CIMMYT Presentations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/130156
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Item Gender and demand stimulation for agricultural mechanization service use in Ethiopia(Presentation, 2023-10-11) Jaleta, Moti; Mohammed, Abdu; Gebresilasse, Mesay; Godlonton, SusanAgricultural mechanization is less developed in subSaharan Africa (SSA). Even in areas where there are scale-appropriate mechanization services, their use by smallholders (especially by women farmers) is minimal due to various social and economic factors. Following a randomized control trial (RCT) approach in stimulating men and women farmers in machinery-service use for cereals threshing and collecting survey data from 841 women-headed and 1,116 men-headed households in East and Southwest Shewa Zones in Central Ethiopia, this paper assesses how gender of the household head affects the demand for mechanization services. Empirical results show that gender of a household head is associated with the use of machinery services. Younger household heads are more proactive in using incentives provided in stimulating machinery-service use for threshing. Regardless of the gender of household heads, there is a location difference on the intensity of mechanizationservice use by smallholders. In most of the cases, the size of the cultivated farmland matters in mechanizationservice use. Overall, subsidies have a significant effect in stimulating demand for mechanization services by smallholders. However, no significant difference was observed between men and women household heads in using the provided incentives for demand stimulation. This implies that availability of mechanization services alone does not guarantee use of these services by men and women farmers. It is essential to further explore the role of institutional setups in which smallholder farmers operate and the supply side challenges service providers have in reaching out to men and women farmers under poor rural infrastructure.Item Farm-managers or unpaid laborers? Women farmers in male-headed households of Central India(Presentation, 2023-10-09) Krishna, Vijesh V.; Khed, Vijayalaxmi D.; Gartaula, Hom Nath; Badstue, LoneIn the context of agricultural research and development (AR&D) in the global South, there is a growing recognition of the role of women farmers and the relevance of targeting them. The level of women’s participation in agricultural activities is influenced by factors such as male outmigration from the agricultural sector, and prevailing social norms. This participation varies both temporally and spatially, thereby influencing the strategies for targeted technology development and dissemination. This empirical study draws farmhousehold survey data from eastern Madhya Pradesh, India, where the rate of male outmigration from agriculture has been marginal. The objective is to assess the relationship between the involvement of women in labor provision and decision-making in wheat production. The findings reveal variations in women’s roles and their extent of participation in different agricultural activities. Concerning access to credit and soil fertility management, women are predominantly categorized as nonparticipants. Conversely, women commonly engage in weeding, irrigation, and harvesting activities, but their roles are typically limited to ‘unpaid family labor.’ Only in postharvest operations do women actively participate in labor provision while having decision-making power comparable to that of men, thus approaching the function of ‘farm managers.’ It is important to note that women’s active involvement in agricultural decision-making is closely linked to their participation in decision-making within other domains as well. By recognizing and promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes, AR&D programs can foster inclusive and sustainable agricultural development.Item Addressing gendered maize seed and trait preferences in Kenya(Presentation, 2023-10-10) Medina, Mariana Garcia; Almekinders, Conny; Donovan, Jason A.Maize is an important staple and cash crop, contributing to food security and economic development in Kenya. Despite numerous high-quality varieties with increased genetic gains having been released and disseminated, research on maize seed systems (SS) has highlighted slow varietal turnover. Understanding farmers’ preferences for varieties and specific traits has been at the core of SS research as it is recognized that adoption of new varieties is usually slow because varieties often do not meet farmers’ needs and preferences. Previous studies have provided valuable insights demonstrating that, in certain contexts, there are clear distinctions for trait preferences among men and women. Nevertheless, there are still many questions regarding gender-differentiated preferences for maize varieties, for instance, little is known on how these preferences vary across diverse gender intersections and the motivations and values driving seed choices. Aiming to delve into those differences we interviewed 66 maize farmers in two counties in West and Central Kenya. Using means-end chains as methodology, the interviews consisted of a triadic sorting technique to elicit varietal attributes, followed by laddering interviews where participants verbalized their own constructs related to varieties which were subsequently linked to their personal goals and values. The insights of this research can contribute firstly to understanding diverse groups of farmers and secondly to informing public breeding programs to develop and promote maize varieties that not only enhance productivity and profitability but are also adapted to the different needs of women and men smallholder producers to benefit both in an equal manner.Item Building Agency by Co-creating Knowledge with Farmers: Enabling and Empowering for Demand-driven interventions (BACKFEED)(Presentation, 2023-10-11) Fisher, Monica; Marenya, PaswelNew approaches of listening to farmer communities are needed to support impactful, demand-driven agricultural interventions. This study describes the process of cocreating with farmers and stakeholders in Malawi and Zambia—a hybrid farmer feedback system that listens to farmers first and is socially inclusive. An initial design solution links the knowledge/content library of the GeoFarmer application with Viamo’s interactive voice response (IVR), supplemented by participatory processes, in-person information exchanges, and community and household sensitization. Our objective is a feedback system where farmers across a spectrum of social groups regularly, spontaneously, and sustainably obtain information, provide and receive feedback, and network with their peers. Critical to designing an inclusive farmer feedback system is understanding and addressing social exclusion in agricultural information channels, including digital channels, and heightened exclusion faced by people with more than one social or economic vulnerability. Our design solution focuses on technology that even many resource-poor farmers have at their fingertips right now—basic phones (not smartphones). Viamo’s IVR in local languages enables reaching and hearing from farmers with access to basic phones and encouraging participation of those who might otherwise be excluded due to limited literacy (ICT, reading and writing ability, national languages). Working with communities, we are devising approaches, using existing community resources, to give access to mobile phones to those in need. Various approaches (e.g., role models, household methodologies) are to be implemented to challenge and help positively transcend social norms that disadvantage some groups in agricultural information channels.Item Are weeds really an issue in Zero Tillage systems? Farmer insights from the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia(Presentation, 2023-10-12) Chaudhary, Anjana; Suri, Bhavya; Timsina, Pragya; Karki, Emma; Sharma, Akriti; Gartaula, Hom Nath; Brown, BrendanA large amount of literature has now proven that zero tillage (ZT) as a part of Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification (CASI) practices has the potential to help smallholder farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia transition to more productive, profitable, and sustainable production systems. Despite this, changes in weed management under ZT are commonly identified as a constraint to wider adoption, based primarily on quantitative investigations. Yet the contribution of this to farmers’ evaluation and adoption behavior remain underexplored. To address this, we explore farmers’ perceptions on CASI-based herbicide weed management systems using semi-structured interviews from six locations across the EGP. This study identifies a divergence in experiences with herbicides, both geographically (with more negative reports from Sunsari and Bihar than other locations) and in terms of user typologies (where users are overwhelmingly positive, and nonusers are overwhelmingly negative). This divergence suggests that an information void exists that has the potential to contribute strongly to the negative evaluation of CASI, as well as potentially negative changes in household labor dynamics. To overcome this, promotional efforts should target education and training programs that address how to effectively spray, potentially with increased emphasis on weather forecasting use. This will ensure equitable outcomes for household members, and increased interest and use of CASI can be enabled.Item Exploring the potential of genebank collections to address food system challenges(Presentation, 2023-04-26) McCouch, Susan; Hearne, Sarah Jane; Wenzl, PeterThis information session will showcase the latest thinking from CGIAR and the Crop Trust about how the genetic diversity of crops conserved in genebanks can be used for the benefit of smallholder farmers the world over.Item Food System Monitoring navigating a data-driven future (WP4): Webniar(Presentation, 2023-06-29) Jimenez, Daniel; Garcia, Gustavo; Castillo, Johana M.; Manners, Rhys; Storr, SamuelThe webinar, hosted by the digital innovation initiative under work package 4, focused on Food System Monitoring and featured a panel of experts who shared insights from their work in various countries. The speakers highlighted the benefits of digital transformation in agriculture, particularly in regions with limited traditional information sources. Digital tools like phone surveys, remote sensing data, and government data through web platforms enable the collection of more precise data, allowing for the identification of patterns and trends, predictive analytics, and early warning systems. These advancements are crucial for providing stakeholders with a clear and robust understanding of agri-food systems, especially in regions facing poverty and nutrition challenges.Item Market Intelligence insights for groundnut breeding and seed systems in Tanzania(Presentation, 2023) Rutsaert, Pieter; Masimane, Joy; Mawia, Harriet; Kitoto, Victor O.; Sousa, Kauê de; Etten, Jacob van; Daudi, Happy; Ochieng, Justus; Rubyogo, Jean-Claude; Ojiewo, Christopher OchiengItem Crop cut surveys for yield GAP decomposition: An overview presentation to degas staff for Ghana GAIP use case(Presentation, 2023-10-20) Tesfaye, Kindie Fantaye; Mponela, PowellItem Using explainable machine learning techniques to unpack farm-level management x climate interactions(Presentation, 2023-11-27) Ramírez Villegas, Julián Armando; Jaimes, Diana; Gonzalez Rodriguez, Carlos Eduardo; Llanos, Lizeth; Jimenez, Daniel; Gardeazabal, Andrea; Estrada, Oscar; Nuñez, DanielOptimizing the management of maize production systems, including the milpa (intercropping of maize with beans and other species), is crucial for improving on-farm productivity and ultimately reducing food insecurity. This presentation showcases the results of a study aimed at identifying determinants of maize yield in Guatemala using agronomic and climate data. The study employs interpretability techniques in machine learning to explain the interactions between climatic factors and crop management in productivity. The study follows a three-step approach: (1) an Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) process of data, involving feature engineering and data standardization and cleaning; (2) identification of algorithms, metrics, and algorithmic tuning; and (3) delving into interpretability using techniques such as SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), partial dependence plots (PDP), accumulated local effects (ALE) plots, and Friedman's H-statistic to evaluate interactions between featuresItem Space-time prediction of maize yields in Southern Africa(Presentation, 2023-04-24) Muthoni, Francis K.; Parente, Leandro; Thierfelder, Christian L.; Diemen, Chris van; Hengl, TomislovItem Gender, rainfall endowment, and farmers’ heterogeneity in wheat trait preference in Ethiopia(Presentation, 2023-09-21) Gartaula, Hom Nath; Gebremariam, Gebrelibanos; Jaleta, MotiPaper presented at the 7th African Conference of Agricultural Economics, 18-21 September 2021, Durban, South Africa. More information on the conference can be found here: https://www.acae2023.org/Item F2R-CWANA - Approach to Science for Impact(Presentation) Baum, Michael; Al-Zu'bi, MahaPresentation on CGIAR Initiative on Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA) approach to science for impact, for the Resilient AgriFood Systems (RAFS) Regional Integrated Initiatives (RIIs) Retreat, 1 March 2023, Nairobi.Item From Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA) - CGIAR Initiative drop in call: RAFS RIIs(Presentation) Baum, Michael; Al-Zu'bi, Maha; Dhehibi, Boubaker; Bishaw, Zewdie; Gathala, Mahesh Kumar; Devkota Wasti, Mina; Anarbekov, Oyture; Crichton, RhiannonFrom Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA) - CGIAR Initiative drop in call: RAFS RIIs, March 9, 2023Item Resistencia a afidos en trigo(Presentation, 2022) Crespo-Herrera, Leonardo A.Item Genetic improvement of global wheat, including progress for enhancing insect resistance(Presentation, 2022) Crespo-Herrera, Leonardo A.Item Can wheat beat the heat and drought?(Presentation, 2022) Crespo-Herrera, Leonardo A.; Velu, Govindan; Huerta Espino, Julio; Gerard, Guillermo S.; Singh, Ravi P.Item Identifying impact pathways for DLC sectors(Presentation, 2023) Marenya, Paswel PhiriItem Country teams socioeconomics workshop crops for resilience (Dryland legumes and cereals)(Presentation, 2022) Marenya, Paswel Phiri