Ibadan, Nigeria
June 24, 2013

Efforts to improve livelihoods and agricultural productivity in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America received a boost with the take-off of Humidtropics— a CGIAR Research Program— in the West Africa Action Area.

The multi-stakeholder program—Humidtropics— led by IITA, aims to advance productivity in a sustainable manner, and to transform the lives of rural poor in the humid tropics.

Researchers from CGIAR and other partner organizations held a workshop in Ibadan to kick off the implementation activities of the program.

Dr Kwesi Atta-Krah, Executive Director of Humidtropics, said: “The program is part of efforts to save the tropical region from hunger and poverty.”

Organized by the Humidtropics focal point and West Africa Action Area coordinator, Dr Stefan Hauser, the launching workshop gathered a wide range of stakeholders in agricultural production and rural development.

The Action Area workshop provided participants the opportunity to:

• learn about the regional and national stakeholders’ work and their development challenges that guide their institutional agenda, considering past experiences with regional research for development projects in the region,
• identify points of convergence between Humidtropics’ goals and those of the regional and national organizations,
• learn about the Action Sites selection criteria and launch the identification process of potential Action Sites by country,
• define entry points in the region,
• introduce the R4D platform approach of Humidtropics.

The program objectives include enhancing the productivity of production/farming systems while sustaining natural resource integrity, improving livelihoods and incomes, assets and nutritional status, and increasing capacity for technical and institutional innovation.

“The program will also increase opportunities for women and vulnerable groups, and offer them greater control over assets, inputs, and promote their participation in decision-making,” Dr Atta-Krah explained at the launch.

With an area of about 3 billion hectares, the humid tropical region is home to about 2.9 billion people, mostly poor. Agricultural intensification in the region is still low, and the combination of risk factors such as soil degradation, deforestation, biodiversity loss, pests and diseases, postharvest losses further limits the potential of the region.

The program emphasis is on improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, women and children, while at the same time paying attention to production systems, the natural resources, and partnerships and policies.

Systems thinking and analysis is central to the program. It also involves enhancing innovation capacity, including systemic and institutional innovation.

Describing the tropics as a vast area with huge opportunities, Dr Atta- Krah noted that the opportunities were not yet fully harnessed.

Over the next 15 years, Humidtropics will contribute to the overall targets of CGIAR by increasing staple food yields by 60%, average farm income by 50%, and reducing the number of malnourished children by 30%. The program will also help lift 25% of poor households above poverty, and restore 30% of farms to sustainable resource management.

Partners collaborating with IITA in implementing Humidtropics include the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), International Potato Center (CIP), Bioversity International, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), AVRDC—the World Vegetable Center, and Wageningen University.
 

Website: http://www.iita.org

Published: June 24, 2013