ICRISAT and IFAD collaborate to help small farmers

Barely a month after the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Government of India, promoted its motto "there is business that can be done in agriculture", the three are trying to reap dividends from international quarters for farmers.

ICRISAT, together with its sister cells, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is working to improve the lot of small farmers and ensure them seeds of improved varieties.

In this direction, ICRISAT has collaborated with a second phase of an agricultural research for development project, called Tropical Legumes II (TL II) which seeks to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The project has been granted USD 21 million, as announced by Bill Gates on Thursday in Rome at the 35th Session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The three-year project is part of a ten year plan and it aims to cover 60 million small farmers and their families in 15 countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is also expected to bring about USD 1.3 billion in added value to the productivity of the target crops, namely chickpea, common bean, cowpea, groundnut, pigeonpea and soybean.

Grain legumes contribute to the livelihoods, health and nutrition of more than 700 million poor people in the dryland tropics of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The project will enable smallholder farmers to deal with poor productivity and improve it significantly. It will also help them fight against conditions of drought, pest and disease problems,and unavailability and lack of access to quality seed of improved legume varieties.

“If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture. Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. The international agriculture community needs to be more innovative, coordinated and focused to really be effective in helping poor farmers grow more. If we can do that, we can dramatically reduce suffering, and build self-sufficiency,” said Bill Gates, co-chair ofBill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

It is to be noted that in the first phase of the project, more than 60 new varieties of tropical legumes have been released in several countries and 93,000 metric tons of seeds of improved legume varieties produced have reached 240,000 smallholder farmers. The farmers have also been given training as to how to improve farming practices.

The project also aims to strengthen the role of women in producing food and making decisions about family nutrition. ICRISAT Director General, William Dar, said that in the second phase, spread over three years, he hopes to share economic and nutritional benefits to poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

“By the end of 2014, we will have reached an additional 10 million smallholder farmer households. This is a very significant achievement,and we appreciate the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for our work and that of our partners,” Dar said.