Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) are the most important food legumes grown in Ethiopia. Their growth and yield are mainly affected by available soil nitrogen, while they symbiotically associate with soil bacteria known as rhizobia and fix atmospheric nitrogen to supplement their nitrogen requirements. However, effectiveness of this symbiosis depends on rhizobium strains, host legumes and other biotic and abiotic factors.

N2Africa is a large-scale project with the aim of putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers growing legume crops in Africa. It is a science-based “research-in-development” project, with constant learning loops to find the best technology for every farmer. The main goal of N2africa’s agronomic research is to understand the major constrains on legume productivity, with a special focus on the causes of yield variability and how to reduce it.