Impact assessment of agricultural research in West Africa: An application of the propensity score matching methodology

Ex-post evaluation of agricultural research is aimed to empirically provide evidence of past investments’ effectiveness. This paper is intended to measure the immediate impact of livestock research activities on cattle farmers’ knowledge about trypanosomosis and its curative and preventive control strategies. According to the quasi-experimental design of the intervention, it is shown that its impact will be adequately estimated by propensity score matching (PSM). Based on data collected according to a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire in the region of Kénédougou that is common to Mali and Burkina Faso, results indicate a significant gain in farmers’ know-how due to participation in livestock research activities

Economic analysis of animal disease control inputs at farm level: the case of trypanocide use in villages under risk of drug resistance in West Africa

This paper presents an economic analysis of the use of drugs (isometamidium and diminazene) in controlling African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT), a serious disease of cattle and small ruminants in villages that exhibit resistance to isometamidium in Burkina Faso and Mali in West Africa. The study applies a production function framework integrating a damage control function to assess the short term productivity effect of trypanocide use under different epidemiological conditions. We found that the marginal value products of isometamidium in all epidemiological conditions, and the marginal value product of diminazene in high-prevalence-high-resistance conditions are positive and greater than one revealing an underuse of trypanocidal drugs in those conditions. The economical optimum level of isometamidium is far larger than the current use level. In a strict economic interpretation, this implies that in the short term cattle farmers could increase the profitability if they increase trypanocide input beyond current levels. On the other hand, if the use of trypanocide increases, cattle farmers will also be more likely to experience future losses from trypanocide resistance. In this paper we demonstrated the feasibility of applying the damage control framework for measuring the productivity of veterinary therapeutic drugs at farm level in poor African countries

Etude des politiques relatives aux stratégies de gestion de la chimiorésistance dans le cadre de la lutte contre la trypanosomose en Afrique de l'Ouest: cas du Mali

Discussion sur l’etude des politiques relatives aux stratégies de gestion de la chimiorésistance dans le cadre de la lutte contre la trypanosomose en Afrique de l’Ouest, Mali. Le projet a pour objectif d’assurer l’efficacité des trypanocides comme une composante effective des strategies intégrées et améliorées de contrôle de Ia trypanosomose animale dans Ia region ouest-africaine. Pour atteindre cet objectif, des organisations nationales de recherche et de developpement, des institutions internationales et régionales de recherche, et des universités allemandes travaillent en partenariat afin de développer aux niveaux local et regional des strategies de reduction de risque de Ia chimiorésistance. L’accent est mis principalement sur l‘information et des supports techniques aux paysans, aux prestataires de service en sante animale, aux vétérinaires professionnels et aux décideurs politiques. Les informations et supports techniques ont pour but de promouvoir Ia lutte intégrée et l’utilisation rationnelle des trypanocides afin de réduire les risques a long terme de Ia chimiorésistance sans compromettre Ia capacité des éleveurs a pouvoir protéger leurs animaux contre les effets néfastes de la trypanosomose animale. Le projet est réalisé au Burkina Faso, au Mali et en Guinée par l’lnstitut International de Recherche sur l’Elevage (lLRl) en collaboration avec d’autres organisations. Des approaches de solutions sont alors proposees de maniere a apporter une solution durable au phenomene de la chimioresistance

Effect of triple-layer hermetic bagging on mould infection and aflatoxin contamination of maize during multi-month on-farm storage in Kenya

Field trials were conducted in small-scale farmers' grain stores in an aflatoxin endemic region to assess the effect of storing maize in triple layer hermetic (PICS™) bags on aflatoxin contamination. Shelled maize grain was purchased from farmers, and filled into PICS bags, woven polypropylene (PP) and jute bags and kept in the farmers' own stores for 35 weeks. Grain moisture content, total mould count and mould incidence levels were examined at onset and after every 7 weeks during the 35 weeks of storage. Aflatoxin contamination was examined at onset, and after 14, 28 and 35 weeks. Ambient temperature and r.h. in the trial site and in all the bags, as well as oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the PICS bags were also monitored. Initial moisture content (m.c.) of maize varied from farmer to farmer and ranged between 12.4 and 15.0%. The m.c. of maize stored in PICS bags remained significantly higher (P 14% increased profusely in the three types of bags. Our findings demonstrate that storing maize in PICS bags can prevent accumulation of aflatoxin in rural farmers' stores if grain moisture is <14%

Cook's Guide to Groundnut Delicacies: Favorite Recipes from Northern Nigeria

Groundnut is an important crop for improving the health and nutrition of smallholders in many countries of West and Central (WCA). It is cheaper and more widely available than other locally available sources of protein. Apart from being an important element of regular dishes, groundnut can also be used to prepare Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) to manage severe malnutrition among internally displaced persons (IDPs). This Cook's Guide to Groundnut Delicacies: Favorite Delicacies from Northern Nigeria is one of the pointers of the commitment of ICRISAT to contribute to the reconstruction of the previous groundnut pyramids in different ways. Today, groundnut pyramids should create jobs, expand market opportunities, enhance the processing of groundnut and encourage the systematic consumption of healthy groundnut and groundnut-based products. This is why adopting a market-oriented approach to boost groundnut production in countries of WCA also requires sustained awareness-creation campaigns for its consumption. It covers most of the popular recipes in Nigeria and should therefore help household and women to uncover options for including groundnut and groundnut-based products into their daily meals and opportunities for generating cash incomes. Professionally, the guide should constitute a handy reference material for field-based development workers of the Agricultural Development Authorities (ADPs), Civil Society Organization (CSOs) and Communitybased Groups. A majority of field-based agents, particularly those of the Women in Agriculture (WIA) teams of the ADPs in Nigeria, will find this guide a valuable reference material and companion. Indeed, this reference guide also raises awareness on the fact that addressing nutrition requires taking actions at all stages of commodity value chains - from production, processing, retail to consumption. I congratulate the authors of this guide for putting together feasible recipes for groundnut into a single reference guide, and urge colleagues of the ICRISAT, WCA hub to adapt and/or develop similar guides for other ICRISAT mandate crops of the region

Effects of traditional processing techniques on the nutritional and microbiological quality of four edible insect species used for food and feed in east Africa

Published online: 4 May 2020Edible insects are increasingly being considered as food and feed ingredients because of their rich nutrient content. Already, edible insect farming has taken-off in Africa, but quality and safety concerns call for simple, actionable hazard control mechanisms. We examined the effects of traditional processing techniques—boiling, toasting, solar-drying, oven-drying, boiling + oven-drying, boiling + solar-drying, toasting + oven-drying, toasting + solar-drying—on the proximate composition and microbiological quality of adult Acheta domesticus and Ruspolia differens, the prepupae of Hermetia illucens and 5th instar larvae of Spodoptera littoralis. Boiling, toasting, and drying decreased the dry matter crude fat by 0.8–51% in the order: toasting > boiling > oven-drying > solar-drying, whereas the protein contents increased by 1.2–22% following the same order. Boiling and toasting decreased aerobic mesophilic bacterial populations, lowered Staphylococcus aureus, and eliminated the yeasts and moulds, Lac+ enteric bacteria, and Salmonella. Oven-drying alone marginally lowered bacterial populations as well as yeast and moulds, whereas solar-drying alone had no effect on these parameters. Oven-drying of the boiled or toasted products increased the aerobic mesophilic bacteria counts but the products remained negative on Lac+ enteric bacteria and Salmonella. Traditional processing improves microbial safety but alters the nutritional value. Species- and treatment-specific patterns exist

Low permeability triple-layer plastic bags prevent losses of maize caused by insects in rural on-farm stores

Participatory on-farm trials were conducted to assess effectiveness of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS™) bags for storage of maize in small-scale farmers’ stores in rural villages in eastern Kenya. A PICS bag is a three-layered hermetic bag-system that forms a barrier against the influx of oxygen and the escape of carbon dioxide. Jute, woven polypropylene or PICS bags were filled with shelled maize grain, purchased from the participating farmers, and the three sets of bags kept in the farmers’ own stores for 35 weeks. Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the PICS bags were monitored, as well as the temperature and relative humidity in all the bags. Grain moisture, live insect population, grain damage and weight loss were examined at intervals of seven weeks. Oxygen and carbon dioxide composition demonstrated that PICS bags are capable of sustaining good air-barrier properties under farmer storage conditions. Moreover, moisture content of maize stored in PICS bags did not change throughout the storage period whereas the moisture content of maize stored in polypropylene and jute bags decreased significantly in the final 14 weeks. Maize stored in PICS bags remained free from insect infestation and the weight loss due to insect damage was below 1 %. On the contrary, polypropylene and jute bags permitted profuse build-up of insect populations. At 35 weeks, grain damage reached 77.6 % and 82.3 % corresponding to 41.2 % and 48.5 % weight loss in the polypropylene and jute bags respectively. These findings demonstrate that PICS bags are effective in controlling losses caused by storage pests under farmer storage conditions

Gender Roles and Constraints in Beekeeping: A Case from Kitui County, Kenya

Beekeeping is a form of agriculture that involves management of wild or domesticated bee colonies for production of honey and wax. Generally, in Kenya, women perform most of the agricultural activities (GOK, 2005; Oduol et al., 2013). Even though they play a major role in these activities, they end up receiving a fraction of the income generated. In most of the African countries, beekeeping has often been a male-dominated enterprise (Nel & Illgner, 2004; Ogaba & Akongo, 2001; Shackleton, Paumgarten, Kassa, Husselman, & Zida, 2011). However, with intervention from rural development agencies, a change in this practice could occur..

Estimating the impact of biological control of maize stemborers on productivity and poverty in Kenya: a continuous treatment approach

This study examines the farm-level effects of stemborers’ biological control (BC) using biological and household survey data collected in rural Kenya. The authors use a continuous treatment impact-evaluation method to estimate BC’s average and marginal treatment effects. Findings indicate that, on average, a one percent increase in the intensity of BC increases maize yield by 9.3 kg per hectare and reduces the poverty level of maize-growing farm households by 0.5%. Developing and promoting biological control can be seen as an additional tool in the fight against food insecurity and poverty in Africa through controlling important pests