Dries Roobroeck

By Paul L. Woomer, Dries Roobroeck and Didier Yelognisse Alia

This paper describes the opportunity for combining climate action and improved food and nutritional security as mutual elements of rural development projects, with particular reference to the situation in the African Sahel. This progress is achieved by identifying climate-smart agricultural production technologies and bundling them into solutions for inclusion within larger projects and programs. Seventeen (17) such technologies are offered in this chapter that represent genetic innovations, improved soil and water management, and directed improvement across landscapes. Examples of the efficacy of these technologies are presented based on results from the African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT) with specific reference to improved cereal production. An example of the deployment of TAAT technologies for millet and sorghum involving 83,620 households managing 123,863 ha led to nearly 200,000 MT of increased food production worth about $42 million. This effort led to an estimated annual increase of 177,279 MT CO2e in biomass and soil worth $3.9 million, assuming buyers could be found. The relationship between three principal drivers of agricultural transformation, the public, private, and farming sectors, is considered in terms of how these different technologies are mobilized and deployed. The potential for increasing food supply and carbon gains under current agricultural investment levels across the Sahel by International Financial Institutions, about $683 million per year, is described. This chapter then offers recommendations in how improved rural development projects combining climate action and food security in the Sahel may be designed in the future.

Part of the book: Sustainable Rural Development Perspective and Global Challenges

By Paul L. Woomer, Rachel M. Zozo, Sabra Lewis and Dries Roobroeck

Strengthening the production and processing of key food commodities forms the basis of agricultural development in Africa. These value chains follow a quasi-linear progression across seven main segments: farm planning > land preparation and crop establishment > field production > harvest > post-harvest handling > marketing > and value addition. Each of these consists of sub-segments whose improvement depends upon promotion and adoption of specific modernizing technologies. The technologies either have commercial application, as with the distribution of production input products and labor-saving equipment, or are related to management of farms and processing. For crop commodities, these products include improved varieties planted with more and better-formulated fertilizers and pest management materials. Management options are primarily directed toward the better conservation of resources and wiser integration of different farm enterprises. Key factors underlying value chain advancement include wider application of digital services, more effective incentives for climate-smart action, increased mechanization and irrigation, improved marketing efficiency and fairness, and incentives for value-creating agro-processing. An analogous set of factors also relate to value chains supporting animal enterprise. Attracting women and youth to meaningful careers in agriculture is particularly important since they are major stakeholders in the scaling of much-needed technologies and business models.

Part of the book: Agricultural Value Chains

By Paul L. Woomer, Dries Roobroeck and Welissa Mulei

Maize is a critical staple cereal across Sub-Saharan Africa but attempts to improve its productivity in small-scale farming systems often prove disappointing. The 12 key technologies required to overcome poor yields are mostly known, but the manner in which they are mobilized, packaged, and delivered requires re-evaluation. Combinations of better varieties and their necessary accompanying inputs must become more available and affordable for an African maize revolution to succeed, and land must be managed in ways that enhance, rather than diminish, land quality over time. Adjustments to the bundling and transfer of these technologies as transferable assets pose a solvable dilemma. These interventions must be based upon specific agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts and offered within the scope of well-designed regional and national agricultural development agendas. Success in boosting maize yields and its companion field legumes form the basis for greater food security across Africa and value-adding enterprises, including the growth of blended flours and commercial animal production. This chapter describes how these technologies may be most effectively mobilized within the current thrust to transform African agriculture.

Part of the book: New Prospects of Maize