Cultivating Resilience: Burundi’s bold strategy to reclaim soils & secure food for the future
BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI: Across the rolling high-altitude hills of Burundi, the promise of rich, diverse ecosystems is increasingly undercut by urgent environmental pressures. High population growth, intense land fragmentation, severe soil erosion, and climate variability have pushed smallholder farmers to the edge, making basic inputs increasingly expensive and supply chains dangerously fragile. Against this backdrop, agricultural experts, policymakers, researchers, and civil society leaders gathered in Bujumbura from September 14–18, 2026, for a...
Scaling Agroecology: Regional partnership launches Azolla drive to transform smallholder farming in Burundi
BY ILAKUT BEN MOSES BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI — In a major effort to build climate resilience and lower farming expenses across Eastern Africa, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), alongside the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), has launched a joint initiative to deploy Azolla technology as a game-changing bio-fertilizer and high-protein livestock feed. The initiative is supported by NARO, MAAIF-Uganda and Agape Innovations. It speaks...
From research papers to farmers’ gardens: How tiny aquatic fern is driving agroecological initiatives in East Africa
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KIGALI, RWANDA—Conventional agriculture alone can no longer withstand the compounding impacts of climate change while maintaining a sustainable food system in Africa. Facing a mounting triple threat of land degradation, soaring synthetic input prices, and acute seasonal animal feed shortages, agricultural leaders from across Eastern and Central Africa convened in Kigali from September 6–9, 2026, to launch a bold regional journey aimed at accelerating agroecological transformation through...
From Koboko to Pallisa: Farmers Turn to Biological Control in the Fight Against Parthenium
By Genevieve Apio KOBOKO/PALLISA, Uganda — For farmers confronting the spread of Parthenium hysterophorus, the invasive weed is more than an unwanted plant. Once it establishes itself in a garden, farmers say it competes aggressively with crops, affecting their growth and threatening the productivity of land on which families depend. In Koboko and Pallisa districts, those experiences formed the human face of a wider effort to take biological control technologies out of...
ASARECA, NARO and MAAIF Launch Beetle Rearing Facility in Kayunga to Combat Invasive Parthenium Weed under the CAADP-XP4 Programme
Farmers, researchers, extension personnel and government officials at the newly launched Beetle Rearing Facility in Kangulumira. By Genevieve Apio KAYUNGA, Uganda —The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa, in partnership with the National Agricultural Research Organisation and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), has launched a Beetle Rearing Facility in Kangulumira, Kayunga District, to strengthen the biological control of the invasive Parthenium hysterophorus weed. The facility was...
Bridging the Soil and Water Divide: Africa’s Agricultural Revolution Ignites at Nairobi WATDEV Conference
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT NAIROBI, KENYA — Facing a climate clock that is ticking faster than ever, over 70 agricultural experts, researchers, policymakers, and grassroots development partners gathered in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi on June 15–16, 2026 with a clear and urgent task—fundamentally reshape how Africa manages its critical soil, water, and energy resources to prevent an impending food security crisis. The two-day hybrid international conference titled, “Integrating Grassroots Knowledge and Research into...
EAC Identifies Critical Crop Pests to Secure Regional Trade and Agriculture
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA—In a major push to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and safeguard agriculture across East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, and Somalia), technical experts have finalized critical Pest Risk Analyses (PRAs) and accompanying harmonized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) targeting high-risk threats to the region’s most vital priority crops. Concluding a high-level regional write-shop in Kampala from May 26 to 29, 2026, the joint initiative...
Strengthening Soil Health Knowledge in Uganda Through the CAADP-XP4 Programme
By Genevieve Apio & Emily Arayo. “We are lucky to have trainers from NARO, ASARECA and Makerere University because it is not a daily happening that these groups of specialized Scientists come to training together. Training in soil management is a rare opportunity for us farmers in Lyantonde. We have received good seeds and what has been missing is the soil component”, says a jovial Nakasi Jane Frances the Councilor of...
Transforming Food Systems: Kenya Puts National Agroecology Strategy to the Test via ASARECA Digital Policy Tool
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT NAIROBI, KENYA—Strengthening coordination mechanisms and implementation arrangements for the delivery of the Kenya National Agroecology Strategy; strengthening capacities of stakeholders for implementation of the Strategy; developing and implementing the monitoring and evaluation framework for the Strategy. These are some of the key recommendations from the Training on Application of ASARECA Policy Manager Tool through Joint Analysis of Kenya’s National Agroecology Strategy for Food System Transformation, held recently...
Breakthrough: Uganda’s Agricultural research apex body, NARO, launches anti-tick vaccine and production facility
BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA: Uganda’s apex Agricultural Research for Development body, the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) on April 30, 2026 launched Uganda’s first locally developed anti-tick vaccine, marking a major milestone in efforts to combat tick-borne diseases affecting livestock in Uganda and the African Continent. Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni appreciates the USD 45million vaccine production facility at NARO Considered a national scientific breakthrough through, the commissioning of the country’s livestock vaccine alongside...