Presented by Regis Chikowo, Robbie Tichardson, Sieg Snapp (MSU), Wezi Mhango, Fanny Chigwa, Agness Mangwela (LUANAR), Isaac Nyoka (ICRAF), Sileshi (ICRAF), Desta Lulseged (CIAT), Owen Kumwenda and Anilly Msukwa (DAES) at the Africa RISING East and Southern Africa annual review and planning meeting, Lilongwe, Malawi, 3-5 September 2013

1. Take AIM: Agro-ecological Intensification in
Malawi through action research with
smallholder farmers
Regis Chikowo, Robbie Tichardson, Sieg Snapp (MSU); Wezi Mhango,
Fanny Chigwa, Agness Mangwela (LUANAR); Isaac Nyoka and Sileshi
(ICRAF), Desta Lulseged (CIAT), Owen Kumwenda and Anilly Msukwa
(DAES)
Africa RISING East and Southern Africa annual review and planning meeting,
Lilongwe, Malawi, 3-5 September 2013

2. Background - the project recognizes that
 There are action-learning and systems approaches
that have been proven effective, yet they have
rarely been applied at scale
 Knowledge transfer mechanisms that broadly work
across:
ofarmer typologies and
oagro-ecologies

3. Worrying facts
 management recommendations generally at variance
with local farmer circumstances (consideration of
agricultural risks, resource constraints and farmer
production objectives)
 The levels of labor, fertilizer, manure demanded are
often far beyond the capabilities of all but the
wealthiest households
Wealthy farmers <10% (Shepherd and Soule,
1998, Mapfumo and Mtambanegwe, 2005; Tittonell et
al., 2005, 2011; Zingore et al, 2007)

4. Alarming yield gaps ??
Crop Actual
yields
(t/ha)
Attainable
yields
(t/ha)
Maize 1 4+
Soyabean 0.6 1.8+
Groundnut 0.5 1.5+

5. Closing the yield gaps:
 Requires knowledge assimilation by farmers through
simple pathways
 Plausible approaches include learning by doing – farmers
empowered through experimentation
(NO TO DEMONSTRATIONS ONLY)
…….. Why ? – the very poor often left out, no opportunity
for hands-on innovating, elitist and top-down, scientists in total
control and fulfilling their fantasies, farmers by-standers, etc

7. Riding on our past experiences
 The mother and baby approach as a learning and
agricultural technologies transfer platform
 Farmers at all levels identify with the approach
(scientists coming down to earth without compromising
scientific rigor)
 The philosophy - co-learn with farmers through a basket
of technologies on ‘mother’ trials, while concurrently
‘variants’ of elements within these are acceptable at
farmers’ ‘baby’ fields

8. Snapp, 1998
‘Mother and baby’ trial design

9. What we did during 2012/13 season
Intervention site
‘Section’
Village cluster 1
Mother Trial A
40-60 baby trials
Village cluster 2
Mother Trial B
40-60 baby trials

10. What we plan to do in 2013/14 ....
consolidate and expand ..............>>
Intervention site
‘Section’
Village cluster 1 (old)
Mother Trial A
80 baby trials
Village cluster 2 (old)
Mother Trial B
80 baby trials
Village cluster 3
(new)
Mother Trial C
80 baby trials
> 900 directly
experimenting
farmers

11. Farmers experimented with….
 Grain legumes (cowpea, groundnut, soyabean,
common bean, pigeonpea)
 Different crop mixtures
maize/legume intercrops
Legume –legume intercrops (doubled-up legume
technology based on different crop growth
habits/architecture
 Different soil nutrient mangement regimes
(organic-inorganic nutrient resources, and their
combinations

12. Diversification…intensification
 Crop diversification
as one of the major
themes of the
‘mother and baby’
approach

13. Doubled-up legumes – intercropping 2 legumes that
have little competition for resources

14. Exposing farmers to agric intensification
technologies ......

15. Poor but happy at last ..

16. ... she has the energy

17. Could it be too difficult to interpret
his thoughts..

18. ... and MSU administrators came to the field in
Malawi to see our AR intensification ideas at work
Provost

19. Outputs
 We have effectively secured buy-in from partners
in projects sites (DAES, DC office, NGOs)
 Successfully established 4 action research sites
(Linthipe, Golomoti, Kandeu and Nsipe)
 Held a farming systems and modeling workshop
for partners in Malawi (spiced by some 3
participants from Ghana and Mzee Mateete)
 Recently held nutrition workshops in the action
sites

20. Food and nutritional security

21. Africa RISING Nutrition open days workshops

22. Africa RISING Nutrition workshops & open days

23. Biochemistry with smallholder farmers in Malawi!
Production of soyabean flour for nutritious soya
porridge! (mixture of soya, groundnut and maize)

24. The Ntcheu DC in support of healthy
communities through Africa RISING

25. Lessons learnt
Appropriate selection of pigeon pea varieties
essential for success in mixed crop-livestock systems
– long duration varieties likely to be damaged by
goats during July/August
Despite repeated explanations, a good proportion of
farmers can not separate R4D activities and
Development programs – this leads to ‘excessive’
demands on free inputs – seed, fertilizers, etc.

26. What worked
Farmers in intervention sites take ownership
of the project
Farmer experimenting (and innovating)
DAES as convenors of R4D platforms

27. What did not work
Intensive field soil surveys completed but soil
analysis lagging behind
Ideally this should contribute to informing our
next steps
Livestock component not prioritized during
Year 1. We have added relevant skills onto the
research team for 2013/14 and beyond

28. What are the opportunities for this ?..

29. Dry bones can live
again ...

30. Zikomo Kwambili
Asante Sana
Merci beaucoup
Thank you
Dank U
Tatenda
Amphope

31. Thank you

32. Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation
africa-rising.net