Read the latest news from the just concluded Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative. This issue highlights the impact the project has had on farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, how it has helped build resilience of Africa’s smallholder farmers and how the improved maize varieties will enable partners to reach farmers on time to plant and produce maize during the COVID-19 crisis in different countries in SSA. You will also get to read about farmers getting an opportunity to select the stress tolerant varieties they prefer and why varietal taste matters.

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Amondo, E., Simtowe, F., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O., 2019. Productivity and production risk effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zambia. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 11, 570-591. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-03-2018-0024

Awata, L. A. O., Ifie, B. E., Tongoona, P., Danquah, E., Jumbo, M. B., Gowda, M., Marchelo-D’ragga, P. W., Sitonik, C., & Suresh, L. M. (2019). Maize lethal necrosis and the molecular basis of variability in concentrations of the causal viruses in co-infected maize plant. Journal of General and Molecular Virology, 9(1), 1-19.

Awondo, S.N., Kostandini, G., Setimela, P., Erenstein, O., in press. Multi-Site Bundling of Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties and Index Insurance. Journal of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12344

Buchaillot MB, Gracia-Romero A, Vergara-Diaz O, Zaman-Allah M, Tarekegne A, Cairns JE, Prasanna BM, Araus JL, Kefavuer SC. 2019. Evaluating maize genotype performance under low nitrogen conditions using RGB UAV phenotyping techniques. Sensors 19, 1815.

Chaikam V, Gowda M, Nair SK, Melchinger AE, Boddupalli PM. Genome-wide association study to identify genomic regions influencing spontaneous fertility in maize haploids. Euphytica. 2019 Aug 1;215(8):138.

Chaikam V, Molenaar W, Melchinger AE, Boddupalli PM. Doubled haploid technology for line development in maize: technical advances and prospects. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 2019:1-7.

Chaikam, V., Gowda, M., Nair, S.K. et al. (2019) Genome-wide association study to identify genomic regions influencing spontaneous fertility in maize haploids Euphytica (2019) 215: 138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-019-2459-

Katengeza, S.P., Holden, S.T., Lunduka, R.W., 2019. Adoption of Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties under Rainfall Stress in Malawi. Journal of Agricultural Economics 70, 198-214. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1477-9552.12283

Lunduka, R.W., Mateva, K.I., Magorokosho, C., Manjeru, P., 2019. Impact of adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties on total maize production in south Eastern Zimbabwe. Climate and Development 11, 35-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2017.1372269

Nair S, Chaikam V, Gowda M et al. Genetic dissection of maternal influence on in vivo haploid induction in maize . The Crop Journal. 2019 (in press)

Simtowe, F., Amondo, E., Marenya, P., Rahut, D., Sonder, K., Erenstein, O., 2019. Impacts of drought-tolerant maize varieties on productivity, risk, and resource use: Evidence from Uganda. Land Use Policy 88, 104091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104091

Simtowe, F., Marenya, P., Amondo, E., Worku, M., Rahut, D.B., Erenstein, O., 2019. Heterogeneous seed access and information exposure: implications for the adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties in Uganda. Agricultural and Food Economics 7, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-019-0135-7

Sitonik, C., Suresh, L.M., Beyene, Y. et al. (2019) Theor Appl Genet (2019) 132: 2381. Genetic architecture of maize chlorotic mottle virus and maize lethal necrosis through GWAS, linkage analysis and genomic prediction in tropical maize germplasm https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-019-03360-x

Tigist Mideksa Damesa, Jens Möhring, Manje Gowda, Yoseph Beyene, Kassa Semagn, Hans-Peter Piepho, 2019 Comparison of weighted and unweighted stage-wise analysis for genome-wide association studies and genomic selection – Crop Science

Wegary, D., Teklewold, A., Prasanna, B.M. et al. (2019) Molecular diversity and selective sweeps in maize inbred lines adapted to African highlands. Sci Rep 9, 13490 (2019) https://doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49861-z

Wender et al 2019, Performance and Yield Stability of Maize Hybrids in Stress-prone Environments in Eastern Africa,  The Crop Journal (Accepted)

Araus JL, Kefauver SC, Zaman-Allah M, Olsen, Cairns JE. 2018. Phenotyping: New Crop Breeding Frontier. In: R. A. Meyers (ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2493-6_1036-1

Das B, Atlin GN, Olsen M, Burgueño J, Tarekegne A, Babu R, Ndou E, Mashingaidze K, Moremoholo L, Ligeyo D, Matemba-Mutasa R, Zaman-Allah M, San Vicente, Prasanna BM, Cairns JE. 2018. Identification of low N tolerant donors for maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa. Euphytica 215, 80.

Yuan Y, Cairns JE, Babu R, Gowda M, Makumbi D, Magorokosho C, San Vicente F, Olsen M, Prasanna BM, Lu Y, Zhang Y. 2018. Genome-wide association mapping and genomic prediction analyses reveal the genetic architecture of grain yield and flowering time under drought and heat stress conditions in maize. Frontiers in Plant Science 9:1919.

Teklewolda H., Adam, R., Marenya, P. What explains the gender differences in the adoption of multiple maize varieties? Empirical evidence from Uganda and Tanzania. 2020. World Development Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100206

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Joshua Masinde

Over 400 farmers from Manyatta in Embu County were on February 7, 2020, invited to a demonstration farm to witness the performance of various high yielding, early to medium maturing, drought tolerant maize varieties. Such occasions aim to encourage them to adopt varieties whose traits they preferred the most.

They were invited by the Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK), with the support of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in continuation of the work started under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project, which was later succeeded by the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative. In attendance were officials from the Embu County government led by its minister in charge of agriculture, Jamleck Muturi, as well as ten seed firms, some of who use CIMMYT’s germplasm for seed propagation and marketing.

Farmers such as 29-year old Nancy Wawira not only learnt of best agronomic practices, but also identified a high yielding, drought tolerant and early maturing variety she hopes to plant on her farm next season.

For others like 52-year-old John Njiru, a father of four children, a higher-yielding variety with a lot of foliage, which remains green even after the maize cob has dried, is what he came looking for. The green maize foliage is significant income source due to demand from livestock keepers. He also feeds his own livestock with it, making substantial savings on animal feed expenditure.

”Improved maize seed is essential for African farming systems because of its relatively higher yield potential, better adaptation to common biotic and abiotic stresses such as diseases, pests, drought and low nutrients, and more efficient use of water. However, several studies have revealed that women farmers are less likely to use improved seed than men, leading to relatively lower productivity levels. These gender gaps represent real costs not only to women farmers but to their households, rural communities, but also to seed companies and agro-dealers”, says Rahma Adam, gender specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Nairobi.

”This is really a seed market missed by some seed stakeholders”, Adam adds.

She will speak at a webinar ”Gender and Seed Systems” on November 21, 2019, organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize and hosted by the CGIAR collaborative platform for gender research.

Rahma Adam will share STMA experience in seed systems that work for women, be it seed entrepreneur, seed grower, farmer, agrodealer or other positions in this sector still dominated by men.

Other speakers are Shawn McGuire, 20 years experience on smallholder seed systems and seed security matters, working at the FAO; and Esther Njuguna-Mungai, social scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and involved more recently on gender-sensitive legumes seed systems.

Is there a gender gap in maize seed systems and how to address it?

With widespread support from donors, national governments and research institutions, the seed sector in Eastern and Southern Africa has rapidly evolved in ways that have greatly altered the landscape of seed delivery to smallholder farmers. As the types and volumes of improved maize seeds increase, several questions arise, for instance: How do men and women farmers learn about the performance of these new improved compared to those that they presently grow? Which approaches are most effective in reaching different demographic groups? and How can one ensure that women get opportunities to learn about and access improved maize varieties?

As the types and volumes of improved maize seeds increase, several questions arise, for instance: How do men and women farmers learn about the performance of these new improved compared to those that they presently grow? Which approaches are most effective in reaching different demographic groups? and How can one ensure that women get opportunities to learn about and access improved maize varieties?

If you want to learn more about this issue, register at the webinar here.

Rahma Adam and her colleague Pauline Muindi will also organize a day workshop under the same theme on December, 2 in Nairobi. Many participants across CGIAR, development organisations and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will attend to share their views how to address the gender gaps in seed systems. More information to come.

“Introducing a new maize variety needs a great deal of investment. You need to build a convincing business case for varietal turnover. Some new varieties may do well for certain traits, but there are other factors other than yield to consider, for instance, producibility, cost of seed production and farmers preferences.” says Saleem Esmail, CEO of Western Seed.

Western Seed and CIMMYT have a long-standing collaboration since the Africa Maize Stress project over the past twenty years. Access to improved drought and disease resistant germplasm and use of the double haploid platform in Kiboko, Kenya help the company maize breeding program. Western Seed collaborates actively in CIMMYT’s regional trials.

Western Seed hybrids help smallholder farmers like Margaret Wafula and the Kaita family in western Kenya, get good maize harvests despite the numerous challenges like drought and diseases.

Read more about the Western Seed case study here.