Genetically modified soyabean: a viable option for smallholders in Africa?

In 2011, roughly three quarters of the global soyabean cultivation area was planted with genetically modified (GM) soyabean (James, 2012). In Africa, GM soyabean is only commercially cultivated in South Africa. Is the rest of Africa missing out on a great opportunity, or are the disadvantages of GM soyabean for smallholders outweighing the benefits?

Introduction

One issue often raised when we discuss soyabean as an important crop for smallholder farmers in Africa, is the use of genetically-modified varieties. A discussion was sparked amongst N2Africa staff, and it came to light that Linus Franke had written a report on the issue of GMOs recently. We summarise some of the recent discussions in this latest edition of the Podcaster. Apart from news items from various countries, we also report on steps taken to expand the activities to N2Africa to new countries.

See to my strain

Although in local Sierra Leonean Pidgin "see to my strain" does not have anything to do with rhizobia and inoculation, this text on the back of a car in Freetown nicely covered the purpose of our trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia, where N2Africa is currently expanding with additional funding from the H.G.

Forage legumes in Zimbabwe – a brief summary

Forage legumes are an affordable alternative feed for dairy livestock for the cash constrained smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. Local pastures are usually inadequate for livestock especially during the dry season. The grazing quality of the native pastures also depends on the species composition of most pastures where most farmers graze their cattle. Sporobolus pyramidalis is a dominant species in Zimbabwe‘s pastures and has been classified as the worst in terms of feed quality for livestock.

Will the dry bones live again? Insights from the N2Africa/IFAD field day in Mudzi district, Zimbabwe.

When the N2Africa project was launched in Mudzi district in the 2010/11 season, most farmers and local authorities were very skeptical of the concept of biological nitrogen fixation. Farmers who have stayed in the district for over 20 years argued that growing soyabeans, common beans, groundnuts and cowpeas intensively in the area would not be successful since Mudzi lies in natural farming region IV which has low agro-ecological potential largely due to scarce and erratic rainfall.

IITA extends N2Africa to Sierra Leone

With a grant of the H.G. Buffet foundation, N2Africa is currently expanding its activities into Liberia, Sierra Leone and north-Kivu in DRC. To kick-start activities in the new West-African countries, at the end of March meetings were held in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. The meeting in Sierra Leone even attracted a journalist, Richard Bockarie, who published the following piece in The UPDATE Newspaper of 22-03-2012.

Progress N2Africa in Ethiopia

Through the supplementary grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we started exploring opportunities for expanding N2Africa to Ethiopia. From 9 to 13 January, Ken and I paid a first visit to this country, where we met some of the key partners that could later help us developing a proposal for N2Africa in Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa we had a meeting with people from ILRI, IWMI and CIMMYT.