By Ben Moses Ilakut Progress in addressing malnutrition has stalled in many parts of the world due the impacts of climate change and failure by Governments to provide adequate matching investments to operate the global food systems, a recently released report has shown. The report faults compounding crises, including the COVID-19...
By Ben Moses Ilakut & Genvieve Apio It an undisputed reality that Climate Change is a major challenge to agricultural productivity and food security globally. The devastating effects of climate change are manifested in many ways including El Nino rains, which are affecting several countries in Eastern and Central Africa. Photos above...
By Ben Moses Ilakut Practically all countries in Eastern and Central African (ECA) depend largely on rain-fed agriculture for livelihoods. Much of the rainfall comes in a few high-intensity events with long dry spells in-between. This results into two catastrophic opposites--extreme episodes such as floods versus intense droughts with scotching heat. Farmers...
Ben Moses Ilakut Top international humanitarian and aid agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the last few days called for emergency response to the food situation in Sudan following a declaration of famine in the Zamzam camp. Famine is a severe and...
By Ben Moses Ilakut When the deadly transboundary disease Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) ravaged the East African countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in 2005 to 2010, it was only collective action by scientists from the concerned countries and the CGIAR, all coordinated by ASARECA, that brought the devastation to...
It is widely recognized that the provision of irrigation can help millions of smallholder farmers intensively cultivate their small parcels to improve income and better cope with climate induced uncertainties. However, the irrigation coverage in East and Central Africa is significantly lower than the global average. For instance, in sub-Saharan...
By Martin MUGENGA (SPF), Theophile NDACYAYISENGA (RAB) and Joshua OKONYA (ASARECA) Mr. Isaac Nzabarinda is a 62-year-old lifelong farmer and a married man with nine adult children in Rugi village, Musanze, Rwanda. He shares his journey of renewed success in producing disease-free potato seed. Growing up on a farm, he actively...
By Ambrose Aheisibwe (SDGC/A), Aloys Musabyisoni (RAB) and Joshua Okonya (ASARECA) My name is Faustin Ntankazarimana, and I chair the Haguka Mudende Innovation Platform (IP) in Mudende, Rubavu district, Rwanda. In 2022, our platform faced challenges, with sporadic meetings and dwindling membership. Members rarely met, and as a result, some had...
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT & MOSES ODEKE BAHIR DAR, ETHIOPIA: ASARECA, and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies-Institute of Bari (CIHEAM Bari) on April 19-20, 2024, joined Ethiopian partners, Water and Land Resources Centre in a follow-up training and selection of possible BMP scenarios workshop targeting farming communities in...
