The control of crop pests has long been linked with chemical products like pesticides and insecticides. However, chemicals are often too expensive for smallholder farmers and require careful, appropriate use to ensure effectiveness. What if we could take advantage of natural ecological processes to suppress unwanted organisms, lessening our reliance on external inputs? This is the topic addressed in “Hide and seek: management and landscape factors affecting maize stemborers, Busseola fusca, infestation levels in Ethiopia,” the recent Ph.D. thesis by Yodit Kebede, completed at Wageningen University, Netherlands with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The implications of the research hold significance for prominent pest control challenges like fall armyworm in Africa and beyond.
Yodit Kebede signs her PhD diploma at Wageningen University, to her left stand her supervisors (l-r) Pablo Tittonell, Felix Bianchi and Frederic Baudron, March 2019. Photo: Anne de Valenca
LUSAKA (Zambia) – The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) has officially announced the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Africa. These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research-for-development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification.
Award recipients will attend the upcoming Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, May 7-9 where they will receive their awards and have the opportunity to present their work. The project meeting and award ceremony will also allow these young innovators to network and exchange experiences with MAIZE researchers and partners. Award recipients may also get the opportunity to collaborate with MAIZE and its partner scientists in Africa on implementing or furthering their innovations.
New partnership will help farmers in Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania have better access to seeds that help maize crops better withstand growing challenges of drought, pests, diseases, and climate change.
A farmer’s field in Malawi under conservation agriculture, showing rotation of maize and groundnut, and the retention of crop residues. (Photo: T. Samson/CIMMYT)
NEW YORK and TEXCOCO, Mexico — Working together to improve access to and availability of climate-resilient maize varieties in eastern Africa, the Clinton Foundation and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) are launching a partnership that will not only improve access by smallholder farmers to modern maize varieties but also aim to bolster food security in Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania. The Clinton Foundation is launching this partnership through the Clinton Development Initiative, which works in the region to improve economic opportunity for farmers through better access to markets, technology, and inputs like seeds and fertilizer.
