Building collaborative advantages through long-term farmer–breeder collaboration

Christinck, Anja; Rattunde, Fred; Weltzien, Eva

doi:10.4324/9780429507335-12

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Farmers joining researchers in the breeding process thus helped to guide those programmes as well as overcome the limited testing capacity and number of researchersfor every scientist working on sorghum in WCA there were six in India (Ndjeunga et al, 2015). Equally important were joint farmer-research discussions, both in the field and during presentations of trial results in feedback and planning meetings, which were instrumental for adapting the selection strategy towards jointly understood and agreed goals (Christinck et al, 2020;Rattunde et al, 2021).…”

Section: Lesson # 2: Plant Breeding Must Adapt To African Farmers' Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Research and development for sorghum and millets in Sub-Saharan Africa: What have we learned?

2022

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The past two decades of R & D for sorghum and millets in SSA have generated a wealth of new evidence. A synthesis of this evidence identified six strategic lessons. These were that demand is not being driven by ‘new uses’, that plant breeding programmes need to respond to African farmer's contexts and objectives to increase impact, that availability is a bigger constraint on the supply of certified seed than physical or economic access, that higher adoption of improved varieties does not generally result in higher yields, that technology and varietal diversity can compensate for climate change, and that commercialisation can be gender – and socially inclusive. R & D in Africa differs from the Indian model because of the low level of commercialisation and the continued dominance of own consumption. Consequently R & D gives a dominant role to the public sector in plant breeding, to farmer organisations and groups in seed supply, and to prioritising household food security over commercial uses.

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Section: Lesson # 2: Plant Breeding Must Adapt To African Farmers' Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Research and development for sorghum and millets in Sub-Saharan Africa: What have we learned?

2022

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Transforming a traditional commons-based seed system through collaborative networks of farmer seed-cooperatives and public breeding programs: the case of sorghum in Mali

et al. 2020

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Malian farmers’ traditional system for managing seed of sorghum, an indigenous crop of vital importance for food security and survival, can be conceptualized as a commons. Although this system maintains a wide range of varieties and helps ensure access to seed, its ability to create and widely disseminate new varieties to meet evolving opportunities and challenges is limited. A network of farmer groups, public breeding programs, and development organizations collaborating in decentralized creation and dissemination of sorghum varieties in Mali is examined regarding (1) how the network developed and what activities it conducts; (2) the resulting varietal diversity, varietal performance and organizational models; and (3) the elements of the traditional seed system that were maintained, strengthened or transformed. A single-case study approach was used that relies on published literature, official catalogues of released varieties and a database of farmer seed-cooperative requests for foundation seed. The functioning of the network and its varietal-, seed-, and organizational- outcomes are documented and the elements of the traditional sorghum seed system that are maintained or strengthened are analyzed. The evolution of the network’s reliance on commoning as a social process and its strengthening of core Seed Commons features are discussed with a view to the network’s contributions to targeted development outcomes and potential replicability. The case demonstrates how creating a framework for collaboration, enabling actors and organizations to take on collective responsibility while maintaining distributed decision-making at local level, opens opportunities for transforming farming- and food-systems towards sustainability and resilience.

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Increasing sorghum yields for smallholder farmers in Mali: the evolution towards a context-driven, on-farm, gender-responsive sorghum breeding program

Isaacs,

Weltzien,

Some

et al. 2024

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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This case study explores a decades long evolution towards a gender-responsive sorghum breeding program in Mali. With known disparities in men and women’s access to the resources that improve agricultural productivity and evidence that gender roles and responsibilities shape knowledge and preferences about varieties, there is need for methods that support gender-responsive processes in plant breeding programs. Gender-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches in plant breeding may increase varietal options available to diverse end-users, increase adoption, and limit negative impacts on vulnerable populations. We assess a participatory plant breeding program in Mali to identify determinants of gender-responsive breeding programs. The analysis uses a case study methodology that draws upon project reports, theses, articles, and experiential knowledge to understand how the sorghum breeding program transitioned over time. This case study details (a) more than a decade of sorghum breeding activities and research that led to (b) the inclusion of women in participatory plant breeding, culinary tests, and large-scale participatory selection in on-farm trials, reaching hundreds of women each year and (c) iterative co-learning processes to develop preferred sorghum varieties and increase sorghum yields on men and women’s fields. Analyses indicated that collaborations among many institutions on-farm with community actors, research across various disciplines such as agronomy and social sciences, context-specific breeding, and long-term funding were essential to increasing gender sensitivity and responsive in the breeding efforts.

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Building collaborative advantages through long-term farmer–breeder collaboration

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Research and development for sorghum and millets in Sub-Saharan Africa: What have we learned?

Research and development for sorghum and millets in Sub-Saharan Africa: What have we learned?

Transforming a traditional commons-based seed system through collaborative networks of farmer seed-cooperatives and public breeding programs: the case of sorghum in Mali

Increasing sorghum yields for smallholder farmers in Mali: the evolution towards a context-driven, on-farm, gender-responsive sorghum breeding program

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