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Accra, June 11th, GNA – A unique cartography
approach that will give small farmers a "better fit" for what to grow,
where and how, received the Olam Award 2019 for innovation in food
Security.
A statement from Olam International copied
to the GNA said that the approach has the potential to improve productivity in food
unsafe areas and countries.
The approach, called Innovation Mapping for
Food Safety (IM4FS) is being developed by a team coordinated by Dr Tomaso
Ceccarelli from Wageningen Environmental Research, The Netherlands, and Dr. Eyasu
Elias Fantahun from the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Olam Prize for Innovation in Food
Safety was launched in 2014 in partnership with Agropolis Foundation. the
The winner receives an unrestricted grant of US $ 75,000 for the scaling up of
research.
Since the first prize was awarded to
2015, farmers around the world have benefited from winning innovations,
recognized for their potential impact on availability, affordability,
accessibility or adequacy of food.
For the most part, IM4FS relies on
the strength of the CASCAPE project, carried out in close collaboration with
cooperation with the Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) of the Ethiopian Commission
government.
CASCAPE designed and implemented
combinations of crops, soils and site-specific farming practices, allowing
about 200,000 farmers to improve their harvests above the Ethiopian average
(yields multiplied by three for wheat and doubled for tef and faba bean), and
begin to become self-reliant by applying these best practice interventions.
Although existing approaches to land valuation
focus on improving agricultural productivity, CASCAPE combines data with
stakeholder engagement to ensure that the proposals will work in practice.
To do this, farmers, extension workers,
local experts and planners are engaged from the beginning, bringing
understanding of the realities on the ground to all approaches.
The data and information are then introduced into
the GIS3-based tool, which then matches the best agricultural practices with
biophysical and socio-economic conditions in a given region.
The tool will then create a 'recommendation
"geographical maps" highlighting the most suitable areas for specific innovations. Local
stakeholders will then verify the recommendation against their expertise
and expectations.
IM4FS goes even further in learning
thanks to its unique ability to offer a scenario planning function that informs
decisions in agricultural landscapes and areas of food insecurity.
This ultimately creates a more dynamic dynamic
interactive tool for simulation and stakeholder engagement.
Together, this was essential for the judges to award the prize of $ 75,000.
"It's really motivating to work with
researchers and other parties to develop smart solutions to address something like
devastating as hunger. The price of USD 75 000 will be used to finance the deployment of
in situ data collection by extension agents and other local agents, and develop
the mapping tool to include the "scenario planning" function, "said Dr. Tomaso
Ceccarelli, Senior Researcher at Wageningan Environmental Research.
Dr. Ceccarelli stated that the cards could then be
used by government institutions, planners and others to simulate
agricultural interventions and investments should be undertaken where, when and
How.
Eyasu Elias Fantahun, co-leader of the project,
Professor at the University of Addis Ababa, added: "Ethiopia is a perfect example of
country that needs an innovative solution to increase its productivity: this is the
Africa's second largest country for arable land, but imports half of its food.
This is not necessarily the case: there is a potential for self-sufficiency in
cereals and other staple crops, and the Ethiopian Government supports this
ambition with national policies.
"Olam's funding will strengthen commitment
between researchers, planners and farmers, by speeding up the adoption and
implementing specific agricultural innovations with a view to improving
productivity and livelihoods on a larger scale. "
Sunny Verghese, Olam Co-founder and Group
CEO, said: "As a global agribusiness, invest in farmers and our
own plantations around the world, we constantly monitor and evaluate
the best areas for crops to grow. But with the rate of weather changes and
strict warnings about biodiversity loss, air pollution and land degradation,
increases the risk that what is planted today may not be suitable for those
fields in the future.
IM4FS will help inform about this risk with
a better understanding of the interactions between land resources, demography,
climate change and agricultural technology and the definition of the optimal conditions for
stimulate food production. It will equip farmers, as well as local and regional authorities.
with the information they need to solve the problem of food security. "
Marie-Christine Cormier-Salem, Director of
Agropolis Foundation and scientific partner of the Olam Prize, said: "Because
IM4FS combines the use of IT tools such as GIS with participation
approaches, you have a tool that's not only visually accurate but who
Stakeholders can identify. In the end, you have a product that matches
knowledge of best practices and adoption factors with biophysical resources and
socio-economic circumstances. "
GNA
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