Sustainability planning meetings were held respectively in Nigeria on 30th -31st of March, 2021, and in Tanzania on 22nd – 23rd of April, 2021. The essence of the meetings was to develop plans for continuous use of AKILIMO by ACAI partners and other initiatives beyond June 2022, when the ACAI project comes to an end. The meetings, hosted by IITA’s ACAI project, brought together 39 participants from the two countries (25 participants in Nigeria, 14 participants in Tanzania) cutting across various organizations. The workshop successfully harnessed the experiences and resources of partners, reaching a wide range of agreements on how AKILIMO will be sustained.
AKILIMO NIGERIA AND AKILIMO TANZANIA BRING ACAI PARTNERS TOGETHER
The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) planning meetings which held in Ibadan, Nigeria and Dares Salaam, Tanzania, raised hopes for a bright future for AKILIMO ahead of the end of the ACAI project. The planning meetings brought partners together and one of the highlights was the formation of AKILIMO Nigeria and AKILIMO Tanzania to sustain the use of AKILIMO beyond the life span of ACAI.
AKILIMO PROMOTERS PLAN MOBILIZATION OF FARMERS IN NIGERIA
Promoters of AKILIMO in conjunction with Notore Chemical Industries plan to mobilize at least 30,000 cassava farmers for fertilizer recommendation (FR) tool.
Farmers Recount the Benefits of AKILIMO in Cassava Production
The out grower farmers of Psaltry International Limited (PIL) have started experiencing the positive impact of ACAI’s AKILIMO tool. A number of success stories in relation to the use of AKILIMO tools have emerged. Farmers from Ado Awaye in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State under the out-grower scheme of Psaltry recounted stories about how their cassava production has drastically improved due to application of the recommendations gotten from AKILIMO on their farms. The farmers were delighted because this has translated to increase in their cassava yields, an experience that they have not previously had.
AKILIMO can be Calibrated for Other Crops Says Pypers
The completed and multi-platform version of the AKILIMO advisory service will be expandable to provide agronomic recommendations for other crops and scalable to other locations across Africa and the rest of the world. This is according to the ACAI project
Former President of Zanzibar hails ACAI Project Work on the island
The former President of Zanzibar Amani Abeid Karume praised the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) project for its efforts to disseminate and promote good agricultural practices that improve cassava production on the island. The former president said this when he
ACAI Bundling AKILIMO with Agro-Services Through Strategic Partnerships for Sustainability
In October of 2020, two banks in collaboration with government agencies and development partners in Tanzania launched an initiative to finance cassava growers with a million dollar plus loan facility. This arrangement directly injected capital into more than 400 households.
Bank Financed Cassava Farmers Reduce Farm Costs by Applying AKILIMO Recommendations
According to the survey results, 99% of the farmers confirmed to have implemented recommendations for best planting practices such as site selection, land preparation, weed control, and spacing (1mx1m). The farmers also adopted to grow the high yielding mkuranga1 cassava variety, as opposed to the previous planted local varieties.
Awareness on AKILIMO Tool Extends to Schools and Colleges
In 2020, African Cassava Agronomy Initiative, (ACAI) Project, made the first steps of moving AKILIMO into the mainstream of the early academic system in Nigeria. Working together with project partners in various states, ACAI introduced AKILIMO to university, high school,
Dissemination of AKILIMO in southeast Nigeria
The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) organized trainings in Kogi and Benue states Nigeria to train cassava farmers on how to use tailored fertilizer recommendation (FR) from AKILIMO decision support tools. The training featured EBI Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Lift