View source for Drought-tolerant-maize-for-Africa-project

<div>
 <div class="title"><h3>5.55 -Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project</h3><br><h3 class="ch-owner">Jacoba Saynor, University of Guelph, Canada </h3></div>
<div class="hero-img-2">
[[File:4.jpg|300px]]
<p>Suggested citation for this chapter.</p>
<p>Saynor,J. (2022) Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project, In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org</p>
       <h3 class="title-bg">What is the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project</h3>
        <div class="cont-bg">
          <pIn 2006 the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project (DTMAP) was launched, as an effort to increase crop yields for subsistence farmers, thus promoting food security (Abate, 2007). Sixty new seed varieties were developed to decreased the amount of crop loss per season in order to increase the crop yield which is directly correlated to malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Maize is one of the most grown and consumed cereals across the globe, and the greatest source of daily calories for many African families (Abate, 2007). DTMAP increased maize yields from 20-30%, which benefited 30-40 million people in 13 African countries (Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) across the continent. The project was supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) as well as the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The value of the grain increased to reach US $160-200 million each year despite persistent drought, because farmers adopted the drought tolerant maize. DTMAP was supported by a multitude of universities across the globe as well as many organizations and foundations (Abate, 2007).</p> 
 [[File:Capture 700.JPG]]
<p><i> HYPERLINK "http://dtma.cimmyt.org/index.php/publications/doc_view/196-a-new-generation-of-maize-for-africa"</i></p>
<p><b>Figure 1.</b> The chart above outlines all aspects of the Drought Tolerant Maize Variety  for Africa Project. By clicking on the hyperlink embedded in the photo you will have full access to the pdf. Source of figure: Abate, 2007.</p>
  </div>
   </div>
 <div style="margin-top: 30px;">
       <h3 class="title-bg">Background Topics Affecting Drought Tolerant Maize Implementation </h3>
        <div class="cont-bg">
<p><b>Climate Change:</b></p> 
<p>With rising temperatures across the globe, subsistence farmers have been faced with higher levels of drought than in the past, and approximately 40% of farmers now face drought stress (Abate, 2007) The increased dry periods have created many challenges for crop yields, especially for maize since each plant requires 25 inches of water throughout its growth period, whereas most Sub-Saharan African countries only receive <450-1200 mm of rain annually. This lack of moisture creates a great challenge for farmers all over the globe; farmers are facing10-25% crop loss per season; this is why in 2006 The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project was first introduced (Abate, 2007).</p>
<p><b>What is Drought Tolerant Maize (DTM)</b></p> 
<p>Drought Tolerant Maize are hybrid seeds that is more resistant towards dry periods and have higher yields under drought. DTM was bred through conventional breeding techniques; the maize varieties were not genetically modified. There were 60 different maize varieties released in Africa; they vary along with the countries climate (Abate,2007) as seen later under the subsection “Maize That is Well Adapted to All Climates”.</p>
<p><b>Awareness of Seed Variety:</b></p> 
<p>As previously mentioned there are many farmers across Africa that do not have access to the markets where the seeds are sold, which becomes an issue in terms of awareness of the seed variety as well. Since the farmers live in such remote locations it becomes difficult to inform the farmers of the seed variety. It was also mentioned in one of the case studies that there was a case of poor labeling on the packaging of the DTM, so consumers were unable to identify what they were buying so they would instead buy recycled parent seed as an alternative (Lunduka, 2019).</p>
<p><b>Case Studies Outside of CIMMYT:</b></p>
<p>Since the DTMAP ended in 2015, Tesfamichael Wossen and his colleagues in 2017 evaluated the drought-tolerant maize varieties by measuring the impacts of adaptation to drought stress in rural Nigeria (Wossen, 2017). Wossen explains that by the year 2050, the total output of maize is estimated to decline by 22% in sub-Saharan Africa due to climate change. Wossen's team evaluated how the adoption of this hybrid provided different genetic variation from the original parent crop; as well as to how the development of this hybrid impacts food security and poverty within rural Nigeria. The team worked specifically where rainfall and climate had significant shifts in temperature each season. The maize variety that was selected for farming was that of a high yielding variant while taking into consideration high dry periods as well as the desired growing conditions of maize (Wossen, 2017). The results were as follows: The adoption of the DT maize variety increased farmers yields, had they not adopted the DTMV farmers would have faced a decline of 13.3%. Household welfare was positively impacted by the adoption of the drought tolerant variety, since it allowed for higher yields, it is estimated that if farmers had not adopted this maize variety food scarcity would have been 84% higher (Wossen,2017).</p> 
<p><b>The Economic Costs:</b></p>
<p>When there is a drought, the economic costs are extremely high as well as increased malnourishment. The study compared smallholder farmers that did adopt the improved maize variety and those who did not; the results showed that overall poverty would have been 12.9% higher than if they had not adopted it (Wossen, 2017). This case study gave an excellent overview, at the farm level, of the results of the implementation of drought tolerant maize. Other case studies done in Nigeria found similar issues with the project, with the major limitation being the cost of DTM seeds. The initial investment was too great for smallholder farmers, despite the obvious yield advantage (Tambo, 2012).</p>
<p>In another study conducted in rural Nigeria Tambo (Tambo,2012) discusses the cost of recycled seed costs versus the Drought Tolerant Maize (DTM). The cost of recycled seed was 120 naira per 2.5 kilograms of seed, equivalent to $US 0.33, whereas the DTM cost anywhere from 200-300 naira ($US 0.55-0.83), which most farmers cannot afford  despite the significant economic and socio economic advantage (Tambo,2012).</p> 
<p><b>Accessibility to Seed:</b></p>
 <p>One of the greatest problems of the launching of these hybrids faced was the lack of access to the markets where the seeds were sold to farmers. There were numerous cases where farmers who lived in remote locations did not have access to the markets where they were sold (Tambo, 2012).
In comparison to the average seed cost of corn, the Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties (DTMV) were much more costly upfront as opposed to the regular maize seeds, and hence the initial investment was too great for many to afford (Tambo, 2012).</p>

<p><b>Maize That is Well Adapted to All Climates:</b></p>
<p>There is not one single hybrid that was bred, but rather 60 different drought tolerant hybrids, adapted to different climates (Abate, 2007).</p> 

<p><b>Table 1.</b> Example of some of the maize varieties that were developed in Angola through the project. By clicking on the hyperlink, one can see all the varieties developed through the project. </p>
[[File:Capture 701.JPG]]
 <p><i><b>HYPERLINK "http://dtma.cimmyt.org/index.php/varieties/dt-maize-varieties"
Source: (Abate,2007)</b></i><p>
 </div>
   </div>
 <div style="margin-top: 30px;">
       <h3 class="title-bg">How can subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa adopt the Drought Tolerant Maize varieties today</h3>
        <div class="cont-bg">
<p>By visiting the CIMMYT website today under “Seed request”, one can request maize seed which is essentially free to any public sector organization: See the links below.</p> 
<p>Additional Long Term Benefits:</p> 
<p>On top of fighting drought, the DTM varieties were also bred to fight against major diseases. For example, Tambo discusses how the DTMV was created to fight not only against drought but also striga which is a common parasitic weed that removes the sugars and nutrients from the roots of corn (Tambo,2012). 
While conducting their research to produce new hybrids to fight against drought, CIMMYT evaluated the various biotic and abiotic stresses that the plants face.</p>
 <p>The abiotic factors being, drought stress, low nitrogen levels in soil and the occasional acidic soil levels. The biotic stresses are so numerous that they cannot be listed, however they studied mainly the fall armyworm and the sugarcane borer. CIMMYT created various hybrids to fight against the Maize Streak Virus(MSV) it is prominent in wetlands and causes growth stunt in plants, and ear rot; they created new hybrids varieties that resist open pollination(OPV) (Wegary,2019).</p> 
</div>
   </div>
 <div style="margin-top: 30px;">
       <h3 class="title-bg">Helpful links to get started</h3>
        <div class="cont-bg">
<p>The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center General Website-
https://www.cimmyt.org/</p>
<p>Summary of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project-
https://www.cimmyt.org/projects/drought-tolerant-maize-for-africa-dtma/</p>
<p>How to make a seed request through CIMMYT-
https://www.cimmyt.org/resources/seed-request/</p>
<p>Leader for the DTMA Project Talks about Why DTM is necessary for farmers in Africa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe9Mc-Sh44I</p>
<p>Farmers talk about their experience with DTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w6rS_yGQEk</p>
<p>The other major organization (IITA) that supports the Project-
https://www.iita.org/</p>
<p>Monsanto Company discusses drought tolerant maize in Kenya through the WEMA project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7SpCNzE84</p>
</div>
   </div>
 <div style="margin-top: 30px;">
       <h3 class="title-bg">References </h3>
        <div class="cont-bg">

<p>1.	Abate, T. (2007). Background. CIMMYT, Mexico. Retrieved from http://dtma.cimmyt.org/index.php/about/background?tmpl=component&print=1&page=.</p>
<p>2.	Lunduka, Rodney Witman, et al. (2019) Impact of Adoption of Drought-Tolerant Maize Varieties on Total Maize Production in South Eastern Zimbabwe. Climate and Development, 11: 43.</p>
<p>3.	Tambo, J., and Akpene A.. (2012) Climate Change and Agricultural Technology Adoption: the Case of Drought Tolerant Maize in Rural Nigeria.” Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 17: 279-290.</p>
<p>4.	Wegary, D., Teklewold, A., Prasanna, B., Ertiro, B., Alachiotis, N., Negera, D., . . . Semagn, K. (2019). Molecular diversity and selective sweeps in maize inbred lines adapted to African highlands. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 13490.</p>

<p>5.	Wossen, Tesfamicheal, et al. Measuring the Impacts of Adaptation Strategies to Drought Stress: The Case of Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties. Journal of Environmental Management, 203, 106-112,.</p>