CARLO FADDA4,CHIARA MANCINI1,4DEJENE KASSAHUN MENGISTU1,2,YOSEF G.KIDANE1,3, M.ENRICO PÈ1 1 Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy, [email protected]; [email protected]
2 Mekelle University, Makalè, Ethiopia
3 Sirinka Agricultural Research Center, Sirinka, Ethiopia, [email protected]
4 Bioversity International, Nairobi, Kenya, www.bioversityinternational.org, [email protected], [email protected] Key words: durum wheat, farmers’ participatory selection, climate change, Ethiopia, crowdsourcing
Summary: Durum wheat is a strategic crop for food security and livelihood improvement of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, yet is productivity is declining largely due to climate change. It is critical to identify accessions with adaptive traits to the changing climatic conditions. We identified 400 accessions of durum wheat and farmers identified the one that match their needs. We subsequently distributed a small amount of seeds of the most preferred ones using a crowdsourcing approach. From feedback received from farmers on performance under their growing conditions we were able to identify the ones with highest potential. This form the basis of enhanced local seed systems.
Background
Climate change is severely affecting production systems in the whole of Africa (IPCC, 2014), with a predicted yield loss in all major cereals crops across the continent. Ethiopia will also be affected, in particular there will be an increase in temperature in all four seasons and changes in rainfall patterns . In Ethiopia, however, direction of changes in rainfall patterns is very difficult to predict . One solution for long term adaptation, management of climate related risks (including increased unpredictability and uncertainties in the models) is to enhance the level of genetic diversity available to farmers, by introducing new traits into the production system. It is clear that business as usual is not enough. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this diversity often represents one of the few options available to smallholder farmers in marginal areas to adapt , significant parts of the original diversity have been eroded and cannot be found anymore in production. Durum wheat in Ethiopia is not an exception , despite the fact that durum wheat is one of the officially announced strategic crops for contributing to food security and livelihood improvement of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The IPCC (2014) recognizes that one of the key adaptive strategy for farmers in several parts of Africa is to shift to crops varieties that better suit the current climatic conditions , yet these better adapted varieties have to be identified and delivered quickly to the farmers. Here we present an approach to quickly deliver to farmers a selected number of preferred accessions of durum wheat using a crowdsourcing approach.
Main chapter
In order to achieve the results of understanding the performances of accessions in different climatic conditions and to address farmers’ needs, we followed a three-pronged approach: i) phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Ethiopian durum wheat landraces; ii) farmers’ participatory selection; iii): distribution of selected seeds to a large number of farmers using a crowdsourcing approach. In addition, and in order to monitor performance based on The first two steps will be described very shortly as they are presented in Mengistu et al (2014). We will therefore focus here in the crowdsourcing methodology and preliminary results (Fig. 1 shows the process and the potential implication of the approach).
1. Germplasm Characterization. In 2012 we sowed 373 accessions of durum wheat obtained from the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) and collected from various regions in Ethiopia and 27 released varieties. Those 400 genotypes were grown in two consecutive years in two differently characterized agro-ecological zones of Northern Ethiopia: Hagereselam (2,590 meters above sea level), in the western part of the Tigray Region, and Geregera (2,890 masl), in the eastern part of the Amhara Region. Several landraces outperformed improved varieties, indicating that under changing conditions the improved varieties were not the best choice for farmers and that landraces could be used for immediate distribution to farmers and for breeding purposes. There was a clear incentive to test the material with farmers.
2. Farmers’ participatory selection. All the 400 varieties were evaluated in the two locations) by 30 local farmers (15 males and 15 females) for each location before harvest. Through focus group discussion with the farmers traits the farmers use to evaluate wheat varieties were identified and ranked. Earliness, tillering capacity, ear morphology and overall plot characteristics were evaluated, giving a score from 1 to 5. More than 200,000 data points were collected and allowed to relate farmers’ preference with agromorphological traits. Forty landraces were selected on the basis of metric measurements and farmers’ scoring, amplified and distributed to the farmers for further analysis.
3. Crowdsourcing of selected varieties. In 2013 season we distributed 20 varieties among the best and one check, an improved variety, Assasa, very common in both areas to 200 farmers in 12 villages per site, covering an area of roughly 350 km2. Farmers were given 3 varieties and the check, each
farmer receiving a different combination of accessions and each variety being equally represented in the sample. In addition, in each village we included 2 i-buttons, measuring temperature and humidity every 3 hours throughout the growing season. This allowed to analyse the data at the light of some
critical climatic parameters. At each village 12 enumerators are recruited for data collection and a mobile phone is provided for all to facilitate communication. Farmers are unaware of which varieties they are given and were trained on how to conduct the experiment and to provide information. In one of the site, farmers from each village formed groups with defined by-laws to better monitor and discuss the experiment.
Results show clear indication on farmers preferences, there is a confirmation that landraces were preferred to improved varieties for their multiple uses, we can customize preferences over a broad geographic area, we shift from a scientist based approach where farmers are asked to evaluate a plot in one location to a decentralised approach where farmers are providing scientific information to the scientists and are therefore part of the research, we have a better understanding of the criteria farmers use to select their preferred varieties: normally, a combination of traits are important to farmers, including straw and grain yield, drought tolerance, uniformity, long and dense spike.
In conclusion:
• this process has been very effective in disseminate seeds that match farmers needs in a very short amount of time as after 2 years already several hundred farmers have the potential to use better adapted material, with a large snowball effect potential.
• It shows the potential of landraces to provide immediate option for managing climate related risks and call for broader use of material conserved in gene banks.
• It indicates the need to strengthen local seed systems in order to manage these resources in a sustainable manner.
• It indicates how farmers can provide very valuable scientific information that can be translated into research as well as development outcome also in other areas of research.
Figure 1 – Process of the crowdsourcing, potential development, and implication for seed system References
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Session A Poster A7