- African Cassava Agronomy Initiative
ACAI 2020 Annual Review Meeting Highlights
The 2020 Annual Review and Planning for the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative was held virtually owing to the Covid 19 pandemic. Despite the unprecedented circumstance within which the event was held, the ACAI family and partners held a largely successful event.
Review meetings of this nature provide an opportunity to reflect on the activities of the project in the course of the year, the achievements, learnings and prioritize key actions points for the next year. Save for the virtual interaction, this year was no different from previous years, it showcased dissemination of AKILIMO, access to AKILIMO and the research process and finally reflections and feedback on the tools, the research and development process and the project progress. See Agenda here
Presentations
The ACAI team put together a series of presentations showing the activities, results and impact of the project for the year 2020. The presentations were organized thematically as follows;
AKILIMO in action
An overview of ACAI in 2020 by Dr Pieter Pypers, Theresa Ampadu-Boakye and Saburi Adekunbi (See presentation below)
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Open in new tab - Field trials, Crop models, Data management and tool development
• AKILIMO has become a trademark and received considerable attention within the CGIAR and the countries where the project is working
• AKILIMO is no longer a service but rather a platform
• Data wizard has improved the crop models to improve the AKILIMO predictions
• Prediction engine has significantly improved compared to what was shown last year.
• Published all our materials in 7 languages available online - Targets for impact and dissemination
• ACAI seeks to reach 173,000 end users
• Team is following a clear breakdown of how to reach the specific targets under each AKILIMO use case
• Developed supporting materials, organized trainings and sensitization events with scaling partners
• Targeting to reach more 400,000 farmers through web-based tools - AKILIMO and use and uptake – key results generated from use and uptake
• We have reached 154,293 farmers in Nigeria and Tanzania
• Achieved a more than 30% female participation in the AKILIMO dissemination activities
• More farmers were reached by Farmer Friendly video shows and SMS that any other method
• 43% women have requested information from the AKILIMO tools mobile phone application version
Scaling approaches by development partners by Linda Byaba and Samson Oguntoye (see presentation below)
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- Partners have used different approaches including demo plots and field days, sensitization events, videos, agricultural shows and media respectively
- Multisector linkages among cassava value chain actors enhanced
- Several new secondary partners incorporated into the project
- Data from ACAI helps partners plan and implement their strategies effectively
- Partners reviewed bottlenecks to dissemination and adoption and developed solutions that achieved positive results
Digital Partners Integrating AKILIMO by Gloria Akhabue, Patrick Kiao and Sally Ndung’u (See presentation below)
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- AKILIMO content fully integrated into the 321 service in Nigeria
- Recorded more than 50,000 calls on 321, noticed spike during the pandemic with 42% women
- Next step for 321 is to incorporate tailored recommendation and make the content dynamic
- Esoko developed ACAI dashboard showing data from MIS,Insyt and Kplus platforms that give precise information on farmer interaction
- More content to be developed for consistent messaging as well as a strong partnership with media
- High acceptance on AKILIMO by authorities and farmers
- Majority of farmers are in areas with low internet connectivity therefore more accessible via feature phone
- Arifu chat bot developed and customized using AKILIMO recommendation using a skip logic functionality
- The chat bot services will be expanded to Rwanda
Scaling to next users through secondary partners and AKILIMO integration in national extension systems, presentation by Dr Thompson Ogunsanmi and Dr Freddy Baijukya (see presentation below)
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- Bundle the use of AKILIMO in other services to be integrated into the operations of secondary partners
- More than 22 new partners recruited and integrated in Nigeria and Tanzania to promote sustainable use of AKILIMO tools
- ACAI through scaling fostering partner collaboration for a win – win situation and address some scaling bottlenecks
- Reviewed existing cassava agronomy knowledge materials, integrate AKILIMO content and monitor use and
- AKILIMO endorsed by national agricultural system in Nigeria and Tanzania
- AKILIMO adopted into the nation extension training and dissemination in Nigeria and Tanzania
AKILIMO Decision Support platform
From Concept to platform – AKILIMO in a Timeline by Dr Pieter Pypers
- 2015 – identifying partner demands and use cases and developing stepwise cocreation process to come up with version of the tool and what they would be like
- 2016 – multilocation trials, digital data collection and results framework developed
- 2017 – Coupling LINTUL/DSSAT and Economic Optimizer that formed the foundation for decision support tools, released the first version of the tools
- 2018 – Validation exercises to test the DST recommendation and developed the tools formats
- 2019 – Turned the result framework into a digital data collection and integration of partner dissemination strategies. Named the tools AKILIMO
- 2020 – Scaling AKILIMO, training materials, moving AKILIMO beyond Cassava and quantifying use and uptake of AKILIMO
Technical validation for the AKILIMO decision support tools
Validating AKILIMO 2nd season validation exercise results Dr Pieter Pypers, Dr Guillaume Ezui, Dr Chrsitine Kreye, Dr Freddy Baijukya, Dr Stefan Hauser, Dr Meklit Chernet.
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- Validation exercises are they are basically simple side by side comparisons or small trials where we compare our recommendations either against the control or farmers practice
- Results from FR validation shows an overall positive response to fertilizer use especially in 2nd season after improving the models
- Median profit from fertilizer is $1,000 per ha when revenue increase from both sweet potato and cassava is considered
- In Cassava maize intercrop, 80% of farmers received recommendations ranked as correct.
- Majority of farmers who adopted tillage from BPP realized increased yield while those who reduced/didn’t till had a lower yield.
- There has been a substantial improvement in the precision of yield measurement and generally reaching the estimated targets with AKILIMO recommendations.
Plenary presentation on learnings from the validation approach by Abubakar Mzanda and Ademola Adebiyi
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- Validation trials were organized and established by development partners
- NARS partners helped with quality assurance and providing extra data
- Incentivised extension agents to collect quality date frequently
- Provided training for training of trainers and extension agents for improved data collection and trial plot monitoring
Way Forward for ACAI and AKILIMO
ACAI and EiA 2030 Sustaining the use of AKILIMO by Dr Pieter Pypers and Dr Bernard Vanlauwe
- EiA is not a continuation of the ACAI project but rather a sustainability opportunity for AKILIMO
- EiA is about being relevant and doing agronomy at scale.
- EiA focusing on yield increase, resource use efficiency, yield stability and improved soil health
- AKILIMO inspires the development of new solutions with digital agricultural community
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Student Poster Sessions
To view student posters and comments click here
Discussions and feedback sessions from the ACAI ARM to follow soon, stay connected to the ACAI and AKILIMO webpages and social for more updates
Keynote address and remarks
Dr. Mkamilo regaled meeting participants on the eventful early begins of the ACAI project in Tanzania. He noted that in such a short time, the project had transformed in many ways that showed progress owing to good and strong leadership.
Representing the government of Tanzania as director general of TARI , Dr. Mkamilo recognized the import contribution that the ACAI project had made over time to the cassava value chain sector in the country. Dr. Mkamilo pointed out that the research and data collection activities, that involved farmers, helped them understanding the decision support tools and increased their willingness to use AKILIMO.
Commenting on the future of the AKILIMO tools, Dr. Mkamilo said TARI has been an integral part of the development process of AKILIMO, a history he proudly held, the tools will be incorporated into the extension training curriculum and adopted for the national cassava manual. He expressed optimism on the direction that the ACAI project research was headed for. He expected even more innovations resulting from the collaborations in the project.
Dr. Mkamilo thanked participants and declared the meeting open.
Prof Chris Daudu, Director, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS)
Prof Daudu pointed out that AKILIMO tools had been introduced to NAERLS at such an important time as the institute sought to empower extension agents through digital platforms. He affirmed the commitment of NAERLS to take up AKILIMO tools and scale them using the existing NAERLS extension network.
Commenting on the ingenuity of the AKILIMO tools, Prof Daudu said NAERLS will be interested in the site-specific fertilizer recommendations and recommendations for intercropping cassava with maize. He said these two-fundamental use-cases play right to the needs and demands of the farmers for tools to help improve productivity. In NAERLS, the AKILIMO tools will be integrated into a single extension tool.
Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, Director, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Dr Vanlauwe praised ACAI as an image of excellent science, combined with excellent delivery and partnership. He said that results like reaching 100,000 farmers after developing the AKILIMO suite of tailored agronomy decision support tools are quite impressive. Dr Vanlauwe also congratulated the students who graduated in 2020, noting that it takes a significant amount of efforts, resources and personal drive to achieve such a milestone. He said he will be looking forward to more students graduating. According to Dr Vanluawe, one of the most outstanding highlights for ACAI is that it was the seed to develop Excellence in Agronomy, with the vision to fully integrate AKILIMO into the new initiative that is still under discussions. In conclusion, Dr Vanlauwe said ACAI has over-delivered its mandate, and this owed to the leadership, noting that the ACAI project leader Dr Pieter Pypers, has been outstanding in every way coordinating such a complex project that demanded all components run smoothly in synchrony.
Dr Christian Witt, Senior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr Witt reiterated comments that ACAI is indeed a mark of excellence in terms of science and linkages with scaling partners, terming the ACAI ARM as one of his favourite events of the year. Dr Witt appreciated ACAI’s human approach to the scientific research and ability to adopt especially during the pandemic. Dr Witt confirmed that the BMGF has renewed its commitment to ACAI, with a belief that the project will continue in a different form and shape under One CGIAR. He pointed out that the extension will provide an opportunity to explore stronger collaborations between partners and make important contributions to the future of the CGIAR. Speaking about the progress ACAI has made, Dr Witt said in the last decade, this is one of the projects that pushed the envelope and inspired the idea for excellence in agronomy. “Science is an evolution always and that you stand on the shoulders of many years of experience and work that others have done before, but I am very impressed by how you in a way reinvented agronomy at scale” He said ACAI gives hope that similar research can be done at scale, connect with scaling partners and essentially linking research with delivery. in conclusion, he commented ACAI for partnering smartly with others and expressed optimism that the partnership and innovations that have come out the project can be mainstreamed in other initiatives, organizations and projects.
Dr Adeyemi Olojede, Director, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Nigeria,
On coming of DST in the extension delivery systems is one of the achievements on ACAI. The project has brought in a new set of good agronomic practices in cassava growing in Nigeria and Africa in general. The coming of EiA as an offshoot of ACAI is a show that ACAI has done a good job and the future is bright for partners in the project. Grateful to BMGF and the team of the ACAI project that has worked tirelessly to see the project through.
Wiston Mwombek Farm Concern International
The project has achieved all this success because of strong leadership and commitment from all those involved. ACAI partnership at the grassroots level played a major role in what will have a positive impact on cassava production Africa. ACAI has generally improved the knowledge and understanding of cassava agronomy for development partners involved in the project. Efforts should now be channelled at looking for solutions to address market access in the value chain. .
Alfred Dixon, Director, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
ACAI embodies a lot of good science that is demand-responsive, working with a diverse partnership with impressive delivery. The achievement is exemplified in the PhD and MSc graduates and on-going students but most importantly the capacity building for national partners. Pieter has done well in managing ACAI, such a complex and big project.
