Annual Report 2011-2012 Horticulture Collaborative Horticulture Research Support Program
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Annual Report 2011-2012 Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program Horticulture CRSP Annual Report 2012 Edited by Amanda Crump and Elizabeth Hohenberger Published May 2016 This annual report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Horticulture CRSP management entity and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Table of Contents Section One - Introduction and Program Overview……………………………………………………….……….…..…… 1 Horticulture CRSP Introduction and Impacts………………………………………………………….…………….….1 Horticulture CRSP and the Feed the Future Initiative……………………………………………………….……..1 Leadership and International Advisory Board……………………………………………………………..…….…….3 Countries where Horticulture CRSP works………………………………………………………………………….……5 Program Partners………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…6 Public-Private Partnerships……………………………………………………………………………………………………..8 Guiding Policies………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 Section Two - Themes and Collaborators………………………………………………………………………….…….………10 Information Accessibility………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10 Innovative Technologies………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10 Gender Equity………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..11 Capacity Building…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...11 Section Three - Horticulture CRSP Research Project Briefs……………………………………………………….….….12 Seed Systems – Improving Seed Quality for Smallholders………………………………………………………13 Semillas de Esperanza: Vegetable Seeds for Sustainable Agriculture…………………………….….…...74 Low cost pest exclusion and microclimate modification technologies for small-scale vegetable growers in East and West Africa………………………………………………………………………………………….….87 Extension of Appropriate Postharvest Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Postharvest Training and Services Center…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……....104 Sustainable Development of Horticultural Crops in Zambia by Introducing Postharvest Technologies and Practices for Food Security, Income Generation and in Support of the Tourism Industry………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..115 Delivering Vegetable Safety Education through Established Social Networks in Latin America………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………...123 Sustainable African Indigenous Vegetable Production and Market-Chain Development for Improved Health and Nutrition and Income Generation by Smallholder Farmers……..…….….125 Safe Vegetable Production in Cambodia and Vietnam: Developing the HARE-Network to Enhance Farmer Income, Health, and the Local Environment……………………………………………………….…..137 Sustainable Technology for Orange and Purple Sweetpotato (STOPS) in Ghana…………….……149 Increasing the Capacity of Smallholder Farmers to Produce and Market Vegetable Crops in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo………………………………………………………………….….….151 Section Four - Trellis Project……………………………………………………………………………………………………….178 Section One - Introduction and Program Overview Horticulture CRSP Introduction and Impacts The cultivation and marketing of high-value fruit, vegetable and flower crops—horticulture—offers the promise of increased incomes and enriched diets for both growers and consumers in developing countries. To that end, the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program builds international partnerships for fruit and vegetable research that improves livelihoods in developing countries. Successful horticulture is heavily knowledge-dependent, so Horticulture CRSP partners with organizations in three different ways to build capacity while supporting research outcomes. First, Horticulture CRSP supports research projects led by top U.S. public university scientists with international collaborators that solve horticultural problems along the value chain. In addition to our research projects, Horticulture CRSP has established three Regional Centers of Innovation—one in Thailand, one in Honduras and one in Kenya—each of which supports horticulture at existing international research centers with a multi-country reach. Horticulture CRSP is also building capacity among smaller organizations in the developing world and U.S. graduate students, through projects that pair the two together for projects that benefit both. In the past year, our projects altogether have supported more than 30 university students while training more than 13,000 producers. Horticulture CRSP’s extensive research portfolio addresses a variety of horticultural problems specific to developing countries, including boosting yields, reducing postharvest losses and improving market access. With the success of 15 Immediate Impact Projects, Horticulture CRSP has continued support of seven long-term “Pilot and Comprehensive Projects” and five “Focus and Continuation Projects.” These broader projects have established a postharvest training and services center in Tanzania, developed protocols for use of nets and floating row covers for pest exclusion in Africa, produced local seeds of disease-resistant vegetables in Central America, developed a participatory extension model to enhance smallholder production and marketing in Uganda, created a market niche for “food-safe” vegetables, introduced new technologies for seed drying and storage, engineered alternative energy solutions for horticulture, and improved production and marketing of indigenous African leafy vegetables. Thanks to these projects, nearly 3,000 farmers have applied 40 new technologies and management practices. Horticulture CRSP project leaders and their 78 partners worked with more than 40 women’s groups, 100 private enterprises, and 40 community-based organizations. Thirty percent of the more than 1300 targeted are impacted by HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty, or other factors. Women in particular are beneficiaries for Horticulture CRSP’s work because vegetables and small-scale horticulture have been considered “women’s crops” in many developing regions. From Horticulture CRSP’s work, 75 percent of the farmers who have adopted new practices and 61 percent of the farmers trained have been women. Horticulture CRSP and the Feed the Future Initiative USAID's Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (HortCRSP), funded in 2009, and managed by the University of California at Davis, uses research within the horticulture value chain to improve incomes, nutrition, health, and economic wellbeing for the rural poor, particularly women. HortCRSP’s first call for projects was issued in November 2009 before the first Feed the Future (FTF) 1 document was published and focus countries were identified. The focus and emphasis of HortCRSP was to address poverty and hunger, through horticulture, among rural smallholder farmers. As emphasized in USAID’s 2005 Global Horticulture Assessment, we had a strong focus on women and nutrition, given the importance of horticultural crops for women farmers and their nutritional value. This aligns well with FTF. The most recent call for projects, issued in May 2011, reiterates a commitment to conduct research to develop new technologies, improve nutrition, and enable women but now requires that projects are conducted only in FTF focus countries with an emphasis those whose Missions have identified horticulture as a focus commodity such as Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Cambodia, Nepal, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Geography. HortCRSP supports 15 research projects in 26 countries including 12 FTF countries1. Projects are located in Bangladesh, Benin*, Bolivia, Cambodia*, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo*, Ecuador, El Salvador*, Gabon*, Ghana*, Guatemala*, Honduras*, India, Kenya*, Laos, Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua*, Peru, Rwanda*, Sri Lanka, Tanzania*, Thailand, Uganda*, Vietnam*, and Zimbabwe. Research Strategy. The HortCRSP management entity has read the strategic plans for every FTF focus country except Tajikistan. Horticulture (not including coffee) is explicitly mentioned as a value chain in ten of the countries and nutritious foods are mentioned throughout most strategic plans. Our research is focused on 1) empowering women with access to income by improving horticultural production and marketing, 2) increasing household production and quality of nutritious foods, 3) dissemination of technical assistance for increased production, postharvest quality and market access, 4) increased capacity in pre- and postharvest handling, and 5) creating an enabling policy environment for agribusiness growth. These match the FTF strategies to accelerate agriculture sector growth through improved agricultural productivity and expanded markets and improve nutritional status by increasing access to diverse and quality foods. Production Systems. HortCRSP focuses on the bottlenecks in the production to consumption horticultural value chain. As such, it is relevant to all the major geographic groupings within FTF. HortCRSP emphasizes research where horticulture can complement and diversify staple crops, extend cropping and marketing seasons, impact the entire horticulture value chain, and increase the production and consumption of nutritious horticultural products. HortCRSP supports five long-term research projects in the following areas: postharvest, pest exclusion technologies, sustainable production, seed systems, and food safety. HortCRSP will fund long-term projects in the 2 or 3 of the following areas: postharvest, seed systems, African indigenous vegetables, and orange fleshed sweetpotato.