred varieties for dissemination; iv) development of
49
partnerships win-win with development partners. Level 2 consists in technologies and capacities
transfer to development partners and public extension organizations. At this level, i) CIALCA
developments and implements a joint and co-funded action plan with partners, transfers
technologies to partners and build their capacities, ii) provides technical backstopping to partners for establishment of mother gardens, demonstration and farmer-managed multiplication sites/units,
iii) provides training or market linkages, iv) and technically backstops out-scaling of technologies
to farmers/grassroots organizations by partners. Level 3 consists in i) extension of technologies to farmer/grassroots organizations by partners, and ii) enhancement of grassroots level collective
action, technical and marketing skills by partners or in association with or technical backstopping
by CIALCA.
In order to achieve its objective of vertical dissemination of technologies, CIALCA is now working
hand-in-hand with national and international development organizations across the Great Lakes
Region, as summarized in section 6.6 below.
The horizontal pathway mainly consists in grassroots level dissemination: farmer groups-to-
farmer groups, households-to-households, farmers-to-farmers, imitation by farmers who did not take part in the formal process, etc. At this level of dissemination, CIALCA and partners have less
or no direct interventions, and build on grassroots organizations.
6.2. Training of technicians, extension staff, and farmer associations
Training of stakeholders is an important
activity of CIALCA because (i) capacity
for sustainable agricultural development has decreased substantially in most of the
CIALCA Mandate Areas due to years of
civil strife and conflict and (ii) sustainability of project activities requires
enhancing the capacity of all major
stakeholders in advancing the development and dissemination of
CIALCA-related products. An important
set of activities is related to group training
events for farmer organizations, governmental (mainly in Rwanda) and
non-governmental extension staff, and
students and technicians in the various themes that CIALCA is working on,
including topics related to seed multiplication, better soil fertility management, improved market
access, and improved health and nutrition. All these themes are directly related to the impact
indicators of the second phase of the CIALCA project.
Between the start of the project in 2006 and the end of 2009, over 6900 people were trained of
which 60% were women (Table 7). A total of 5219 (68% women) farmer representatives were trained on topics including seed multiplication, Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM),
market access, and nutrition (Photo 34).
Photo 34: A group training event on soybean processing and utilization in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo.
50
Table 7: Target themes and stakeholders that have participated in group training events organized by CIALCA between
2006 and 2009, differentiated by gender.
The relative high proportion of women farmers involved in these training activities is related to the fact that in many Mandate Areas, CIALCA activities are implemented through a relatively high
number of women associations. A total of 1497 (35% women) extension staff was trained on topics
such as ISFM, market access facilitation, appropriate banana management technologies, and banana macro-propagation (Table 7). While participating farmers were mainly women,
participating extensionists were mainly men. This is in line with realities in the field which indeed
show that while most farmers are women, most extension staff are men. For both the training of
farmer association representatives and extension staff, a large number of events followed the „training-of-trainers‟ approach whereby people that participated directly in the group training
events were planned to continue the training events and disseminate information and knowledge to
the next level of stakeholders. While over 6900 people participated in group training events, above logic will certainly have resulted in a substantially larger number of farmers trained. Detailed
figures are not available but this issue will be included in the preliminary impact assessment study
of CIALCA, to be implemented around June – July 2010. A total of 221 research technicians and students (36% women) participated in group training events around experimentation and data
analysis (Table 7).
6.3. Outreach and communication
The CIALCA Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC) - Ensuring effective flow and
application of information and knowledge from research for development.
The context of the Consortium‟s multidisciplinary team of field scientists and development partners
operating in dispersed intervention sites presents unique challenges for achieving effective project communication and knowledge dissemination.
Why a Knowledge Resource Centre? At a CIALCA multi-stakeholder integration meeting in late 2008 it was recommended to organize a
joint regional centre for project documentation and information. It was agreed this would greatly
strengthen the Consortium by centralizing knowledge access, supporting the continuity and
harmonization of project messages, and providing a common platform for partners and stakeholders to engage with the project.
The Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC) is conceived to support and facilitate the achievement of
Stakeholder
group Theme
# participants
♂ ♀ Total
Farmer
associations
Seed multiplication 180 181 362
ISFM 323 1750 2073
Market access 159 144 302
Nutrition 995 1487 2482
Sub-total 1657 3562 5219
Extension (NGO facilitators,
government
extension
ISFM 149 78 227
Market access facilitation 86 81 167
Banana management 344 137 481 Macro-propagation 391 231 622
Sub-total 970 527 1497
Students and
technicians Experimentation and analysis 141 80 221
Sub-total 141 80 221
Overall total: 2768 4169 6937
51
positive impacts. When fully operational, the KRC will identify and activate impact pathways to
disseminate new project knowledge and innovative technologies to end-users and stakeholders. The
KRC will develop a comprehensive „knowledge into use‟ strategy in collaboration with
stakeholders, and considerable effort will be invested in repackaging e.g. scientific publications, reports, technical extension information into client-adapted materials (posters, leaflets, videos,
radio announcements, fact sheets, etc.). By closely monitoring the use of this knowledge and
modifying approaches as necessary, it is expected that the KRC will make an important contribution to the out-scaling of research results and to improved income, productivity and human
nutrition and health in Central Africa (and beyond).
Through its Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM), the German Development
Cooperation has endorsed a proposal to fund a Communications Expert for 4 years, who will
coordinate the activities of the KRC, beginning in September 2010. This programme is supported
by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH – German Technical Cooperation – and the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) (see Table 10, Section 6.8).
6.4. Legume seed multiplication
Access to improved legume seed is
considered a major requirement to
enable the application ISFM
practices, and obtain increases in
productivity. The strategy for seed
multiplication and facilitating
access to introduced varieties
follows both formal and informal
pathways (for more details, see
CIALCA reports 2007 and 2008).
In the formal pathway, a number of
high-performing bean and soybean
varieties have been identified for
each region and fully characterized
through the INERA and ISAR
legume programs. Continued effort
is invested in the homologation of
these varieties, and supplying the national seed systems (RADA and the Service National
des Semances [SENASEM]) with foundation seed for further multiplication and
dissemination through the national networks. Emphasis is however given to farmer
association-led informal seed multiplication, facilitated by NGO partners, in collaboration
with the national legume programs. National seed systems are involved in training and
accreditation. Progress has been made since last year, and estimations indicate that at least
twice as many households as in 2008 (i.e. about 5000 households) are now multiplying and
utilising improved legume varieties. The impact study planned in July 2010 will provide a
more accurate estimation of the number of households attained in the action and satellite
sites. Most progress was made in Sud-Kivu (Photo 35) and Bas-Congo. In Burundi,
activities only started recently.
Photo 35: multiplication of improved legume germplasm in Sud-
Kivu, DR Congo
52
6.5. Market access and agro-enterprise development The value-chain framework employed in CIALCA focuses on banana-legume systems in
combination with cassava and cereals and is based on previous value-chain analyses of agricultural
commodities and especially CIAT‟s Agro-enterprise approach to agricultural chains. Among others, this approach involves the following:
Identification of all the supply-chains of legumes and value addition within the study area highlighting the actors at each level.
Gross margin analyses along the chains for each of the actors are computed by tracing
each end-product back to its origin. Opportunities and constraints for improving the supply chain‟s competitiveness and
efficiency are identified.
Interventions to enhance the ability of the producers to adopt the technologies necessary to increase the benefits from the value-chains (and pilot analyses of these
interventions)
Facilitating producer associations for market access In 2009, a number of training sessions targeting partner NGOs to improve their input-output market
facilitation and interactions with farmers associations are constantly conducted by CIALCA in its
action sites and sometimes also in the satellite sites. A total of over 21 NGO, CIALCA, and NARS facilitators from Rwanda and North Kivu Province of the DR Congo participated. They were
trained on participatory value-chain analysis and selection, participatory market research, and
development of business plans.
The participants came from the following organisations: Appui à la Filière Semencière du Rwanda
(Support project to the Rwanda Seed Commodity Chain) [AFSR-RADA]; Institut des Science
Agronomique du Rwanda (ISAR) ; Institut National pour l'Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA) ; Africa Evangelical Enterprise in Rwanda (AEE) ; Eglise presbytérienne au Rwanda
(EPR), African Highlands intitiative (AHI-Uganda) ; APOVEB ; ROFEPACO ; VECO (DR
Congo) ; Bureau d'Appui aux Initiatives Rurales (BAIR), and farmers from Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo. More partnerships were initiated in Rwanda with World Vision, Catholic Relief
Services (CRS), Lutheran World Foundation (LWF), EPR to facilitate the adoption of the
technologies developed by CIALCA.
It is recognized that sustainability of farmer activities hinges on successful integration with the private sector in the input and output markets. In 2009, a mapping of fertilizer vendors in South
Kivu Province in the DR Congo was conducted so as to link them with the CIALCA associations in
the province. Three fertilizer suppliers were identified (Pharmacie Lobiko, ADVS, and Service National des Fertilisants et Intrants Connexes [SENAFIC]) together with their prices, types of
fertilizers handled and as well as quantities traded. There are major price differences among these
dealers.
In 2009, associations continued gaining commercialization skills through preparation of business
plans. The business plan presents the production plans, the resources required to operate their
farms, the potential markets for the expected outputs as well as the financial implications of the expected activities. The plans are being used to show the impacts of borrowing on the ability to
payback to estimate the ability of farmers to generate adequate returns to be payback. In Rwanda, 4
farmer associations have participated (currently new associations are being incorporated). In the DR Congo, those associations whose capacity has been identified are now undergoing a mentoring
process to strengthen their financial capacity, through internal savings and credit management, an
area that has adversely affected their ability to bulk products for collective marketing in the past. Market and enterprise research for legumes is undertaken to evaluate the influence of various
technological interventions on the profitability of selected legume enterprises in the mandate areas.
Results from studies on legume producers conducted in Western DR Congo show that some
legumes are relatively profitable while others are not. An example for results from Bas Congo
53
(Figure 31) show that the legumes perform differently and this is also different for men and
women in the two regions of Zenga and Kanga Kipeti. The differences may be attributed to market
access factors since Kanga Kipeti has a relatively better access to main markets (Mbanza Ngungu)
and is closer to the main road.
Figure 31: Comparative figures for net revenues between women and men across legumes in Zenga and Kanga Kipeti
regions of Bas Congo3.
Beans proved the most profitable legume. The performance of groundnuts and cowpeas was mixed; men showed profitability but women showed losses. Between the two regions, Zenga reported
losses for both groundnut and cowpeas produced by women. Thus Kanga Kipeti is more favourable
for production of all legumes while Zenga favours production of beans.
In 2009, associations in Bas Congo, South Kivu were reassessed to help refocus them on using new
technologies to produce sustainably for the market. Assessment of associations in Rwanda and
Burundi continues in 2010. Based on the results of the assessments, programs have been designed to strengthen the associations to make them ready for commercialization of their farming activities.
Based on the results of the assessments in South Kivu and Bas Congo, mentoring programs have
been initiated for developing business plans and mutual savings schemes. Four networks of
associations in South Kivu are preparing the business plans for implementation in the main planting season of 2010. A similar number is expected in Bas Congo. A major component of the business
plans is incorporation of fertilizer and other credit and subsequent repayment of the credit within
the plans. This activity is also being taken up on a pilot basis with a few farmer associations in the mandate areas.
To strengthen farmer associations in savings and credit, CIALCA collaborated with a partner, Louvain Development, to initiate mutual savings and credit schemes among the associations in
South Kivu on pilot basis. All the groups within the associations were sensitized at the end of 2009
and planned to initiate the savings schemes in 2010. This activity will help to provide short term
credit for investments in the farming activities especially for fertilizer and seed purchases.
Motivating adoption of ISFM technologies through strategic storage and credit schemes: The
case of warrantage4 pilot schemes in CIALCA, South Kivu Province, DR Congo.
The interest in markets by farmers in south Kivu led them to begin building stores for their
products in 2009. Increased productivity arising from use of fertilizers, improved germplasm and better agronomic practices, all promoted by International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
through the ISFM program contributed to this interest. Without a market, the benefits of these
technologies may not be realized and/or sustained. Farmers need funds for their daily living
3 The units used are Congolese Francs (FC) with 1 USD being around 465 FC at the time of the data collection. The unit of computation
is the hectare. 4 This is a French word with no one word translation but it means a goods‟ transfer warrant
54
expenses; however they need funds, too, for acquiring farm inputs at planting time, a time when
there are usually food shortages and lack of funds. Inability to invest in the technology due to
shortage of funds may have negative effects on adoption of the technologies, thus contributing to
the poverty vicious cycle in many households.
Photo 36: One of the stores the associations are
constructing in preparation for warrantage schemes in Burhale, South Kivu, one of the CIALCA sites
Photo 37: Farmers preparing grains for storage under
pilot warrantage system in Luhihi, DRC.
A warrantage scheme is a form of credit scheme where producers come together to store their
products for sale at a more convenient period and are financed by a third party for the duration of storage of the products (Photos 36 and 37). Repayment of the credit occurs once the warrantage is
exercised in the presence of producers and financiers. The products act as a form of collateral for
the credit. Two associations will initiate the scheme on a pilot basis, supported by CIALCA, Guichet d'Economie Locale (GEL) and a credit cooperative society. Other associations in other
mandate areas will also participate in 2010, after being assessed. The grains are kept in stores with
three padlocks, one padlock with the cashier of the credit cooperative, one by GEL that is supporting the associations by monitoring them and one by the farmers associations. The stores are
situated strategically at market centres.
Upon successful implementation of the system, this should have positive impacts on food security levels of the farmers and their communities, with more women participating in the economic
activities. Middlemen are reduced in the product chains, with farmers capturing more of the value
for themselves. There are some costs that the associations will incur during the warrantage period. These costs are to be offset against the revenues from the sale of the products in month of sale. The
credit received is used to pay for these warrantage costs before that take place before the month of
sale. Table 8 below summarizes the expected components of a warrantage activity. Table 8: Costs and Profitability determination of a warrantage scheme.
Item Warrantage Period : set by associations
Receipts, US$ Expenditure, US $ Net return
Credit from Financial institution √
(Advance) Payments to association members √
Improvement of store √
Product conservation √
Local authority charges √
Security costs √
Total expenditure before sale of product √
Loan balance and disbursements √
Revenue on sale of product in target month √
Re-imbursement of credit √
Interest on credit @ X% per month √
Net return on warrantage √
55
6.6. Human nutrition and post-harvest processing
In 2009, the CIALCA nutrition and health component research focused on reaching
thousands of farmer households in selected sites with knowledge and skills to produce and
process soy beans and other legumes to enrich and diversify poor diets. To achieve this
objective, strategic partnerships and alliances were forged with NGO partners and research studies
formulated to test impact of soy bean processing and utilization on not just diets but also nutrition and health status of vulnerable communities.
Three nutrition studies were conducted. In Rwanda, nutrient retention studies were conducted on selected soy bean products; soy milk, bean curd and soy bean flour, each processed using two
different methods. Samples were evaluated before and after processeing. In addition different soy
bean varieties were tested for quality of soy milk. Nutrients evaluated included; protein, lipids, iron
and vitamin A. Samples were processed and evaluated using atomic absorption at the National laboratories of ISAR. Table 9 shows nutrient content of selected soy bean products. Results show
that there are no significant losses in soy bean protein and lipids, given different processing
methods. However results on vitamins and mineral did not tally with expectations and showed considerable difference with the research literature. The evaluations will be repeated in 2010.
Table 9: Energy content and nutritional composition of selected soybean products.
Product Calories
(kcal)
Protein
(g)
Fat
(g)
Carbo-
hydrate (g)
Calcium
(mg)
Iron
(mg)
Fibre
(g)
Soybean, dry roasted,
½ cup 386 32.0 18.6 27.2 232 3.4 4.6
Tofu, firm, raw, 120g 116 11.8 7.1 3.4 166 8.5 0.1
Soymilk, ½ cup 162 3.2 2.3 2.2 5 0.7 0.9
Okara, ½ cup 48 2.2 1.1 7.8 49 0.8 2.5
In Bukavu, DR Congo, soy bean acceptability studies were conducted with communities that were
not accustomed to consuming soy beans. Soy milk, soy bean porridge, soy flour enriched
vegetables and soy bean curd were prepared and served to 37 participants from different institutions. Participants were asked to provide their taste preferences on a harmonized comment
sheet developed for this purpose. Results will be tabulated for different products and made
available in 2010.
In Bas Congo a study was conducted to determine the impact
of consuming soy bean enriched foods on nutrition status of children less than five years of age. 300 malnourished
children who were under weight for age were recruited for the
study. Mothers were trained on soy bean processing and
appropriate child feeding practices. 1 kg per week of soy bean meal was given to each child, with monthly serial monitoring
of weight gain. Soy bean consumption shows considerable
progress in weight gain at a glance. Preliminary data indicates consistent weight gain in children after two months of
consumption. Comparative analysis of average weight gain
for children who consumed or did not consume soy beans,
with and without nutrition education, will be the basis for recommendations to scale up such interventions. The children will be followed up for six months.
In each action site, partners were facilitated to develop soy bean demonstration gardens for seed multiplication and training on soy bean processing. In some cases partners conducted further TOT
Photo 38: Training of farmers on soymilk
processing – Kibungo Rwanda.
56
(training of trainers) in soy bean processing and utilization for community facilitators and farmers
(Photo 38). Over 500 trainers were trained. In addition linkages were developed to introduce other
legumes and crops that communities can combine with foods for balanced nutrition like orange
fleshed sweet potatoes and indigenous vegetables. In Bas Congo and South Kivu, NGO partners like CARITAS and World Vision have initiated community gardens for a food based approach to
micronutrient malnutrition (see CIALCA 2008 report for prevalence).
Adoption studies were initiated in Bas Congo and Rwanda. As result of continuous training,
selected preferred soy bean products are now processed by farmers. In Bas Congo, most commonly
processed products include soy bean flour and soy milk, in South Kivu soy milk tofu and soy flour enriched porridge and vegetables have been adopted while in Rwanda a number of products
including soy milk, soy nuts, okra enriched vegetables and soy flour for porridges are widely
adopted. To improve adoption of quality diets, recipe books are being developed to emphasis
cooking methods that minimize nutrient losses and enhance nutrient complementarities. Wide scale seed multiplication among health partners is required to enhance wide scale adoption.
Food Nutrition Security and health Characteristics of farmers In Sud-Kivu and Bas-Congo, prevalence of malnutrition is high in children under 5-year of age: 5-
10 % of children are moderately malnourished, and more than 20 % is at risk of malnutrition.
Malnutrition in all regions was widely associated with poor diets characterised by very low diversity (Figure 32). Food security is comprised of the food that people produce, what they can
buy, what they can forage from the wild and what they are given by relief agencies. Most
household consume 1 to 2 meals a day comprising of foods mainly from staple crops such as
cassava and banana. Intake of animal protein, fruits and vegetable (micronutrients sources) is low. In Sud-Kivu for example, less than 20 % of the children are given meat, fish or eggs more than
twice per week. Protein intake from legumes (mostly beans and soybean) is generally higher, but
only about 30-40 % of the children consume legumes on a daily basis.
0
10
20
30
40
50
Sud-Kivu Rwanda Bas-Congo
prop
ortio
n of
hou
seho
lds
(%)
moderate malnutrition
at risk
Figure 32: Malnutrition prevalence according to the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) in 2- to 5-year old children
in Sud-Kivu, Rwanda and Bas-Congo. Moderate malnutrition refers to children with MUAC< 12.5 cm, while at risk refers to MUAC = 12.5 – 13.5 cm.
Potential factors confounding intake include symptomatic manifestations, such as infection, worms,
fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, and others.
The final evaluation of the collaborative HealthNet TPO-CIALCA project was carried out.
The objective of this project was to strengthen the link between agriculture, nutrition and health. At the beginning of the project only 26% of the households interviewed had received nutrition
education. However, after the project more than 75% of the interviewed households in the target
areas had received some form of nutrition education. Apart from the 40 community own resource
persons (CORPs) trained at the beginning of project, there are now more than 100 community members working as CORPs involved in sensitizing the communities on the links between
agricultural production, nutrition and health. At the beginning of the project there were no
demonstration gardens that could serve as teaching aids to the community, while at the end of the
57
project there were 4 demonstration gardens established at 4 health centres run by CORPs. These
gardens are used as teaching aids during health and nutrition education sessions at the health
centres, the produce from the gardens is used during cooking demonstrations and is meant to serve
as planting material in the subsequent rainy season.
Banana nutrition brochures and fact sheets developed in 2008 were distributed to local
partners and community leaders in South Kivu, North Kivu and Burundi. The distribution was carried out with the help of several research and development partners (e.g., VECO, HealthNet
TPO, Concern Worldwide-Burundi, International Medical Corps (IMC- Burundi), Ministry of
Health-Burundi, ISABU, INERA).
6.7. Involvement of development partner organizations for dissemination of
CIALCA products through Satellite Sites in the various Mandate Areas CIALCA uses a geographical logic, including Mandate Areas [large areas where the project wants
to create impact], Action Sites [geographically limited areas where CIALCA products are being developed, evaluated, and adapted], and Satellite Sites [areas with a similar size as Action Sites
but where CIALCA products are being disseminated through its partners]. One of the expected
outcomes from the CIALCA-II project is that at the level of the Satellite Sites, the livelihoods of at least 9,000 households will be improved through improved productivity (at least 10%), income (at
least 10%), and protein intake (at least 10%, all against the baseline values). To achieve this output,
CIALCA has from its initiation always aimed at establishing active linkages with development
partners interested in agriculture and operating in the various Mandate Areas. As of the end of 2009, CIALCA has established active linkages with a total of 60 development partners, of which 9
operate in Burundi, 38 in DR Congo, and 13 in Rwanda (Table 10). All these relationships are
based on cost-sharing principles where CIALCA often covers the cost of training staff of partners and a limited amount of follow-up visits and the partner organization often covers all costs related
to engaging farmer organizations (e.g. training of farmer associations, installation of demonstration
trials). Most often, the details of the cooperation are specified in a Memorandum of Understanding between CIALCA and the respective partner organization. Besides using existing projects and
funding, in several cases, CIALCA and its partner organizations have tried to obtain additional
funding through collective proposal development activities targeted at specific donor organizations
(see section 6.8. on additional projects obtained).
Table 10: Development organizations working with CIALCA for dissemination of its products in the mandate areas/countries and main theme of those interactions. (60 organizations have been directly interacting with CIALCA).
Country/
mandate area Name partner (full + abbreviation); year starting interactions Specific activities
Burundi [9 partner organizations]
Burundi
Concern Worldwide Burundi; 2009
Evaluation of banana varieties, macro propagation; dissemination of banana crop, soil, and pest management; farmer capacity building
Agakura;
Croix Rouge du Burundi; 2009
Caritas Burundi; 2009
Floresta Burundi 2009
World Vision Burundi; 2009
CADI (Centre pour l'Autosuffisance et le Développement Integré); 2009
ADIC (Association pour le Développement Intégral des Communautés); 2009
CAPAD (Confédération des Associations des Producteurs
Agricoles pour le Développement); 2009
DR Congo – Bas-Congo [9 partner organizations]
DRC/ Bas-Congo
APRODEC (Association pour la Promotion du Développement Endogènes des Communautés de Base); 2006
Evaluation of germplasm; seed multiplication; adaptation trials; evaluation and demonstration of ISFM technologies; soybean processing and training; market
access facilitation
BDD Kisantu (Bureau Diocésain de Développement); 2006
BDD Matadi (Bureau Diocésain de Développement); 2006
CLD Nkolo (Comité Local de Développement); 2006
58
Country/
mandate area Name partner (full + abbreviation); year starting interactions Specific activities
Centres de Santés (various); 2007 Demonstration of soybean receipts; evaluation of food intake ; nutritional studies of children
Accès Financier; 2007-
Use of improved legume varieties, seed system, ISFM, market, soybean processing and training
Terre des Hommes; 2008
CRAFOD (Centre Régional d‟Appui et de Formation pour le Développement); 2009
Word Vision; 2009 Training on soybean processing
DR Congo – Nord-Kivu [9 partner organizations]
DRC/Nord-Kivu
VECO (Vredeseilanden); 2007
Evaluation of banana varieties, macro propagation; dissemination of banana crop, soil, and pest management; farmer capacity building
APADER (Association des producteurs agricoles pour le développement rural) ; 2008
APAV (Association des producteurs agricoles de vuhimba) ; 2008
DYCOPADER (Dynamique de coopération pour la paix et le développement rural) ; 2008
LOFEPACO (Ligue des organisations des femmes paysannes du Congo) ; 2008
SYDIP (Syndicat de défense des intérêts paysans) ; 2008
CATAB (Centre d‟amélioration des technologies agricoles de base) ; 2009
GARD (Groupe d‟actions rurales pour le développement) ; 2009
APREPPYG (Association paysanne pour la réhabilitation et la
protection des pygmées); 2009
DR Congo – Sud-Kivu [20 partner organizations]
DRC/ Sud-Kivu
DIOBASS (Démarche pour une interaction entre les organisations à la base et autres sources de savoir) ; 2005
Strengthening of farmer associations; dissemination of CIALCA products in Satellite Sites
IPAPEL (Inspection Provinciale de l‟Agriculture Pêche et Elevage) ; 2006
Training of association agronomists; dissemination of agronomic practices
BDD (Bureau Diocésain de Développement) ; 2007 Macro-propagation ; dissemination of ISFM options
Centres de Santés (various); 2007 Demonstration of soybean receipts; evaluation of food intake ; nutritional studies of children
PAD (Programme d‟Appui au Développement Durable) ; 2008 Strengthening of farmer associations; dissemination of ISFM technologies in Satellite Sites
SARCAF (Service d‟Accompagnement et Renforcement des Capacités d‟Autopromotion de la Femme) ; 2008
ACF (Action Contre la Faim) ; 2008 Macro-propagation; management of banana pests and diseases
Action Against Hunger(ACF); 2008 Macro propagation, evaluation of new banana germplasm, banana pest management (BXW)
FH (Food for the Hungry) ; 2008 Macro-propagation; training on the management of
banana pests and diseases; evaluation of banana germplasm
Caritas ; 2008
CICR (Comité International de la Croix Rouge) ; 2008
FORAL (Fondation Rama Levina ) ; 2008 Seed multiplication; dissemination of ISFM practices; nutrition activities
IFDC (An International Institute for Soil Fertility Management); 2008
Facilitation of access to fertilizer; dissemination of ISFM options
UGEAFI (Union de Groupes d‟Exploitants Agricoles de Fizi-Minembwe); 2008
Evaluation of new banana germplasm; training on banana diseases; macro-propagation
ACOSYF (Association Coopérative pour la Synergie Féminine) ; 2008
Seed multiplication; dissemination of ISFM practices; nutrition activities
ASOP (Action Sociale et d‟Organisation Paysanne) ; 2009 Nutrition ; agronomic trials; Integrated Soil Fertility Management; dissemination of CIALCA products; macro-propagation of bananas; warrantage and business plans
CAMU (Cellule d‟accompagnement de mutuelles de solidarité) ; 2009
Facilitation of internal savings and lending schemes
GEL-SK (Guichet d‟économie locale du Sud Kivu) ; 2009 Business plan formulation and implementation
PIAD (Programme des Initiatives d‟Appui au Développement) ; 2009
Macro-propagation; training on the management of banana pests and diseases; evaluation of banana germplasm
DRC/ Sud-Kivu
CENTRE OLAME(Centre Olame) ; 2009 Soybean processing and nutrition
Rwanda [13 partner organizations]
Rwanda/ various
RDO (Rwanda Development Organization) ; 2006 [discontinued in 2009]
Dissemination of ISFM options; facilitation of farmer associations
RWARRI (Rwanda Rural Rehabilitation Initiative) ; 2006 [ISFM Dissemination of ISFM options; facilitation of farmer
59
Country/
mandate area Name partner (full + abbreviation); year starting interactions Specific activities
work discontinued in 2009] associations; evaluation of new banana varieties; macro propagation; farmer-based banana germplasm multiplication systems, farmers capacity building
RHEPI (Rwanda Health, Environment Project Initiative) ; 2006 [discontinued in 2009]
Dissemination of ISFM options; facilitation of farmer associations
World Vision ; 2006 Dissemination of ISFM options; soybean processing and utilization
Centres de Santés (various); 2007 Demonstration of soybean receipts; evaluation of food intake ; nutritional studies of children
IFDC (An International Institute for Soil Fertility Management); 2008
Facilitation of access to fertilizer; dissemination of ISFM options
CRS (Catholic Relief Services) ; 2009 Integrated crop management for cassava-based systems
LWF (Lutheran World Federation); 2009 Dissemination of ISFM options; soybean processing and utilization
Eglise Presbyterienne au Rwanda (EPR) ; 2009
Dissemination of ISFM options; soybean processing and utilization; seed multiplication; evaluation of banana varieties, macro propagation; dissemination of banana crop, soil, and pest management
Cooperative Ubumwe; 2009 Evaluation of banana varieties, macro propagation;
dissemination of banana crop, soil, and pest management; farmer capacity building
Cooperative Abadacogora; 2009
AEE (African Evangelical Enterprise) Rwamagana; 2009
Behar Bidasoa; 2009
BAIR (Bureau d'Appui aux initiatives rurales); 2009
The main activities that accompany interactions with development partners are diverse in nature
(Table 10) and include, amongst other:
(i) Training of technical staff of these
organizations on specific themes covered
by CIALCA (e.g., improved agronomy, banana pest and disease management, data
collection);
(ii) Training of trainers in specific topics
addressed by CIALCA (e.g., macro-
propagation of bananas, soybean processing and health and nutrition, seed
multiplication and storage, profitable
market linkages);
(iii) Availing improved technologies or
some of their components either directly through test packages (e.g., limited
quantities of improved legume seeds, the
„ADA‟ [farmer-managed adaptation trial] approach for Integrated Soil Fertility Management) or through flyers with specific information (e.g., the series of banana crop and pest/disease
management folders);
(iv) Co-evaluating the performance of the tested CIALCA products, including collaborative data
collection and interpretation and farmer participatory evaluations;
(v) Promoting CIALCA products through promotional activities carried out by the partner
organization (e.g., field days, farmers‟ fairs/markets („foires agricoles‟), radio emissions).
Although the direct impact of these interactions has not been quantified by the end of 2009, it is planned to implement a rapid impact assessment study in all Mandate Areas around half 2010 and
one component of this study will aim at quantifying the impact of these interactions with
development partners.
Photo 39: A meeting with partner organizations in Bukavu.
60
6.8. CIALCA as a platform for implementation of complimentary projects The vision of all international research centres constituting CIALCA has always been to be present
for the medium- to long-term in the Central African Great Lakes Region because (i) this region has
in the past been marginalized by the international research community, (ii) recent civil strife has
substantially reduced the research for development capacity at the level of the national research institutes and non-governmental organizations, and (iii) main constraints to improved system
productivity are fully in line with the technical expertise of the centres coordinating CIALCA.
Although CIALCA started as a specific project with a specific set of objectives, themes, and
activities, the goal of the coordinating centres was to identify additional funding to cover areas that
are less well addressed in the CIALCA project and to scale-up promising products identified and developed through CIALCA. Furthermore, the successful integration of various partner
organizations along the research to development continuum, and the effective and efficient product
development and evaluation cycles thus created, resulted in additional interest in CIALCA by
various donor organizations. One could say that CIALCA transformed itself from a specific project to a research for development platform that is able to accommodate and implement additional
initiatives aiming at improving rural livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region.
This development is clearly illustrated when summarizing the on-going additional projects that are
based on/linked to CIALCA, for a total value of 4.7 million Euro for the period 2009 – 2013
(Table 11). For the period 2011 – 2014, a set of new proposals has been developed and submitted to the order of 7.3 million Euro (Table 11). All these additional investments will enable CIALCA
to address all major themes that determine farming system productivity and rural well-being and to
scale-up best CIALCA products to other areas within and beyond the CIALCA Mandate Areas.
61
Table 11: Projects strengthening CIALCA activities, their budget and timeframe, and their geographical and thematic priority areas.
Project name Donor Status Mandate areas
Budget-Euro
Period Main themes
A strategy for reviving the vital breadbasket of the Democratic Republic of Congo through integrated soil fertility management coupled to resilient germplasm in cassava-based systems
VLIR Approved Bas-Congo, Sud-Kivu
307,288 2004 - 2009
Integrated Soil Fertility Management for cassava-based systems
Adoption and Dissemination of Improved Bean Varieties in Burundi IFAR-World Bank
Approved Burundi 8,800 2009 - 2009
Impact of improved bean varieties on livelihoods
Socio-economic impacts of BXW disease in Minova region of eastern DR Congo ACF Approved South Kivu 50,000 2009 -
2009
livelihood impacts of BXW
disease
Contribution à l'amélioration de la culture des bananiers et bananiers plantains dans la région forestière Nord-est du bassin du Congo.
VLIR-Belgium
Approved [Outside] 99,000 2009 - 2010
Banana and plantain production and constraints
To ensure sustainable small-scale banana production in East/Southern Africa, and to optimize the use and preservation of banana biodiversity
GTZ Approved Burundi 1,000,000 2009 - 2010
Improve banana seed systems and tissue culture
Addressing micronutrient deficiencies in Sub-Saharan Africa through Musa-
based foods. Harvest+ Approved
Burundi,
S/N-Kivu 28,400
2009 -
2011
Evaluation of vitamine-A rich
banana cultivars.
Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in the east and central African region. ASARECA Approved Rwanda and Burundi
740,800 2009 - 2011
Research and extension work on banana Xanthomonas wilt
Amélioration de la productivité agricole au Sud-Kivu par l‟adoption de l‟usage des micro-doses d‟engrais dans la GIFS
VLIR Approved Sud-Kivu 309,469 2009 - 2013
Fertilizer and Integrated Soil Fertility Management
Development of a systemic method of innovation management for the banana
network in Rwanda. FNRS-FRIA Approved
Rwanda, S-
Kivu, Gitega 90,000
2009 -
2013
Innovation, agrarian systems,
diversity, bananas
Communication expert to lead the CIALCA Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC) CIM-Germany
Approved All 160,000 2010 - 2012
Knowledge dissemination; out-scaling information
N2Africa: Putting Nitrogen Fixation to work for smallholder farmers of Africa BMGF Approved Sud-Kivu, Rwanda
1,920,000 2010 - 2013
Enhancement of biological N fixation for soybean/ beans
Increasing smallholder farm productivity, income, and health through widespread
adoption Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) in the Great Lakes Region and Southern Africa
IFAD Submitted
Various (DR
Congo/ Burundi)
2,400,000 2011 - 2013
System intensification and market linkages
Enhancing grain legumes‟ productivity, and production and the incomes of poor farmers in drought-prone areas of sub-Saharan Africa and S-Asia.
BMGF Submitted Rwanda 1,200,000 2011 - 2014
Identification of improved soybean germplasm
Sécurité alimentaire et prospérité des communautés rurales de Bas-Congo et de Bandundu: Redynamiser des chaînes agricoles de valeur basé sur une productivité améliorée et diversifiée
EU Submitted Bas-Congo 2,991,949 2011 - 2014
Intensification of cassava- and maize-based systems and market linkages
Improving nutrition security of rural households in DR Congo and Rwanda through minimizing conflict between food security and income generation and maximizing equity in resource access within households
WOTRO Submitted DR Congo, Rwanda
696,636 2011 - 2014
Farm scale modelling and trade-off analysis
Projet bananes et plantains du bassin du Congo VLIR-Belgium
Submitted [Outside] 49,900 2011 - 2014
Banana and plantain germplasm production constraints
62
7. Capacity building
CIALCA is currently supporting/involved in 20 BSc, 19 MSc and 18 PhD students (Annex 1). 25
BSc, 10 MSc and 1 PhD student have already defended their theses. CIALCA has been actively supporting research staff inside and outside the region to pursue further scholarship opportunities that
can build on and support the ongoing CIALCA research. In that respect, external funding was obtained
for several PhD students. In addition, several KUL/UCL MSc students carried out their field research
at CIALCA action/satellite sites.
For training of technicians, extension staff and farmer associations see section 6.2.
8. Monitoring and Evaluation
CIALCA recruited two Associate Scientists whose responsibilities include support to the design and
implementation of CIALCA outcome and impact mapping framework.
CIALCA M&E focuses on tracking and documentation of progress, outcomes and impacts of
interventions. In 2009, M&E efforts mostly focused on keeping track records of 1) implementation progress (nature, quantity and quality of activities implemented in relation with plans); 2) geographic
coverage with CIALCA interventions and products; 3) stakeholders reached (research partners, out
scaling partners (such as extension and development organizations), beneficiaries such as farmer
organizations, households, etc.; 4) performance of CIALCA products being scaled-out; 5) attitude/behaviours and perceptions of farmers vis-à-vis CIALCA products being scaled-out. Each
consortium member has designed data collection instruments like datasheets that field staff use to
document progress and outcomes.
Some PhD projects are also ongoing and will provide an in-depth scientific understanding of CIALCA
impacts and adoption pathways. One piece of the PhD research focuses on the adoption and impact of
ISFM strategies within the framework of CIALCA while the other focuses on innovation pathways within agricultural households in CIALCA intervention areas.
A full and systematic outcome mapping of CIALCA will be launched by mid 2010 and will focus on assessing outcomes and preliminary impacts of CIALCA interventions, with regards to the following
dimensions: adoption and mainstreaming of CIALCA products, inputs and outputs in relation with the
use of CIALCA technologies, household food and nutrition status, market connections, collective action, etc.
By the end of quarter 3 of 2010, first results of CIALCA outcome mapping will be available and
provide basis for assessment of and learning from field interventions and impact pathways.
63
Annex 1: Capacity building (BSc, MSc and PhD students)
Undergraduate research projects (25 defended and 20 ongoing)
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/ defended
Matara Murhonyi (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Identifying fungal diseases affecting banana production in South Kivu. Defended
Bahati Lukangira (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Quantifying the spread and importance of banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) in South Kivu. Defended
Kambale Mboho (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de Graben
Pest and disease problems in banana systems in Nord Kivu. Defended
Sereka Saghasa (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de Graben
Understanding soil management in banana-based farming systems in Nord Kivu. Defended
Kakule Lukalango (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de
Graben Characterizing and understanding banana germplasm diversity in Nord Kivu. Defended
Sondirya Tsongo Michel (Memoire-Ingénieur)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Graben
Identifying socio-economic constraints in banana-based farming systems in Nord Kivu. Defended
Janvier Bashagaluke Bigabwa (Stage-Ingénieur)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Assessment of erosion features in farmers‟ fields. Defended
Rehani Jumaine (Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Demonstration of the microdosing fertilizer technique and of benefits of high biomass-yielding legumes in cereal-based rotation systems
Defended
Wivine Zirhahwakuhingwa Munyahali
(Memoire-Ingénieur) DR Congo
Université Catholique de
Bukavu Demonstration of improved agronomic practices in cassava-legume intercropping systems Defended
Chantal Karondo (Stage-Ingénieur) Burundi Université de Bujumbura Etude de la diversité génétique du germoplasme de bananier au Burundi. Defended
Fidès Barigenera (Stage-Ingénieur) Burundi Université de Bujumbura Evaluation de l'état phytosanitaire des bananiers dans les communes les plus productrices de banane de Gitega: Giheta, Itaba et Makebuko.
Defended
Léonidas Ndikuriyo (Stage-Ingénieur) Burundi Université de Bujumbura Détermination des équivalents taxonomiques en nomenclature Américaine (Soil Tax.) et FAO-INEAC comme une façon de définition des zones potentielles de culture du bananier.
Defended
Félix Gatoto (Stage-Ingénieur) Burundi Université de Bujumbura Enquête de prospection de BBTV sur base de symptômes caractéristiques et les pertes causées par le BBTV dans la province de Cibitoke.
Defended
Richard Nshirimana Burundi Hope University Appraisal of Existing Farmer Organisations and Development Partners in Burundi. Defended
Kimana Chrystal Burundi Hope University Evaluation of Input Delivery Systems in Banana and Legume - based Systems in Burundi Defended
Kayirangwa Grace Burundi Hope University Market Structure and Conduct of Banana Beer Trading in Burundi: A Case Study of Cibitoke Province
Defended
64
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/ defended
Uwera Anuarite Rwanda ISAE, Ruhengeri Uprooting and replanting strategies for the control of Xanthomonas wilt in western Rwanda Defended
Charles Rwabukumba Rwanda National University of Rwanda
Adaptability/perforamnce of Musa spp (EAHB-AAA banana) with emphasis on soil nutrient status in medium lands of Rwanda (Butare)
Defended
Rehema Matendo (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Effets de mesures anti-erosives sur la culture de soja: cas de fanya, non-labour et haies anti-erosives a Mudaka
Defended
Nabintu Ndusha (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Effets de mesures anti-erosives sur la culture de soja: cas de fanya, non-labour et haies anti-erosives a Mudaka
Defended
Romain Lwaboshi (memoire de licence 2007-2008)
DR Congo Institut Superieur de Developpement Rural
Amenagement du terroir au Bushi: niveau d'adoption des technologies et obstacles percus par les paysans
Defended
Arlette Bisimwa (travail de cycle graduat 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Adoption des techologies CIALCA dans les associations de Lurhala- Burhale Defended
Ariane Zingiro Rwanda National University of Rwanda
Analyse des Contraintes Liees au Developpement Socio-economique des Cooperatives de Producteurs de bananes et leur Collaboration avec les Partenaires en Devellopement Rural
Defended
Pierre Colomb Twayigize Rwanda National University of Rwanda
Evaluation des Systemes de Distribution D‟intrants Dans la Culture des Bananes et des Legumineuses. (Cas des Districts Rubavu et Kirehe)
Defended
David Onyango Wadhala Burundi Hope Africa University Theological Perspective on Gender Roles and Agricultural Production Resource Access in Banana Sytstsems in Burundi
Defended
Pancrace Cimpaye Burundi University of Burundi Epidemiologie du BBTD dans les conditions de culture en milieu rurale Ongoing
Alice Simbare Burundi University of Burundi Evaluation épidémiologique du Bunchy Top du bananier en conditions contrôlées Ongoing
Rémy Sibomana Burundi University of Burundi Impact of integrated pest management in the fight against Banana Bunchy Top Disease in the Rusizi Plain
Ongoing
François Iradukkunda Burundi University of Burundi Assessing cost-effectiveness of banana macropropagation units to boost farmer's food-security and income in low and highland areas of Burundi
Ongoing
Nirere Drocelle Rwanda Umutara Polytechnique Uprooting and replanting strategies for the control of Xanthomonas wilt in eastern Rwanda Ongoing
Nicole tachopa (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Effet de quelques methodes de lutte de perte de terres sur les conditions edapho-climatiques de Mudaka
Ongoing
Joseph Matabaro (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Effet residuel de quelques legumineuses sur le rendement de manioc en association en 2e saison
Ongoing
Lucien Munyaka (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Travail sur les essais long-terme (INERA-Mulungu) Ongoing
Kikuni Thomas (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Travail d'evaluation d'impact des essais d'adaptation manioc- legumineuses dans les 4 sites d'action de CIALCA (Luhihi, Kabamba, Burhale et Lurhala)
Ongoing
Silvie Polepole (memoire licence economie rurale 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Commerce transfortalier des denrees alimentaires entre Katunba-Uvira (Frontiere DR Congo-Burundi)
Ongoing
Isaac Balume Kayani (memoire ingenieur 2008-2009)
DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Essai d'introduction de six varietes de mais hydride des moyennes altitude a Kavumu Ongoing
Francine Bora DR Congo Université Evangelique en
Afrique Travail sur les essais SYS-5 Luhihi Ongoing
65
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/ defended
Mina Mukonta DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Travail sur les essais SYS-5 Luhihi Ongoing
Espoir Mukengere Bagula DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Travail sur les essais FER-4 Burhale Ongoing
Justin Shombo Chirunza DR Congo Université Catholique de
Bukavu Travail sur les essais FER-4 Lurhala Ongoing
Clerisse Casinga DR Congo Université Evangelique en Afrique
Travail sur les essais SYS-5 Burhale Ongoing
Bossissi Nkuba DR Congo Université Catholique de Bukavu
Travail sur les essais long-terme (INERA-Mulungu) Ongoing
Maxwell Lumadede Kegode Burundi Hope Africa University Factors that influence Voluntary Collective Action in Agro-based Systems and its Implications on Community Development in Burundi
Ongoing
Gérard Cishayaho Burundi University of Burundi Evaluation De La Performence De La Technique De La Micropropagation Et Macropropagation Dans Le Systeme De La Production Des Plants De Bananier Au Burundi
Ongoing
Audace Niyungeko Burundi University of Burundi Evaluation Economique de la Micropropagation et Macropropagation de la Banane au Burundi
Ongoing
MSc research projects (10 defended and 19 ongoing)
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/
defended
Julie Lunzihirwa DR Congo Facultés Catholiques de Kinshasa, DR Congo
The impact of beans and groundnut channels on the productivity and agricultural income of households in the cataracts area‟.
Defended
Rachel Zozo DR Congo Makerere University, Uganda Assessing the socio-economic importance legumes-based on the livelihoods of farmers at Mugogo and Mudaka Markets in Ngweshe and Katana axes, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Defended
Muke Manzekele DR Congo Université de Kinshasa, DR Congo Techniques d‟amélioration de la production agricole et de la stabilisation des sols en pente au Sud-Kivu Montagneux.
Defended
Placide Rukundo Rwanda Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Banana biotechnology: drought stress Defended
Elke Vandamme Belgium Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Nutrient deficiency and unavailability in the soils of Walungu, South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Defended
Aaike Cnops Belgium KUL Quantifying and understanding drought stress in banana. Defended
Niels Vanhoudt Belgian Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Assessing banana planting density on farm Defended
Paul Cox American University College London The land as casualty: soil, cattle , and the future in South Kivu, DR Congo Defended
Geoffroy Germeau Belgium Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Explaining banana yield differences in Rwanda through quantification of banana crop performance, soil fertility, pest and diseases and crop management practices.
Defended
66
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/
defended
Julie Van Damme Belgium Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Analysis of stakeholder perceptions of constraints and solutions in the banana sector in Rwanda. Defended
Kinyoma Gro DR Congo UCG, Butembo, DR Congo On-farm evaluation of mulch and zero-tillage practices in banana-based cropping systems of North Kivu
Ongoing
Geoffroy Germeau DR Congo UCG, Butembo, DR Congo Altitude effects on plantain performance in North-Kivu, DR Congo Ongoing
Agnes Mukandinda Rwanda National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
Nutrient flows in banana based cropping systems. Ongoing
Edouard Rurangwa Rwanda Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Tissue culture banana inoculated with arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi. Ongoing
Kanyana Immaculate Rwanda Makerere University, Uganda Hazard Critical Control Point (HCCP) study on biological contamination of traditionally produced banana brewing products
Ongoing
Anaclet Nibasumba Burundi Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Relationship between nutrients (cations) in the soil mineral and organic pools and nutrients at the banana root surface.
Ongoing
Oswald Ntakirutimana Burundi Université de Burundi Contribution a l'etude de l'état phytosanitaire du bananier dans les Provinces de Gitega, Kirundo et Cibitoke'
Ongoing
Alex Rutikanga Rwanda Makerere, Uganda Xanthomonas wilt insect vector transmission and systemicity in the plant Ongoing
Jules Ntamwira DR Congo Makerere, Uganda Banana-bean intercropping Ongoing
Charles Sivirihauma DR Congo UCG, Butembo, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (Ituri and north Kivu) Ongoing
Crispin LEBISABO DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (Maniema) Ongoing
Joseph KOMOYI DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (Bas Uélé) Ongoing
TAMARU DAOBA DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (Haut Uélé) Ongoing
MUHINDO SIWAKO DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (South Kivu) Ongoing
ISSOLIWEI KALAMBOLA Constantin
DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Germplasm morphological characterisation (Equateur) Ongoing
Bonaventure IBANDA
NKOSI. DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo BBTV survey in Ituri, Haut and Bas Uélé, Equateur, DR Congo Ongoing
Faustin Ngama Boloy DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo BBTV survey in Tchopo district, DR Congo Ongoing
Celestin Ndayisaba Rwanda Kenyatta University, Kenya Integrated Soil Fertility Management options for maize-legume systems in the Eastern Province of Rwanda
Ongoing
Marcel Nshimiyimana Rwandese National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
Consumer Preferences and Performance of Newly Introduced Banana Germplasm in Rwanda Ongoing
67
PhD research projects (1 defended and 18 ongoing)
Name Nationality University Topic Ongoing/ defended
Svetlana Gaidashova
Rwanda Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Research on banana x soil fertility x soil biology interactions, with special emphasis on the role of plant-parasitic nematodes and abuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).
Defended
Dowiya Nzawele Benjamin
DR Congo Sokoine University, Tanzania Assessment of distribution, genetic variation and agronomic performance of bananas (Musa spp.) in eastern DR-Congo.
Ongoing
Tony Muliele DR Congo Université Catholique de
Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium Soil moisture and soil physical constraints in highland banana systems. Ongoing
Telesphore Ndabamenye
Rwanda University of Pretoria, South Africa
Resource competition and soil fertility dynamics in banana (Musa spp.)-based cropping systems: emphasis on effects of high planting density.
Ongoing
Josaphat Rusisiro Mugabo
Rwanda Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Agricultural intensification under population pressure in Rwanda: An analysis of fertilizers policy and legume-based systems economic incentives.
Ongoing
Leon Nabahungu Rwanda Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Competing Claims on Wetland in Eastern Rwanda: Challenges and opportunities. Ongoing
Patrick Karangwa Rwandan Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Assessing the impact of Fusarium on banana and plantain production in central Africa Ongoing
Célestin Niyongere Burundi JKUAT, Nairobi, Kenya Characterisation and integrated management of banana bunchy top virus in the great lakes region. Ongoing
Syldie Bizimana Burundi Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Effect of soil management on nutrient availability and nutrient recycling in highland banana cropping systems.
Ongoing
Anaclet Nibasumba Burundi Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Arabica coffee X banana intercropping and its impact on yield, post-harvest quality, and farm revenue in Burundi
Ongoing
Elke Vandamme Belgium Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Reversing the downward trend in soil fertility of smallholder farms in East and Central Africa: phosphorus-efficient dual-purpose soybean germplasm as the entry point‟
Ongoing
Julie Van Damme Belgium Université Catholique de Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
Constraints and opportunities for agricultural innovation in banana-based cropping systems of the Great Lakes region.
Ongoing
John Jagwe Uganda Pretoria University Banana value chains and markets in the Great Lakes region Ongoing
Joseph Adheka DR Congo UNIKIS, Kisangani, DR Congo Musa germplasm morphological characterization in north eastern DR Congo Ongoing
Beatrice Ekesa Kenyan Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Retention of Provitamin A in fresh Musa fruits and during processing, and the consumption pattern among small holder households in banana growing regions of Central and Eastern Africa.
Ongoing
Isabel Lambrechts Belgium KULeuven Bodemvruchtbaarheid, voedselzekerheid en gender in Centraal-Afrika Ongoing
Kasereka Bishikwabo
DR Congo KULeuven Integrated Soil Fertility Management Promotion and Market Linkage in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo Ongoing
Godfrey Taulya Uganda Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Highland banana crop growth modeling - using data from CIALCA Ongoing
Séverine Delstanche Belgium UCL Stocks and availability of nutrients in anthropogenic soils in the Great Lakes region of Africa Ongoing
68
Annex 2: CIALCA publications
The list below reflects a list of publications including conference presentations, peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, student thesis and reports that have been generated by, or with support from, CIALCA
staff and resources. It reflects our current records, but as these are permanently being updated, the list
is not exhaustive.
Abstracts/papers of oral presentations in international meetings Alley MM, Vanlauwe B 2009 The Role of Fertilizers in Integrated Plant Nutrient Management.
International Fertilizer Industry Association and Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute
of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Paris, France.
Carpentier, S.C., A. Vertommen, R. Swennen, K. Sergeant, J. Renaut and B. Panis. 2D DIGE, PCA/PLS and de novo identification, a powerful combination to explore crop biodiversity and
to explain variety specific phenotypes? Plant proteomics in Europe FA0603 –WG2 Meeting.
Slovak republic, Nitra, 14-16 October, 2009. Abstract.
Carpentier, S.C., M. Souza, E. Witters, A. Vertommen, R. Swennen, and Bart Panis. Dissecting the different aspects of osmotic stress acclimation from a proteomics viewpoint. Proteomic Forum
2009. International Meeting on Proteome analysis. Germany, Berlin, 29 March-2 April 2009.
Abstract. Carpentier, S.C., Y. Lambeens, R. Swennen and B. Panis. Fundamental aspects of cryopreservation
and genetic stability. Unraveling sugar preculture: new nutrients, excision and osmotic stress.
International conference “Cryoplanet COST meeting” (COST action FAO871). United
Kingdom, Wakehurst, 17-18 February 2009. Abstract.
Carpentier, S.C., Y. Lambeens, R. Swennen and B. Panis. Will proteomics contribute to a better
understanding of cryopreservation survival? The first International Symposium on
Cryopreservation in Horticultural Species. Belgium, Leuven, 05-08 April 2009. Abstract. Dheda Djailo
. B, B.D. Nzawele, N. Roux, F. Ngezahayo, N. Vigheri, E. DeLanghe, D. Karamura, C.
Picq and G. Blomme. 2009. Musa collection and characterization work in central and eastern
DR-Congo: a chronological overview. PROMUSA/ISHS Guangzhou, China Symposium. Abstract.
Henry, I.M., and S.C. Carpentier, B. Panis, R. Swennen and S. Remy. Structure and regulation of the
Abscisic Stress Ripening (ASR) gene family in banana. International Meeting on Plant en
Animal genomics. USA, San Diego, 10-14 January 2009. Abstract. Jagwe, J., and E. Ouma, 2009. Transaction Costs and Smallholder Farmers‟ Participation in
BananaMarkets in the Great Lakes Region. African Economic Research Consortium -
University of California Berkeley Conference on Agriculture for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, held at White Sands Hotel Mombasa, Kenya, May 28-30, 2009. Paper.
Niyongere, C., E.M. Ateka, T. Losenge, P. Lepoint and G. Blomme. 2009. Screening 40 Musa
genotypes for BBTV resistance in Burundi. PROMUSA/ISHS Guangzhou, China Symposium. Abstract.
Turyagyenda, L.F., G. Blomme, E. Karamura, F. Ssekiwoko, W. Tinzaara, S. Mpiira and S. Eden-
Green. 2009. Cultural practices for management of Xanthomonas in Uganda. Proceedings of
the workshop on review of the strategy for the management of banana Xanthomonas wilt. p. 56-61.
Vanlauwe. B, P. Pypers, B. Kasereka, J.M. Sanginga, L. Lodi, M.J. Walangululu, N. Sanginga 2010
Le potentiel de la gestion intégrée de la fertilité des sols pour l‟augmentation de la productivité du manioc en RD Congo. Proceedings of the meeting on „Conférence Internationale sur la
Culture et l‟Utilisation du Manioc en Afrique centrale‟, 16 to 19 Novembre 2009, Kisangani,
RD. Congo.
Vertommen, A., A.L.B. Møller, C. Finnie, B. Svenson, G. Baggerman, R. Swennen, B. Panis and S.C.
Carpentier. The study of the Musa spp. plasma membrane proteome using a gel based and gel
free approach. Plant proteomics in Europe FA0603 –WG2 Meeting. Slovak republic, Nitra,
14-16 October, 2009. Abstract.
69
Full papers in peer-reviewed Journals Blomme, G., Turyagyenda, L.F., Mukasa, H., Ssekiwoko, F., Mpiira, S. and Eden-Green, S. 2009. The
effect of the prompt removal of inflorescence-infected plants and early de-budding of
inflorescences on the control of Xanthomonas wilt of banana. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 828:51-56.
Http://www.actahort.org/books/828/828_3.htm Dowiya N.B., Blomme G., Dheda D.B., Rweyemamu C.L., Velly D., Vigheri N., Milambo A., Eden-
Green S., Karamura E. and Maerere A.P. The alarming spread of banana Xanthomonas wilt in
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and its impact on food security and income. Tree and
Forestry Science and Biotechnology - Special issue on banana, plantain and ensete. (In press). Fermont, A.M., P.J.A. van Asten, P.A. Tittonell, M.T. van Wijk, and K.E. Giller, 2009. Closing the
cassava yield gap: an analysis from small-holder farms in East Africa. Field Crops Research
112: 24-36 Gaidashova, S.V., P. van Asten, D. De Waele, B. Delvaux, 2009. Relationship between soil properties,
crop management, plant growth and vigour, nematode occurrence and root damage in East
African Highland banana-cropping systems: a case study of Rwanda. Nematology 11(6): 883-894
Gaidashova, S.V., P.J.A. van Asten, J.M. Jefwa, B. Delvaux, S. Declerck, 2009. Arbuscular
mycorrhizal fungi in East African Highland banana cropping systems as related to edapho-
climatic conditions and management practices: case study of Rwanda. Fungal Ecology, in press
Mucheru-Muna M, Pypers P, Mugendi D, Kung‟u J, Mugwe J, Merckx R, Vanlauwe B, 2010. A
staggered maize-legume intercrop arrangement robustly increases crop yields and economic returns in the highlands of Central Kenya. Field Crops Research 115, 132-139.
Ntamwira J., Nzawele D., Musale K., Van Asten P. and Blomme G. The effect of application of
organic matter during planting on growth of an east African highland cooking banana grown
on two contrasting soils in South Kivu, Eastern DR-Congo. Tree and Forestry Science and Biotechnology - Special issue on banana, plantain and ensete. (In press).
Nyombi, K., P.J.A. van Asten, M. Corbeels, G. Taulya, P.A. Leffelaar, K.E. Giller. 2009. Mineral
fertilizer response and nutrient use efficiencies of East African highland banana (Musa spp., AAA-EAHB, cv. Kisansa). Field Crops Research, In press.
Nyombi, K., P.J.A. van Asten, P.A. Leffelaar, M. Corbeels, C. K. Kaizzi, K.E. Giller, 2009.
Allometric growth relationships of East Africa highland bananas (Musa AAA-EAHB) cv. Kisansa and Mbwazirume. Annals of Appl Biol 155(3): 403-418.
Ouma, E., J. Jagwe, G. Obare and S. Abele, 2010. Determinants of Smallholder Farmers‟ Participation
in Banana Markets in Central Africa: The Role of Transaction Costs. Agricultural Economics
Volume 41, pages 111-122.
Pypers P, Sanginga JM, Bishikwabo K, Walangululu JM, Vanlauwe B, 2010. Increased productivity
through integrated soil fertility management in cassava-legume intercropping systems in the
highlands of Sud-Kivu, DR Congo. Submitted to Field Crops Research. Pypers P, Vandamme E, Sanginga JM, Tshisinda T, Walangululu JM, Merckx R, Vanlauwe B, 2010.
K and Mg deficiencies corroborate farmers‟ knowledge of soil fertility in the highlands of
Sud-Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Submitted to Plant and Soil. van Asten, P.J.A., S. Kaaria, A.M. Fermont, R.J. Delve, 2009. Challenges and lessons when using
farmer knowledge in agricultural research and development projects in Africa. Experimental
Agriculture 45: 1–14
Vanlauwe B, A Bationo, J Chianu, KE Giller, R Merckx, U Mokwunye, O Ohiokpehai, P Pypers, R Tabo, K Shepherd, E Smaling, PL Woomer, and N Sanginga 2010 Integrated soil fertility
management: Operational definition and consequences for implementation and dissemination.
Outlook on Agriculture, (In Press).
Vertommen, A., B. Panis, R. Swennen and S.C. Carpentier. Evaluation of chloroform/methanol extraction to facilitate the study of membrane proteins of non-model plants. Planta, in press.
70
Wairegi, L.W.I., P. van Asten, M. Bekunda, M. Tenywa, 2009. Quantifying bunch weights of the East
African Highland banana (Musa spp. AAA-EA) using non-destructive field observations.
Scientia Horticulturae 121, 63-72
Wairegi, L.W.I., P.J.A. van Asten, 2009. Norms for multivariate diagnosis of nutrient imbalance in the East African highland bananas (Musa spp. AAA-EA) CND. Journal of Plant Nutrition, in
press.
Wairegi, L.W.I., P.J.A. van Asten, M.M. Tenywa, M.A. Bekunda, 2009. Abiotic constraints override biotic constraints in East African highland banana systems. Field Crops Research, In press
Walangululu, MJ; MR Matara; LC Bahati, Célestin Niyongere, Pascale Lepoint and G Blommé. 2010.
Assessing the spread, variety response and seasonal influence of Banana Bunchy Top Virus and a fruit peel disease in south Kivu, eastern DR-Congo. Tree and Forestry Science and
Biotechnology - Special issue on banana, plantain and ensete). (In press).
Master thesis Aaike Cnops, 2009. Degree of Master of Bioscience engineering. Quantifying and understanding
drought stress in banana. (K.U.Leuven). Copus, A., 2009. Etude du statut nutritionnel de systèmes bananiers-caféiers au Burundi. MSc thesis.
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL). pp. 112
Muke Audry Manzekele – DEA en Biologie. Etudes du contrôle d‟érosion et d‟amélioration de la production agricole sur les versants au Sud-Kivu. (UNIKIN).
Niels Vanhoudt - On-Farm assessment of banana plant density in Rwanda. (K.U.Leuven).
Placide Rukundo - Degree of Master of Science in Molecular Biology. Interuniversity Program Molecular Biology (IPMB) V.U.Brussels. Evaluation of the water use efficiency of different
Musa varieties: development of a sorbitol induced osmotic stress in vitro model.
(VUB/K.U.Leuven).
Reports Bouwmeester, H., P. Van Asten and E. Ouma. 2009. Mapping key variables of banana based cropping
systems in the Great Lakes Region: Partial outcomes of the baseline and diagnostic surveys.
Ekesa B. 2009. Agricultural practices, dietary diversity, Nutrition and health status of small holder
communities in Gitega-Burundi and Butembo- DR Congo. Formative survey carried out under
a collaborative project between CIALCA and HealthNet TPO in April 2008. Maheshe, H., S. Mapatano and G. Blomme. 2009. CIALCA Technical Reports N° 10. Banana Market
and Cross-Border Trade Study: The Case of North Kivu, DR Congo. pp. 12.
71
Annex 3: Detailed log frame Narrative summary Outputs and deliverables Objectively verifiable indicators/milestones Means of verification Assumptions
GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
To improve the livelihoods of agriculture-based communities in Central Africa by enhancing their capacity to access and efficiently use the resources
needed to improve system productivity resulting in a better income, nutrition, and environment.
[Current progress = 54%]
[Outputs and deliverables are described under the Specific
Objectives below]
By the end of year 4, aggregate farm-level productivity in 30 action sites has increased with at least 20%, while augmenting soil nutrient stocks, resulting in an
aggregate extra protein intake of at least 20% and an aggregate higher household income of at least 20%. These aggregated values reflect positive impact on at least 40% of the rural livelihoods (or 3,500 households) in the action sites.
By the end of year 4, aggregate farm-level productivity in at least 150 satellite
sites has increased with at least 10% while augmenting soil nutrient stocks, resulting in an aggregate extra protein intake of at least 10% and an aggregate higher household income of at least 10%. These aggregated values reflect positive impact on at least 20% of the rural livelihoods (or 9,000 households) in the satellite sites.
By the end of year 4, at least 25% of the population of the mandate areas is aware of CIALCA-II related activities and at least 5% of that population is actively seeking access to knowledge and technologies promoted by CIALCA-II.
A preliminary impact study will be conducted using a focus group discussion approach to evaluate progress in meeting the milestones of the general objective.
CIALCA-II:
- CIALCA website
- Impact reports
- Progress reports
Independent:
- NGO websites
- Baseline reports for other initiatives
- Provincial statistics
- UN reports
.Absence of disastrous
climate conditions.
Political stability.
Specific Objective 1:
Consolidating CIALCA
Act. 1.1. Participatory evaluation of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and soil and water conservation (SWC)
interventions at farm scale
Act. 1.2. Participatory evaluation of IPM interventions
Act. 1.3. Identification of best-fit interventions through farming system modeling and trade-off analysis
[General score: 8/20]
Approaches for holistic
evaluation of improved ISFM, IPM, and SWC options with farming communities.
ISFM, IPM, and SWC
options, adapted to the prevailing livelihood conditions.
Extension materials describing
above options in a client-specific manner.
Farm-level modeling framework, calibrated for
the mandate areas and farmer typologies.
Development-oriented:
By the end of year 2, at least 3 best-fit ISFM, IPM, and SWC options are being
evaluated with at least 20 farmer associations per mandate area in at least 7 mandate areas, using farmer-led approaches.
In at least 7 mandate areas, more than 3 ISFM options have been evaluated on several systems (maize-based, cassava-based and banana-based), and the same will be achieved for IPM and SWC options. Evaluated options are listed using a continuous monitoring and evaluation tool (4/5).
Science-oriented:
By the end of year 1, a farm-level modelling framework is being used to analyze
results from the initial farmer-led evaluations and propose alternative options for further participatory evaluation.
This has not been done yet, but will be strengthened through other projects. A proposal was submitted to WOTRO to strengthen this activity but did not come through, but will be resubmitted later. (1/5).
By the end of year 4, at least 12 scientific papers, summarizing the best-fit interventions and their benefits have been submitted to scientific journals.
A number of papers have been submitted. This will be achieved by 2012 (2/5).
CIALCA-II:
Project reports.
Records of farmer associations.
Draft scientific papers.
Modeling tools.
Meeting reports
Independent:
Review mission reports.
Reports of CIALCA partners.
Soil degradation
has not gone beyond a „point of no return‟.
Sufficient genetic variability for target crops.
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Narrative summary Outputs and deliverables Objectively verifiable indicators/milestones Means of verification Assumptions
Sustainability-oriented:
By the end of year 4, scientists at the national institute level are using the
developed farm-level modeling approaches to address productivity issues in other areas within the respective countries.
The approach needs to be developed first (cf. science-based deliverable) (1/5).
Specific Objective 2:
Advancing science
Act. 2.1. Characterization, development and evaluation of adapted germplasm
Act. 2.2. Strategic research on soil fertility management and agronomy
Act. 2.3. Understanding and management of beneficial organisms and pathogens.
[General score: 14/20]
Multi-purpose legume and Musa germplasm.
Mechanistic understanding of stress-tolerance and
resource-efficient ISFM and SWC practices.
Cultures of legume and Musa growth-promoting micro-organisms.
Musa virus detection protocols.
Development-oriented:
Throughout the project, adapted and stress-tolerant germplasm is being evaluated with at least 30 farmer associations and entered in seed multiplication schemes.
This has been achieved; more than 30 associations have evaluated improved legume and banana germplasm in the target mandate areas, and are currently multiplying the introduced varieties (5/5).
By the end of year 3, growth-promoting organisms are being evaluated with at least 30 farmer associations and private sector partners, where relevant.
Rhizobium inoculants are under evaluation in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo and in Rwanda. (5/5). AMF and endophytes for bananas are currently being evaluated in research managed-trials in Rwanda and Burundi, but out-scaling is not likely to occur before 2012.
Science-oriented:
By the end of year 4, the contribution of resilient germplasm in driving overall system resilience is understood for all mandate areas.
This has not yet been achieved. Long-term trials at INERA-Mulungu and INERA-M‟Vuazi answer this question to some extent, but lack a direct comparison with local germplasm. This could be addressed through modeling scenarios (1/5).
Sustainability-oriented:
Throughout the project and beyond, new questions generated through
participatory and on-station trials are addressed and fed back to the farmer participatory work.
This happens and is being documented (see continuous monitoring tools). Several examples can be given (e.g., maize as stakes for climbing beans, rayonneurs to facilitate planting in line, canopy management in banana-legume intercrops) (3/5).
CIALCA-II:
Lists of germplasm
Project reports
Draft scientific papers
Meeting reports
Independent:
Review mission reports
Reports of CIALCA partners
Soil degradation has not gone beyond a „point of no return‟.
Specific Objective 3:
Enhancing adoption
Act. 3.1. Establishment of sustainable seed and input distribution systems through farmer associations and the private sector
Collective action
approaches for accessing markets.
Diversified food baskets, based on introduced germplasm.
Sustainable seed and input
Development-oriented:
By the end of year 4, at least 150 farmer‟s associations are bulking produce and consuming diversified food baskets with measurable impact on income & health.
Marketing and nutrition activities are on-going in several mandate areas, and strengthened by linkages with partners who have expertise on credit and savings and loans schemes. The impact of these activities will be evaluated through a preliminary
CIALCA-II:
Independent:
Project reports
Meeting reports
Impact studies at the
action site and satellite
Conducive
business environment.
Adequate prices for agricultural products.
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Narrative summary Outputs and deliverables Objectively verifiable indicators/milestones Means of verification Assumptions
Act. 3.2. Enhancement of market access and exploitation of niche markets
Act. 3.3. Stimulation of the consumption of diversified and nutritious food baskets
[General score: 9/20]
distribution systems.
Adapted approaches to aid
initial adoption of ISFM, SWC, and IPM options.
evaluation and monitoring and evaluation. A strategy is in place (1.5/3).
By the end of year 4, at least 150 farmer‟s associations have been involved in training activities related to market linkages and improved nutrition.
Although a large number of associations has already been trained on marketing and nutrition techniques, the total numbers have not been achieved yet – see report for details (1.5/3).
By the end of year 4, fertilizer mini-packs are available through local retailers in at least 100 satellite sites.
Some achievements have been made, e.g., establishments of kiosks in the action sites in Sud-Kivu. This is further strengthened e.g., by the VLIR project in Sud-Kivu focusing on effective fertilizer use and acquisition, and through linkages with
CATALIST and RADA in Rwanda. CIALCA plays a major role in training and demonstration of efficient fertilizer use within ISFM technologies (1.5/3).
By the end of year 4, impact studies show that aggregate productivity in the
action sites has increased by at least 20%, and in the satellite sites by at least 10%, leading to increases in income and nutrition.
An impact study through rapid survey (focus group discussions) will be conducted
in July in all mandate areas, and based on the results found, a detailed impact study will be conducted at household level early 2011 (1.5/3).
Science-oriented:
By the end of year 4, the role of access to markets and knowledge on improved nutrition in promoting the adoption of improved ISFM, SWC, and IPM options is assessed.
This will partly be evaluated based on the impact study, by comparing sites with easy and difficult market access, and followed up by a specific study, probably integrated in the final impact study, as well as strengthened by specific PhD research projects (1/3).
Sustainability-oriented:
By the end of the project, farmers associations in the action and satellite sites are independently continuing legume and Musa multiplication, while private sector players have adopted the production and sale of selected biological inoculants.
Multiplication is on-going but this is mostly informal for legumes. Most households have the varieties available at household level and some associations have even sold large quantities to NGO clients. No formal multiplication has been done, but SENASEM and RADA are involved in evaluation or homologation of legume varieties For bananas, a large number of NGOs and farmer groups have adopted macro-propogation for mass multiplication of bananas (2/3).
site level
Independent:
Review mission reports.
Reports of CIALCA partners.
HarvestPlus reports
Government statistics
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Narrative summary Outputs and deliverables Objectively verifiable indicators/milestones Means of verification Assumptions
By the end of the project, farmer associations in the action and satellite sites are continuing market-related activities without project support, thereby incurring acceptable overhead costs.
Currently not certain since this depends on above activities (0/3).
Specific Objective 4:
Achieving impact
Act. 4.1. Establishment of a Knowledge Resource Centre and development of dissemination strategies in
Central Africa.
Act. 4.2. Development of GIS-supported dissemination strategies
Act. 4.3. Operationalization of a participatory planning, monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment framework inclusive of all stakeholders
[General score: 9.5/20]
Functional Knowledge Resource Centre (KRC).
GIS-supported dissemination domains.
Participatory monitoring and evaluation framework.
Effective impact pathways.
Development-oriented:
By the end of year 2, active impact pathways, involving all stakeholders along the
complete value chain, are leading to active evaluation and dissemination of CIALCA-II related technologies and information.
Most of the important actors and partners are involved, except for the private sector. Impact pathways have not yet been formally established but efforts will be invested to achieve this (2/4).
By the end of year 4, impact studies show that at least 25% of the population in
the mandate areas is aware of CIALCA-II activities and that at least 5% has actively sought access to CIALCA-II related technologies or information.
A rapid assessment impact survey (focus group discussions) is planned. In several mandate areas, observations in the field show that the technologies are diffusing, but
this needs to be further stimulated. Investments in promotion will be done through the KRC (2/4).
Science-oriented:
By the end of year 1, extrapolation domains have been developed within all mandate areas that will guide the construction of impact pathways in each area.
No formal process of defining extrapolation domains occurred, but a GIS report was released describing the variability within banana-based systems in terms of ecology, productivity, and resource availability (1/4).
Sustainability-oriented:
By the end of year 4, at least 3 development partners (NGO, extension) per mandate area for at least 7 mandate areas, are promoting CIALCA technologies.
This is achieved. In most mandate areas, CIALCA collaborates with more than 3 NGOs for promotion and dissemination of the technologies developed (4/4).
By the end of year 4, the KRC is widely acknowledged as the leading resource centre in the CEPGL region for information on Musa and legume research and development.
A CIM person has been identified and will start in September 2010 (0.5/4).
CIALCA-II:
Extension tools
Decision support
Project reports
Meeting reports
Independent:
Review mission reports.
Reports of CIALCA partners.
HarvestPlus reports
Government statistics
NGOs are actively addressing the
themes of CIALCA-II in the target areas.
.
Specific Objective 5:
Capacity building PhD and MSc theses.
Modules for stakeholder
Development-oriented:
By the end of year 2, at least 5 stakeholder group training events have been
CIALCA-II:
Independent:
Minimal staff
turnover at the level of the
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Narrative summary Outputs and deliverables Objectively verifiable indicators/milestones Means of verification Assumptions
Act. 5.1. Implementation of degree-related training activities
Act. 5.2. Implementation of
training events for stakeholders across the research-to-development continuum
Act. 5.3. Improvement of research and project
management infrastructure
[General score: 14.5/20]
training workshops.
Appropriate sample
conditioning and storage facilities.
organized per mandate area.
Several training sessions on various topics have been organized (see report for details), and this continues throughout the project. This is continuously monitored through specific M&E tools (2.5/5).
Science-oriented:
By the end of year 1, sample conditioning and storage facilities are functioning in each country
Effort has been invested in these facilities in all mandate areas, and has been further strengthened by other initiatives (e.g., N2-Africa, VLIR,...) (5/5).
By the end of the project, at least 10 MSc and at least 10 PhD theses have been completed
This will be achieved. More than 10 MSc and 10 PhD projects are on-going (see report for details) (5/5).
Sustainability-oriented:
By the end of the project, all stakeholders are applying CIALCA approaches in the context of other initiatives
Currently not known. This will partly be evaluated through the impact study. The KRC has a major role in promotion and advertisement of CIALCA (e.g., website). Several new initiatives and projects have started, built on to CIALCA (2/5).
PhD and MSc theses
Scientific papers
Group training reports
Meeting reports
Independent:
Review mission reports.
Reports of CIALCA partners.
National institute annual reports
partner institutes.
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Annex 4: Belgium-based University staff supported by/involved in CIALCA
Dr. Sebastien Carpentier K.U.Leuven proteomics technologies for abiotic stress and
statistical analysis; supervision of all proteomics
work at KULeuven
Prof. Rony Swennen K.U.Leuven offers expertise in Musa physiology, breeding and genetics and farming systems
Yves Lambeens K.U.Leuven protein extraction and 2D-electrophoresis, plant
growth evaluation
Anne-Catherine Vanhove
(Aug 09-Dec 09) K.U.Leuven drought stress in banana, proteomics and analysis
Prof. Roel Merckx K.U.Leuven Offers expertise on soil fertility and plant nutrition issues.
Prof. Miet Maertens K.U.Leuven Offers expertise on agricultural economics, market
issues and impact assessment.
Dr. Ludivine Lassois Gembloux/Liège Optimization of the PhytoPaSS sampling procedure
and first steps of molecular characterization of BBTV strains in the Great Lakes Region (offers expertise)
Prof. Bruno Delvaux UCL Systems agronomy and soil science in highland
banana systems
Prof. Philippe Baret UCL Innovation and systems agronomy in highland banana
systems
Prof. Charles Bielders UCL Soil physical properties in highland banana systems
Dr. Hugues Titeux UCL Soil science in highland banana systems
Dr. Laurence Jassogne UCL Systems agronomy in highland banana systems
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All below reports are available in PDF format from the CIALCA website www.cialca.org:
Progress Reports
Progress Report 1: CIALCA (2006) Technical Progress Report September 2005 – October 2006.
Progress Report 2: CIALCA (2007) Summary Progress Report September 2005 – April 2007.
Progress Report 3: CIALCA (2007) Technical Progress Report November 2006 – December 2007. Progress Report 4: Launching meeting of CIALCA-II. Bujumbura, Burundi, 28-31 October 2008.
Progress Report 5: Final Report Phase I – CIALCA. January 2006 – December 2008.
Progress Report 6: CIALCA-II (2009) Technical progress report January – December 2009
Technical Reports
Technical Report 1: Farrow et al (2006). Characterization of Mandate Areas for the Consortium for Improved Agricultural Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA).
Technical Report 2: Musa sector strategic plan for Burundi
Technical Report 3: Musa sector strategic plan for DR Congo Technical Report 4: Musa sector strategic plan for Rwanda
Technical Report 5: Musa sector strategic plan for Central Africa
Technical Report 6: Rishirumuhirwa (2006), The role and management of bananas in Burundian farming systems
Technical Report 7: Sanginga et al (2007). Participatory Rural Appraisals of the livelihood status of
farmers in the CIALCA mandate zones of DR Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Technical Report 8: Pypers et al (2007). Participatory evaluation and characterization of improved legume germplasm at the CIALCA action sites in DR Congo and Rwanda.
Technical Report 9: Jagwe et al (2008). Banana Marketing in Rwanda, Burundi and South Kivu.
Technical Report 10: Maheshe et al. (2009). Banana Market and Cross-Border trade study: The Case of North Kivu, DR Congo.
Technical Report 11: H. Bouwmeester, P. Van Asten and E. Ouma. (2009). Mapping key variables of
banana based cropping systems in the Great Lakes Region: Partial outcomes of the baseline
and diagnostic surveys. Technical Report 12: Ekesa B (2009). Agricultural practices, dietary diversity, Nutrition and health
status of small holder communities in Gitega-Burundi and Butembo- DR Congo. Formative
survey carried out under a collaborative project between CIALCA and HealthNet TPO in April 2008.
Thesis Reports
Thesis Report 1: Geoffrey Germeau (2006). Identification des contraintes en culture bananière
traditionnelle dans trois régions du Rwanda par enquête diagnostic. Université Catholique de
Louvain (UCL) Thesis Report 2: Anaclet Nibasumba (2007). Garniture cationique des sols et des racines dans des
systèmes de culture bananière du Burundi et du Rwanda
Thesis Report 3: Paul Cox (2008). The land as casualty, soil, cattle, and the future in South Kivu, RDC. University College London – Department of Anthropology.
Thesis Report 4: Julie Van Damme (2008). Analyse systémique des contraintes en culture bananière
au Rwanda. Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) Thesis Report 5: Niels Vanhoudt (2009). On-farm assessment of banana plant density in Rwanda
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven)
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