The EWA-BELT research project held its first stakeholders meeting in Kenya from September 27 – 29 2021 in Kisumu.
Through joint partnership and collaboration, this project is led in Kenya by University of Nairobi’s Prof. Sheila Okoth and KALRO (Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization) and funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.
The project aims at developing Sustainable Intensification (SI) of agriculture productions in organic, agroforestry and mixed crop and livestock farming systems in 38 study areas of 6 countries belonging to EAST (Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania) and WEST (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Sierra Leone) Africa. The research activities, carried out in Farmer Field Research Units (FFRU), address areas such as marginalized or abandoned lands and existing agricultural lands to increase their yield potential.
Through integrated participative research innovative tools (FFRU, ICT, Integrated Pest Disease Management - IPDM) and identification and dissemination of best practices, participating countries will be linked into an interregional East-West African BELT able to reinforce Sustainable Intensification in agriculture. It introduces famers to highly innovative, cost-affordable technologies, to be easily used in the field by unskilled personnel. EWA-BELT addresses gender issues and empowering of women at every stage of the process.
The Project results (in progress and final achievements) will be disseminated annual during the Infopoverty World Conference at the UN Headquarters, one of the highest-level initiatives to elaborate strategies and design solutions towards Sustainable Intensification.
It is expected that the project will contribute towards Improved Food security and Nutrition in case study areas, improved soil and water-related ecosystem services, accelerate the attainment of the sustainable Development goals (SDGs), improve Food security and sustainable Agriculture, Climate Action and Resource Efficiency and Sustainable production and consumption patterns.
