CRP on Dryland Cereals - DC

Overview: FP5 - Post-harvest Value and Market Access

FP4 - FP1


Leader Kiran Sharma, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics - ICRISAT

Team members: 15
Partner organizations: 11

Budget 2024
USD : 0

Clusters: 7

  Description
    
To create demand-driven adoption, this Flagship will address (1) value chain analysis, (2) regional trade, (3) pilot value-chain incubators, and (4) reduced post-harvest losses. It contributes to IDOs 3 and 4. Gender analysis is a cross-cutting activity in this flagship, and is critical for ensuring that the benefits from improved market access and post-harvest value addition flow equally to women and men. Value chain analysis will provide knowledge of specific, high-potential dryland cereals value chains that will give our development partners the evidence required to design interventions and advocate changes in policy. We will identify ‘best-bet’ dryland cereals value chains that have high growth potential and the potential to raise incomes for poorer smallholders. Value chains with high growth potential will stimulate regional trade and regional specialization in the production of dryland cereals. Studies will be undertaken on regional trade in dryland cereals that will focus on (1) quantifying regional trade flows; (2) identifying and measuring comparative advantage between countries; (3) identifying barriers to trade; and (4) modeling impact of changes in trade policies. Leveraging the experience, networks and partners of the Agribusiness Incubation Platform at ICRISAT, value-chain incubators will be piloted for dryland cereals in one or more of the target regions. The pilot envisions strengthening and/or filling weak and missing links in dryland-cereal value chains in the target regions. Important to note is the Sorghum Value Chain Development Consortium in ESA that was launched in 2014 in collaboration with UniBRAIN (Universities, Business & Research in Agricultural Innovation) and Pan Africa & Agroindustry Consortium. This is led by the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, in collaboration with the ICRISAT Agri-Business Incubator. Efforts to reduce post-harvest losses will include assessment of post-harvest losses from insects, rodents, moulds and other sources, and management to reduce severity. Poor storability of flours from millets under humid conditions due to rancidity is identified as a research target for breeding and processing technologies in regions where the problem is severe. Poor seed quality resulting from overheating during drying, moulds, insect damage etc, is also of concern, and proper management practices will be promoted to improve germination and plant stands. Dryland Cereals will leverage its partnerships to improve the quality of stored seed, grain and flour. Further, commercialization requires mechanization to cope with increased harvest volumes and to improve grain quality. The feasibility and profitability of small-scale mechanization for sorghum will be evaluated based on experience at field level to assess market demand, and linkages will be made with private engineering firms to promote adoption.
  Key Documents
    
  Atlas
    
  Intermediate Development Outcomes (IDOs)/Sub-IDOs
    
IDO
  • Sub-IDO
      Indicators

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1.1-Increased resilience of the poor to climate change and other shocks
  Clusters
    
Code Cluster Name Leader Co-leader View
FP5-1 Sorghum-West Central Africa Aboubacar Toure
FP5-2 Pearl Millet-West Central Africa Malick Niango BA
FP5-3 Sorghum-East Southern Africa Eric Manyasa
FP5-4 Finger Millet-East Southern Africa Henry Fred Ojulong
FP5-5 Barley-Africa, Asia Ramesh Pal Singh Verma
FP5-6 Pearl Millet South Asia, East and Southern Africa SK Gupta
FP5-7 Sorghum South Asia Ashok Kumar Are
  Personnel Involved
    
  Partners