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...
Youth benefiting from the AIRTEA Project in Rwanda. By Ben Ilakut; Joshua Okonya; Genevieve Apio Despite the existence of private sector-led multi-stakeholder partnerships for public research institutions, academia, policymakers and civil society in bringing about sustainable transformative change in AR4D, the extent of impact on the ground leaves a lot...
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...
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT Dr. Enock Warinda (R) shows Hon. Mithika Linturi around the site for the planned ASARECA Headquarters’ building in Entebbe on April 4, 2024 ENTEBBE, UGANDA: “I will mobilise my colleagues, the Agriculture Ministers to ensure that ASARECA gets a befitting home.” These were the words of Hon. Mithika...
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT (L-R) Dr. Denis Onkundi, Mithika’s Technical Advisor; Ms Doris Komen, Commercial Attaché, Kenya High Commission in Uganda, Hon. Mithika Linturi; Mr. Richard Mutwota, First Counsellor, Kenya High Commission in Uganda (immediate right to Dr. Mithika on back row); Dr. Enock Warinda; Dr. Wellington Mulinge of the Kenya...
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT CAIRO, EGYPT: ASARECA on February 4 and 5, 2024 joined Egyptian partners, Heliopolis University, and the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) in an awareness and dissemination workshop meant to share knowledge acquired by selected trainers of trainees during their training with farmers, the local communities...
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT ASARECA Board of Directors Chairman, Dr. Geoffrey Mkamilo is dead. Makamilo, who until recently was the Director General Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), died on the morning of Saturday March 2, 2024 at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital Dodoma, Tanzania. Announcing Dr. Mkamilo’s passing on, ASARECA Board of Directors Vice...
