Deep Roots

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Image: ICARDA

Increasing access to resources and opportunities for women will help to ensure the sustainability of family farms

works to rapidly increase farmer access to improved varie-

ties of wheat. Implemented by the Ethiopian Institute of

Agricultural Research in partnership with ICARDA, the

project strengthened national wheat breeding programmes,

assisting in the development, fast-track testing and release of

rust-resistant varieties.

Since its inception, the initiative has extended its opera-

tions to 45 districts throughout Ethiopia, distributing

approximately 618 tons of quality seed to over 13,200

farmers in affected areas. A further 19,258 tons have

been produced and shared through informal exchange or

formal sale, and 15.7 tons were delivered to small-scale

seed producer associations. In total, an estimated 400,000

hectares of land are now covered with new rust-resistant

wheat varieties, benefiting over 67,600 households. Farmer

field days, including both men and women of the family,

were organized to help spread the knowledge of these rust-

resistant varieties. Village seed-based production systems

and participatory seed multiplication initiatives of the

improved varieties have also facilitated the availability of

improved seed varieties to neighbouring farmers, which

has helped upscale the improved technology. The increased

income from these improved rust-resistant wheat varieties

is now ensuring the economic sustainability of family farms

in Ethiopia, where wheat is a major component of their

production system.

Improving the sustainable use of water resources is vital for

small family farms. Research has focused on improving water

use efficiency while building soil productivity and fertility and

combating land degradation. For example, small-scale mecha-

nized raised bed systems in Egypt – where crops are grown

in elevated wide beds between deep furrows using a simple

machine adapted from the traditional seed drill – is saving 25

per cent of irrigation water while increasing the grain yield of

wheat by 30 per cent. In the Sharkia Governorate in Egypt’s

Delta, family farms have widely adopted this technology –

from 1,670 hectares in 2010 to a 21,250 hectares in 2013.

Conservation agriculture and water harvesting are also

enhancing the environmental and economic sustainability of

family farming in the dry areas. For example, the barley-live-

stock production systems in Jordan and Iraq, which receive

less than 200-350 millimetres of annual rainfall, are benefiting

from zero-tillage. This reduces farmers’ cost of production by

eliminating all costs incurred in ploughing their field, while

conserving moisture because of stubble retention and prevent-

ing evapotranspiration from lower soil depths.

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