Promoting Resiliency of the Agriculture Sector in Developing Economies in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Promoting Resiliency of the Agriculture Sector in Developing Economies in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Project of the East/Southern Africa Cluster under the Leadership of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 1890 Center of Excellence in Global Food Security and Defense (CEGFSD): Establishing Farmer Field Schools in Agroforestry and Fruit Tree Production in Chuka and Igambangombe Sub-County in Tharaka Nithi County practices/interventions

1. Principal Investigator: Geofrey Gathungu,
2. List of Co-Investigators: Martin Njogu, Geofrey Kosgei, Grace Opetu, Peris Nderitu, and Peter Gakai
3. Collaborating organization(s): University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Name of Funding Institution: 1890 Center of Excellence in Global Food Security and Defense (CEGFSD), USA

1. Improve agricultural productivity by providing and enhancing research and outreach skills of target stakeholders (i.e., students, faculty, scientists, and smallholder farmers).
2. Develop and disseminate technologies to enhance global food supply chains and mitigate global climate change.

Chuka University is involved in establishing Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in Agroforestry and Fruit Tree Production in Chuka and Igambangombe Sub-County in Tharaka Nithi County. The cornerstones of the project are to improve agricultural productivity by providing and enhancing research and outreach skills of target stakeholders mainly the students, faculty, scientists, and smallholder farmers. The project has been working closely with small-scale farmers who are organized into Farmer Participatory Research groups (FPRs). The target farmer groups provided a field to be established with the agroforestry/fruit trees which are grown together with food crops such as sweet potato, cassava, yams, selected pulses and cereals. The farmer field school will form the basis for training, technology testing, and upscaling to enhance global food supply chains and mitigate global climate change through provision of fruit tree seedlings to small-scale farmers. The project is being implemented in three Wards of Chuka (Karingani, Magumoni, Mugwe) and one ward in Igambangombe sub-County (Mariani), respectively. Four farmer participatory research groups namely Kiramba SHG in Karingani, Young Mbuti in Magumoni, Nthima NAALAP in Mugwe and Mwangaza SHG in Mariani] were identified to participate in project implementation.

• Expected outputs: Support to Development of fruit tree nursery and establishment of trees in the farm
• Impacts on the society: food security, income generation, improvement of biodiversity and environment

Ongoing research

Establishment of Farmer Field Schools (Kiramba SHG)

Issuance of the outsourced grafted hass avocado and apple mango seedlings to Mbuti SHG farmer field schools in Tharaka Nithi County