SIMLESA Project in Mozambique to be Strengthened

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's (CIMMYT) project on Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) aims to improve maize and legume productivity by 30% and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30% on approximately 500,000 farms in Africa and Australia within ten years. Mozambique is one of the focal countries of the research program.

Mozambique, however, remains one of the countries in southern Africa with low average maize yields (0.73 t/ha) due to low uptake of fertilizer (<4%) and improved maize varieties (<10%), impacting both food security and incomes.To address these issues, key private sector stakeholders and NGOs met in Chimoio, Mozambique on August 20, 2012 to discuss the best ways to enhance innovation platforms and partnerships to further disseminate SIMLESA activities among smallholder farmers in the country.

See the original article at http://blog.cimmyt.org/?p=9005.