Introduction

It’s hard to believe it comes around so fast, but N2Africa has just entered the fourth and final year of the project. How to increase the uptake of the best N2-fixing legume technologies in this last stage of the project was a major topic of discussion at the N2Africa Leadership Team and Steering Committee meetings held in Nairobi in October. This was a great opportunity for Jeroen Huising to get to know the N2Afica team and establish himself as Project Coordinator.

Exploring opportunities for N2Africa in Tanzania

After workshops in Ethiopia and Uganda earlier this year, Tanzania was the last country under the newcomers to be visited. On 6 and 7 November, a workshop was held in Morogoro, with the objectives of exploring the opportunities for extension of N2Africa to Tanzania, identifying suitable legume niches and developing a ‘roadmap’ for N2Africa activities in the country.

N2Africa representation at the Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Africa: from microbes to markets Conference, Nairobi 2012

From 22-26 October, for the first time and all the way (from microbes to markets), the world of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) was captured in six themes: Starting with (1) advancing plant-microbe interactions we then moved to the field scale in (2) enhancing BNF in smallholders and to a broader level of (3) exploring options for intensification and diversification of farming systems and (4) identifying bottlenecks for implementation of ISFM.

It was worth the ride: A Transcription of Partner’s Visit to N2Africa Liberia Project Site

"You’ll enjoy seeing the N2A legume trial in Lofa County", I was told. It’s in the northeast, close to the Sierra Leone border only 240km from Gbarnga in the center of the country where I was staying. It was the (very) rainy season and the narrow dirt road, the only route to these parts was heavily wash boarded, potholed and blocked in a number of places by large transport trucks efficiently excavating extremely deep ruts in the muddy surface as they tried in vain to force a way through. Engineer battalions from the UN force worked hard to keep the road open.

N2Africa project offers hope for Sierra Leone farmers

Something beyond the traditional farming experience in Sierra Leone is being introduced to let farmers benefit from grain legume crops. The common practice upon which the farming of these crops had been centred lacked maximum productivity and did not focus on nutritional and economic values. With the introduction of the N2Africa Project, however, these setbacks and disadvantages will soon become an experience of the past.

Greenhouse commissioning and commencement of greenhouse work in Zimbabwe

On the 2nd of May, 2012, a commissioning ceremony for the renovated greenhouse was held at the Soil Productivity Research Laboratory (SPRL) in Marondera. The renovations were funded by N2Africa and implemented by Blackpuck (pvt) Ltd.

A total of 15 participants attended this event representing N2Africa, CIAT, the Ministry of Public Works, Blackpuck and the Chemistry and Soil Research Institute (CSRI) from the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS).

Announcement First International Conference on Global Food Security

The First International Conference on Global Food Security, that will take place from 29 September till 2 October 2013 in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, aims to deliver state-of-the-art analysis, inspiring visions and innovative research methods arising from interdisciplinary research.

Join this exciting opportunity to ensure that the best science is garnered to support the emergence of the Sustainable Development Goals.