Making seed of improved groundnut varieties more accessible to smallholder farmers: Lessons and alternative approaches in Malawi

This paper details the seed supply experiences of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Malawi. ICRISAT has developed about five high yielding, marketpreferred and well-adapted improved groundnut varieties in Malawi, but no seed companies have shown any interest in producing and marketing of seed of these varieties due to low profit margins. ICRISAT, under Irish Aid funded Malawi Seed Industry Development (MSID) project initiated two seed production and distribution models in Malawi. First, certified seed of five improved groundnut varieties was produced by use of contracted farmers of NASFAM under a “buy back” scheme facilitated by ICRISAT. At the same time, the project also facilitated certified seed production by some seed companies for marketing through available agro-dealer networks. Much of the seed from this model was channeled through the agro-dealer networks under the Government’s Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP). In three years, from 2010−2012, about 400 t of certified seed of the most preferred improved variety, CG7, was produced and distributed each year to resource-poor households in Malawi. In remote areas with poor road infrastructure, a second model of seed banks was initiated to deliver seed of improved groundnut varieties to farmers. These two seed delivery channels enhanced adoption of CG7 from 20% to about 90%. Although the MSID project established formal and informal seed production structures in Malawi, the success of the seed delivery model was mainly attributed to FISP that was able to overcome the inaccessibility constraints of seed unavailability and unaffordability. One of the main lessons learnt is that a suitable seed delivery model is location specific, and is best determined by undertaking a situational analysis to determine the constraints. Further, a public-private sector partnership, even under FISP, is important for the success of any seed delivery model in use. Continuous funding of breeder’s seed production remains critical for the success of both CSP and certified seed production models

Assessing the post-harvest constraints in smallholders’ groundnut production: A Survey in central Malawi

An in-depth scoping survey was conducted on 248 smallholder farmers producing groundnut in Malawi to delineate the constraints in production, especially on-farm post-harvest operations, while revealing various aspects in the status of production and consumption practices. The insightful outcomes included the farmers’ perception of the post-harvest operations as highly labor demanding, being the major obstacle to production expansion for the lucrative and nutritious crop. In particular, shelling, lifting, and stripping were the top three processes of remarkable labor intensity. The respondents expressed the intention for scale-up as long as the labor constraints were mitigated, with expected welfare gain through increased income, improved nutrition, and reduced aflatoxin contamination, as well as mitigated drudgery for women

Ex-ante Assessment of Adoption of Small-scale Post-harvest Mechanization: The Case of Groundnut Producers in Malawi, Series Paper Number 44

The study combines household-level demand function analysis and community-level benefit cost analysis to conduct ex-ante assessment of the adoption of small-scale post-harvest mechanization with a case of groundnut producers in Malawi. Based on the needs assessment conducted in 2010, Compatible Technology International (CTI) designed three pieces of labor-saving equipment for post-harvest operations for smallholder groundnut production, namely, lifter (harvester), stripper (thresher), and sheller (dehuller) in partnership with ICRISAT, Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS), and C-to-C Engineering. The paper attempts to assess the viability of adoption and dissemination of each of these technologies which are technically categorized as “club goods” or “artificially scarce goods” through examining two steps: (1) smallholders' level of willingness-to-pay (WTP) for use of the equipment after seeing the demonstration, and (2) community leaders' preferences for methods of acquisition. The data collection leverages farmer research network (FRN) established in collaboration with farmer organizations, complemented by gender disaggregated household interviews. The analytical output suggests that the WTP for smallholders to use the equipment for their entire volume of groundnut harvest was approximately 2,000 Malawian kwachas (MWK) per acre, MWK 50 per pail, and MWK 35 per pail for the lifter, stripper, and sheller, respectively and that lead farmers’ investment in acquiring these technologies can be recovered in a single post-harvest season. The critical values for farmer group size to achieve breakeven points were 75, 22, and 129 for the lifter, stripper, and sheller, respectively under the base scenario and 127, 37, and 218 under the conservative scenario. Lead farmers’ return on investment (ROI) for one season was 2.3, 10.5, and 0.9 for the lifter, stripper, and sheller, respectively under the base scenario and 1.0, 5.8, and 0.1 under the conservative scenario, which will further increase as multiple seasons are considered. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the result was largely robust to altering the assumptions on group size and fees for using the equipment. The findings suggest that the business of lead farmers acquiring the equipment and renting it out to member farmers is indeed profitable, meeting the necessary condition for sustainable adoption. Other conditions to ensure successful adoption are also discussed

Partnerships for Unlocking Potential in Groundnut Value Chains in Zimbabwe

Groundnuts are an important crop in Zimbabwe, grown by a large proportion of smallholder farmers (36%); groundnuts are second after maize in terms of area coverage. Groundnuts can provide an important source of food and nutrition, feed and soil amendment, as well as income. However, despite its importance, groundnut production and productivity has remained low and stagnant at less than 0.5 t/ha, yet yields between 3 and 4 t/ha can be achieved from improved varieties developed by research in the country. Cause for low groundnut production and productivity is the absence of a well-integrated seed system and functional grain value chains: 1. Poor access to quality seed of improved varieties – while released varieties yield more than 80% of the local varieties, varieties with high market demand are not available and farmers are therefore forced to use retained seed of landraces. 2. Poor functioning of grain markets – while the demand for groundnut products is increasing, as consumers seek affordable sources of protein, small- and large-scale industries failing to source groundnuts locally, import groundnuts, notably from Malawi, Zambia and South Africa. In this brief we advocate partnerships among government, agro-businesses and smallholder farmers as an effective way for increasing groundnut production and creating more efficient groundnut value chains in Zimbabwe

Enhancing child nutrition and livelihoods of rural households in Malawi and Tanzania through postharvest value-chain technology improvements in groundnuts

Year Four Final Project Report to McKnight Foundation Grant Numbers 09-262, 09-274 & 09-681Historically, investments in improved groundnut production through agricultural research and development efforts have been devoted to increased productivity and production in the field (i.e. preharvest) whereas much less attention has been paid to postharvest crop processing and value addition. Researchers and development professionals are now realizing that yields cannot simply be measured at harvest time but more importantly must be measured at time of ultimate use. The numerous postharvest processing steps for these crops cumulatively lead to significant food wastage and loss as well as requiring substantial, tedious family labor on a nearly continuous, daily basis. On the food quality and safety side, aflatoxin remains a persistent problem in groundnuts produced in Africa, not only for families consuming groundnuts but also for export. In fact, the EU effectively banned the import of groundnuts from Malawi in the 1990s because of unacceptable aflatoxin levels. If the best-quality groundnuts are exported, either regionally or internationally, and the poorer quality lots are kept for local consumption, then the health impacts of aflatoxin may be worse than many might think. CTI and its partners therefore considered this as a major issue and gave it high priority in evaluating harvest and postharvest technologies and the foods developed for children in the child nutrition studies by SUA. The project was aimed at identifying major challenges faced during the harvesting and postharvest processes in order to make recommendations on technologies that will address yield losses in terms of both quality and quantity but also reducing labor. This is ultimately expected to improve income generated through sale of high quality processed or raw groundnuts, but more importantly to improve health and well-being of smallholder families in Malawi and Tanzania. Despite the region’s high potential for groundnut production, malnutrition is common among the rural people. It is widespread in Tanzania and Malawi, and is particularly acute among children under five who are weaned onto the staple maize-based diet that is deficient in protein, oils and micro-nutrients. Therefore, there was an urgent need to develop improved nutritious weaning foods using locally-available groundnuts and other crops, and to reduce drudgery associated with food preparation, which is borne mostly by women and children

Enhancing child nutrition and livelihoods of rural households in Malawi and Tanzania through postharvest value-chain technology improvements in groundnuts

Year Four Final Project Report to McKnight Foundation Grant Numbers 09-262, 09-274 & 09-681Historically, investments in improved groundnut production through agricultural research and development efforts have been devoted to increased productivity and production in the field (i.e. preharvest) whereas much less attention has been paid to postharvest crop processing and value addition. Researchers and development professionals are now realizing that yields cannot simply be measured at harvest time but more importantly must be measured at time of ultimate use. The numerous postharvest processing steps for these crops cumulatively lead to significant food wastage and loss as well as requiring substantial, tedious family labor on a nearly continuous, daily basis. On the food quality and safety side, aflatoxin remains a persistent problem in groundnuts produced in Africa, not only for families consuming groundnuts but also for export. In fact, the EU effectively banned the import of groundnuts from Malawi in the 1990s because of unacceptable aflatoxin levels. If the best-quality groundnuts are exported, either regionally or internationally, and the poorer quality lots are kept for local consumption, then the health impacts of aflatoxin may be worse than many might think. CTI and its partners therefore considered this as a major issue and gave it high priority in evaluating harvest and postharvest technologies and the foods developed for children in the child nutrition studies by SUA. The project was aimed at identifying major challenges faced during the harvesting and postharvest processes in order to make recommendations on technologies that will address yield losses in terms of both quality and quantity but also reducing labor. This is ultimately expected to improve income generated through sale of high quality processed or raw groundnuts, but more importantly to improve health and well-being of smallholder families in Malawi and Tanzania. Despite the region’s high potential for groundnut production, malnutrition is common among the rural people. It is widespread in Tanzania and Malawi, and is particularly acute among children under five who are weaned onto the staple maize-based diet that is deficient in protein, oils and micro-nutrients. Therefore, there was an urgent need to develop improved nutritious weaning foods using locally-available groundnuts and other crops, and to reduce drudgery associated with food preparation, which is borne mostly by women and children