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Program working to improve maize, legumes productivity

Addis Ababa September 25/2014 The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume cropping systems for food security in Eastern and Southern Africa program (SIMLESA) is working to improve farmers' productivity through supplying improved seed.

Improved maize and legumes seed have been released to farmers through the program since 2010, said Mulugetta Mekuria, the Program Coordinator.

The improved maize and legumes seed provides 20 percent and 15 percent respectively higher production per hectare than the seed previously used by farmers.

The program is engaged in improving maize and legumes productivity through participatory research and development with farmers, extension agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and agribusinesses along the value chain.

The program aims to improve maize and legume productivity by 30 percent and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent on approximately 500,000 farms within ten years.

The regional conference attracted heads of agriculture research institutions, and stakeholders from five Eastern and Southern African countries to evaluate the past five years performance of the program.

The focal countries of program research are Burundi, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Sudan.