MTT is publishing its research findings in two series of publications: MTT Science and MTT Growth. The MTT Science series includes scientific presentations and abstracts from conferences arranged by MTT Agrifood Research Finland. Doctoral dissertations by MTT research scientists will also be published in this series. The topics range from agricultural and food research to environmental research in the field of agriculture. MTT, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland. 26 Food and Nutrition Security in Africa Book of Abstracts Susanna Rokka (ed.) MTT CREATES VITALITY THROUGH SCIENCE www.mtt.fi/julkaisut 26 FoodAfrica Midterm Seminar in Helsinki 16th June 2014: Food and Nutrition Security in Africa Book of Abstracts Susanna Rokka (ed.) 2 MTT SCIENCE 26 ISBN 978-952-487-533-2 (Print) ISBN 978-952-487-534-9 (Electronic) ISSN 1798-1824 (Printed version) ISSN 1798-1840 (Electronic version) URN http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-487-534-9 www.mtt.fi/mtttiede/pdf/mtttiede26.pdf Copyright MTT Agrifood Research Finland Distribution and sale MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Media and Information Services, FI-31600 Jokioinen, phone +358 29 5300 700, e-mail julkaisut@mtt.fi Printing year 2014 Cover photo Mila Sell Printing house Tampereen Yliopistopaino Juvenes Print Oy MTT SCIENCE 26 3 Preface Hannu Korhonen MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Biotechnology and Food Research, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland, hannu.j.korhonen@mtt.fi According to many studies investments in agricultural research play a key role in rais-ing agricultural productivity and enhancing food security. In particular, the need for research inputs is relevant in Africa which in global terms has the lowest agri- cultural productivity and the highest level of malnutrition among the human population. Africa provides only 10% of global agricultural output, although it has the world’s largest reservoir of unused arable land (about 60%). On the other hand, agricultural and live- stock production is one of the most important economic sectors in Africa, as about 75% of the African population relies on it for their livelihoods. 90% of the agricultural output is produced by smallholder farmers on farms averaging 2.5 hectares in size. African agriculture is challenged by many factors. According to FAO estimates up to 50% of harvested food is lost due to lack of proper agricultural technologies in small-scale farm- ing, adequate inputs for cultivation, proper storage facilities for agricultural produce and reliable access to markets. Another reason for a slow agricultural development has been a low impact of knowledge transfer from researchers to farmers owing to adoption of un- suitable dissemination methods. Furthermore, climate change is aggravating the situation and calling for novel approaches in agricultural and livestock production. It has been generally accepted that human capacity building, involving all stakeholders along the food supply chains is a successful strategy for increasing agricultural output and improving food and nutrition security. These facts were highlighted in the recent 4th EU- Africa Summit which in its road map 2014-2017 stressed the importance of investments in science, technology and innovation (STI) in Africa with a particular focus on develop- ment of a long-term, jointly funded and managed research and innovation partnership in the areas of food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. The FoodAfrica Programme was launched in 2011 as a practical outcome of the Finnish Government development co-operation policy on rural development and food security. Also, the Programme is well in line with the above EU-Africa policy as it aims to provide new knowledge and tools for researchers, decision makers and local African farmers. To this end, basic and applied research is carried out on specific topics in six East and West African countries by a consortium of Finnish, African and international (CGIAR) research institutions. The results obtained will be disseminated back to all stakeholders in the sup- ply chains. Human capacity building is also included through academic degree studies on agriculture, livestock and nutrition and training of farmers on better agricultural practices. This issue of MTT Science presents the abstracts of key note papers and the first results of FoodAfrica delivered at the mid-term seminar held in Helsinki in June 2014. The re- sults are primarily based on the work of the doctoral students attached to FoodAfrica. 4 MTT SCIENCE 26 Abstract Higher education institutions are under pressure to reform as a result of increased global challenges. In the case of sub-Saha- ran Africa, the issues are worsening pov- erty levels and the inability of agricultural graduating students to set up enterprises. This paper examines the need for restruc- turing tertiary agricultural education in- stitutions in Africa to align with market demands and to link more closely to the private sector. The paper builds on the case of two main programmes namely the UniBRAIN- Linking Universities with Business and re- search in Agricultural Innovations, and the SASACID – Strengthening Africa’s Stra- tegic Agricultural Capacity for Impact on Development, that the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) has been involved in from 2010 to 2014, to show that aligning tertiary Agricultural Educa- tion systems with market needs requires systems restructuring. This restructuring includes accepting official participation of private sector in the management of insti- tutions, in curriculum development and implementation, and in infrastructure up- grading and retooling of lecturers. The main outputs from the UniBRAIN and SASACID programmes need to be Contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................3 Keynote lectures Strengthening Business Approaches to Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa ..............5 Agricultural Research for Food and Nutrition Security .......................................................6 “Excessive Volatility and Its Effects. What to do?” ............................................................11 WP1: Strengthening capacity for diagnosis and management of soil micronutrient deficiencies in Sub Saharan Africa for improved plant, animal and human nutrition Development of an X-Ray Method for Mineralogical Analysis of Africa Soils Using a Benchtop Diffractometer ..................................................................................................13 Micronutrients in Selected Food Crops in Muguga, Kenya ..............................................14 WP2: Dairy cattle breeding in West Africa: identifying and promoting appropriate breeds and breed combinations or genotypes for small holder farmers in Senegal Senegal Dairy Genetics ...................................................................................................15 Milk Composition of Dairy Cattle Breeds in Senegal ........................................................16 Predicting Lactation Records from Test Day Samples in Indigenous and Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Senegal ..............................................................................................................17 WP3: Economic analysis on technologies and targeted policies to reduce vulnerability and building resilience in Sénégal Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Agricultural Economies: The example of Senegal ............................................................................................................................18 WP4: Enhancing food and nutrition security of vulnerable groups in communities in Benin through increased use of local agricultural biodiversity Which Factors could Determine Stunting in Rural Areas in Benin ? .................................20 Complementary Foods Patterns Among Infants and Young Children in Houeyogbe and Bopa Districts in Southern Benin, West Africa .................................................................21 WP5: Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins for poor milk and maize producers and consumers in Kenya Costs of Aflatoxins in Kenyan Dairy Value Chain .............................................................22 Aflatoxin M1 Survey on Raw Milk Collected from Rural Households in Four Agro-Ecological Zones in Kenya ......................................................................................23 Creating Novel Approaches to Mitigate Aflatoxin Risk in Food and Feed with Lactic Acid Bacteria- mold growth inhibition ....................................................................24 WP6: Improving market access and food security in Africa with information and communication technology (ICT) Household Features that Support Women Empowerment – The role of women in household decision-making in Uganda .............................................................................25 WP7: Innovative extension approaches for improving food security and livelihoods Improving Livelihoods of Smallholder Dairy Farmers Through Increased Fodder Accessibility: New strategies, linkages and options for stakeholders in Kipkaren sub-county, Kenya. ...........................................................................................27 MTT SCIENCE 26 5 Strengthening Business Approaches to Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa Aissetou Dramé Yayé1, Sebastian Chakeredza1, James Aucha and Alfred Ochola 1African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya Abstract Higher education institutions are under pressure to reform as a result of increased global challenges. In the case of sub-Saha- ran Africa, the issues are worsening pov- erty levels and the inability of agricultural graduating students to set up enterprises. This paper examines the need for restruc- turing tertiary agricultural education in- stitutions in Africa to align with market demands and to link more closely to the private sector. The paper builds on the case of two main programmes namely the UniBRAIN- Linking Universities with Business and re- search in Agricultural Innovations, and the SASACID – Strengthening Africa’s Stra- tegic Agricultural Capacity for Impact on Development, that the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) has been involved in from 2010 to 2014, to show that aligning tertiary Agricultural Educa- tion systems with market needs requires systems restructuring. This restructuring includes accepting official participation of private sector in the management of insti- tutions, in curriculum development and implementation, and in infrastructure up- grading and retooling of lecturers. The main outputs from the UniBRAIN and SASACID programmes need to be Contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................3 Keynote lectures Strengthening Business Approaches to Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa ..............5 Agricultural Research for Food and Nutrition Security .......................................................6 “Excessive Volatility and Its Effects. What to do?” ............................................................11 WP1: Strengthening capacity for diagnosis and management of soil micronutrient deficiencies in Sub Saharan Africa for improved plant, animal and human nutrition Development of an X-Ray Method for Mineralogical Analysis of Africa Soils Using a Benchtop Diffractometer ..................................................................................................13 Micronutrients in Selected Food Crops in Muguga, Kenya ..............................................14 WP2: Dairy cattle breeding in West Africa: identifying and promoting appropriate breeds and breed combinations or genotypes for small holder farmers in Senegal Senegal Dairy Genetics ...................................................................................................15 Milk Composition of Dairy Cattle Breeds in Senegal ........................................................16 Predicting Lactation Records from Test Day Samples in Indigenous and Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Senegal ..............................................................................................................17 WP3: Economic analysis on technologies and targeted policies to reduce vulnerability and building resilience in Sénégal Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Agricultural Economies: The example of Senegal ............................................................................................................................18 WP4: Enhancing food and nutrition security of vulnerable groups in communities in Benin through increased use of local agricultural biodiversity Which Factors could Determine Stunting in Rural Areas in Benin ? .................................20 Complementary Foods Patterns Among Infants and Young Children in Houeyogbe and Bopa Districts in Southern Benin, West Africa .................................................................21 WP5: Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins for poor milk and maize producers and consumers in Kenya Costs of Aflatoxins in Kenyan Dairy Value Chain .............................................................22 Aflatoxin M1 Survey on Raw Milk Collected from Rural Households in Four Agro-Ecological Zones in Kenya ......................................................................................23 Creating Novel Approaches to Mitigate Aflatoxin Risk in Food and Feed with Lactic Acid Bacteria- mold growth inhibition ....................................................................24 WP6: Improving market access and food security in Africa with information and communication technology (ICT) Household Features that Support Women Empowerment – The role of women in household decision-making in Uganda .............................................................................25 WP7: Innovative extension approaches for improving food security and livelihoods Improving Livelihoods of Smallholder Dairy Farmers Through Increased Fodder Accessibility: New strategies, linkages and options for stakeholders in Kipkaren sub-county, Kenya. ...........................................................................................27 publicized and scaled out. They include the six (6) Agribusiness incubation con- sortia put in place in 5 countries (Kenya, Ghana, Mali, Zambia and Uganda), help- ing to develop students into entrepreneurs; the innovative Agribusiness curricula de- veloped for all tertiary degree levels from Certificate to PhD, the Agribusiness In- ternship guide incorporating an optimal theoretical and practical approach and the contextualized Agribusiness learning ma- terials published which bring the learning experience to the realities on the ground. Even though many of the ANAFE mem- ber institutions are enthusiastic in working with ANAFE in strengthening their busi- ness approaches to agricultural education and research, future challenges to foresee in reforming tertiary education systems to be more relevant to business development include the need to diversify sources of funding, increase capacity for new man- agement functions and assure actual lead- ers and government that the required re- forms are not threatening the fundamental ways tertiary agricultural education insti- tutions make their contribution to the ac- cumulation of knowledge and ideas. Key words: Tertiary Agricultural Education, Reforms, Agribusiness, ANAFE, UNIBRAIN, SASACID 6 MTT SCIENCE 26 Agricultural Research for Food and Nutrition Security Sirkka Immonen Independent Evaluation Arrangement of the CGIAR, c/o FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy Introduction The challenges to achieving food securi- ty globally and regionally in the next dec- ades are well known. They relate to popula- tion growth, diminishing availability of and competition for natural resources, climate change, access to land and tenure, dispari- ties among gender and other social groups, plateauing of yields, food price fluctuations, food waste and pervasive problems related to nutritional status. This paper looks at the challenges of food security from the perspective of research. It focuses on agricultural research and how it can contribute to food security and nutri- tional security. The paper discusses agricul- tural research in the context of internation- al agricultural research for development in the CGIAR and draws from the work done in the past two years by the CGIAR’s In- dependent Science and Partnership Coun- cil, a science advisory body, for improving the CGIAR’s strategic direction and likely effectiveness. The paper has the following components: the CGIAR research context; impact pathways to food security; impact path- ways to improved nutrition; enhancing re- search effectiveness and expectations; and conclusions. The CGIAR research context The CGIAR of 15 International Agricul- tural Research Centers is a publicly fund- ed research organization that has recently adopted four overarching high-level aspira- tional goals for impact: reduction of pover- ty, increasing food security, improving nu- trition and health, and more sustainable management of natural resources. For over 40 years of its existence, the CGIAR has focused primarily on improv- ing food security. Its strategy has been to provide global public goods, that is: re- search results that are applicable across na- tional borders and freely available to all. Major focus has been on enhancing crop yields and the productivity of commodities in general (livestock and fish included). The Green Revolution demonstrated the effec- tiveness of such strategy for wheat and rice. In Asia, particularly in India where under favourable policies adoption of improved varieties was accompanied by use of fertiliz- ers and irrigation, Green Revolution helped to avoid serious famines. It led to sharp in- crease in cereal yields; growth in produc- tion exceeded demand caused by popula- tion growth and staple food prices fell as high yielding varieties were adopted. This price trend lasted till about 2008. Since Green Revolution, the focus has shift- ed to relatively poorer regions and coun- tries, to sub-Saharan Africa, to sustaina- ble productivity increases (not just yield); still with the aim of improving food secu- rity while adding other goals, such as pov- erty alleviation. The concept of food se- curity has changed from focus on energy security to including micronutrient nutri- tion and quality of food. Although the out- look that addressing hunger requires above all increased and stable production of the quantity of primary food crops for access and affordability, it is acknowledged that poverty, food security and nutrition are in- terlinked. Furthermore, it is acknowledged that in the face of environmental degrada- tion and climate change, and as the Sustain- able Development Goals are to supersede the Millennium Development Goals, sus- MTT SCIENCE 26 7 tainable use of natural resources must un- derline all agricultural production. FAO defines food security to encompass ca- loric and nutritional sufficiency and safe- ty of food for all people. In estimating and monitoring food security four dimensions are used: availability, access, utilization and stability. These dimensions package a large number of conditions for them to be ful- filled. Agricultural research can address only some of the conditions – others being dependent on, for example, infrastructure, sanitation, transport, trade and education. Furthermore, there are trade-offs between different goals, given that poverty and hun- ger are multifaceted problems exacerbated by degradation of natural resources and cli- mate change. The reason why the CGIAR has opted to distinguish between food security and hu- man nutrition and health is that the im- pact pathways to these goals are quite dif- ferent and the assumptions underlying the impact pathways are not well known, par- ticularly regarding the drivers of good nu- trition. While the food security impact pathway targets availability, access and af- fordability, the nutrition pathway targets micronutrient sufficiency, particularly of women and children. Impact pathways from research to devel- opment are typically protracted and non- linear. For better planning of research and accountability, each CGIAR research pro- gram is requested to define impact path- ways from research to development impact specifying a set of intermediate develop- ment outcomes. These are realistic inter- mediate objectives among well-defined tar- get beneficiaries and agro-ecologies that the research programs, in partnership with na- tional players can contribute to. Impact pathways to food security The CGIAR research has impacted food security in large-scale mainly through food price effects. At regional and national levels, the impact pathways to food security are, however, quite nuanced. For instance, there are many different farming systems, rain- fed and irrigated conditions, a whole range of food sources and options for diversifica- tion of food systems, and issues of seasonal- ity, policy and national self-sufficiency. All these issues have implications to research prioritization, strategy and targeting. Agricultural research can address many of the factors that influence food availa- bility. These include variety development for tolerance of biotic and abiotic stress- es and yield potential; water and soil man- agement; water and nutrient use efficiency, agronomic practices and genetic erosion. It can influence land use, policy and markets through research-based options. It can also address equity and social change. Other fac- tors and constraints are outside of agricul- tural research; such as distribution, trade, processing, food waste and health on which nutritional status depends. Depending on their research focus, the CGIAR programs have multiple strategies and impact pathways to achieve food secu- rity. A few examples of research strategy and impact pathways for impact on food secu- rity are presented. A main priority for the CGIAR is sustain- able intensification of cereal production in the principal breadbaskets of the world. The research programs focusing on major cereals build around genetic enhancement and sustainable crop management practices. Reduction of post-harvest losses and socio- economic research for enhancing technolo- gy adoption are also often included. The in- termediate outcomes planned towards food security are increased crop productivity and farm profitability. On basis of empirical evi- dence it is assumed that the adoption of im- proved varieties enhances the probability of food security, per capita food consumption, and probability of attaining the food break- even and food surplus status. CGIAR research also targets entire system on which agricultural production depends with the aim of reducing risk and vulner- ability and enhancing resilience to shocks at farm level, and strengthening the agri- cultural innovation systems. Research ad- dresses natural resource use, improving and stabilizing productivity, markets and 8 MTT SCIENCE 26 value chains, enhancing enabling policies and services. The main pathway to better food security is through increased resilience and sustainable intensification of the pro- duction system, and increased income at household level. CGIAR also works on livestock, fish and forest-based foods and income opportuni- ties through these enterprises. Research tar- gets more sustainable use of soil, water and genetic resources. The impact pathways on resource use have the long term objective of enhancing ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes for sustaining agricultural pro- ductivity and food security into the future. It is known that agriculture is a key driv- er for economic growth at national level, particularly in agriculture-based countries (sub-Saharan Africa in particular), and that increased production and productivity of main commodities increases food securi- ty through lower prices and price stabili- ty, and improvement in income and em- ployment. However, it is also known that the issues underpinning poverty and hun- ger are fundamentally complex and the im- pact pathways are specific to the develop- ment context. These contexts range from subsistence farmers trapped in low-productivity farm- ing in countries with slow economic growth, with limited resources and no off- farm opportunities at one end to dynam- ically developing regions at the other end where small market-oriented farms can sup- ply growing urban areas with high value products. Research strategies for food secu- rity objectives need to respond to the con- text of urban vs. rural and, within the latter, subsistence vs. market-oriented farming. Research strategies also need to integrate technology and policy and address equity among different groups, including gender. Impact pathways to improved nutrition The CGIAR’s nutrition security objective targets micronutrient malnutrition. Health objective, encompassing food safety and ag- riculture-related health risks, is also incor- porated into this major impact goal. In the CGIAR’s research agenda, the justification for addressing human nutrition and health issues separately from food security is that malnutrition is much broader issue than just energy sufficiency, researchable issues are different and impact pathways are com- plex and largely dependent on other factors than agriculture. It is also acknowledged that gender and intra-household disparities contribute to poor nutrition. Malnutrition is particularly serious in areas where pov- erty and food insecurity are prevalent, in- cluding sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The CGIAR’s mandate across a wide range of crops and livestock and production sys- tems offers opportunities for addressing mi- cronutrient malnutrition and health issues. Although agriculture is considered critical for addressing malnutrition, there is lim- ited evidence of how agriculture influenc- es nutrition and how food availability and prices influence dietary diversity. More in- formation and evidence is needed on how access to nutritious foods is translated to improved nutrition status at household and individual levels. Three dimensions related to women’s role have been identified in the impact pathway from agriculture to better nutrition: women’s status and control of re- sources; women’s time and knowledge; and women’s nutrition. According to FAO, agricultural interven- tions can also lead to negative nutrition- al outcomes. Therefore, better analysis and understanding of the impact pathways is necessary to address critical bottlenecks. This requires more than just agricultural interventions. For instance, essential con- ditions for good nutritional status include education, health care and improved sani- tation. In all of these national policies play a central role. The CGIAR has several strategies for en- hancing nutrition. One strategy is aligned with increasing production and produc- tivity of the CGIAR’s traditional mandate crops such as wheat and legumes, and live- stock and fish. A specific strategy, also related to CGIAR’s past research on specific crops, is bioforti- fication where research has been going on MTT SCIENCE 26 9 for more than ten years. Focus has been on iron, zinc and vitamin A. The micronutri- ent content of major food crops is increased through breeding. Nutritional research has been conducted on retention, bioavailabil- ity and efficacy. The impact pathway from the research product (new variety) to con- sumption is long. For instance with orange fleshed sweetpotato it involves production of cuttings for propagating the crop, in- centivising farmers to adopt new, biofor- tified varieties that need to be better per- forming than existing varieties, distribution and marketing, and advocacy for enhancing the consumption of the food in adequate amounts by the targeted groups, women and children. There is not yet much ex- perience on scaling up from pilot projects and the effectiveness of this strategy. Chal- lenges at producer level include inability to identify the biofortified varieties if the trait is not visible, and at the consumer level re- sistance to consume the crop if the trait is visible – for instance colour that is not pre- ferred. Ultimately, the outcomes depend other conditions for good nutrition being in place. One strategy is diversifying diets by pro- ducing at farms nutritious crops, for ex- ample vegetables in kitchen gardens. This strategy assumes that labour is available for the time required to manage the crops, and that farming families consume pro- duce from the farm or that income earned from high value crops is spent on buying nutritious food. These assumptions may not hold true in all circumstances. More needs to be known about decision-making in households regarding labor allocation, consumption and expenditure. CGIAR research addresses also certain health issues that have a relatively simple impact pathway and straightforward ef- fect; for example reduction of pesticides, and reduction of aflatoxins in the food val- ue chains. A single strategy is unlikely to be effec- tive. In developing countries diet transi- tion is occurring and overweight is increas- ingly a problem. It is a problem even in poor countries, for instance in sub-Saha- ran Africa. It may occur among the poor, because nutritious foods tend to be more difficult to obtain and are more expensive. Furthermore, it is not unusual that in the same households, there is both stunting and obesity. Improving research effectiveness and expectations The diversity of contexts in which food and nutrition security are pursued by re- search requires different strategies. Often impact pathways are presented at a gen- eral level and as linear. In reality impacts are not liner. Thus the plans need to take into account the degree of heterogeneity among farming systems, beneficiary groups and agro-ecologies and the multiple feed- back loops. Research effectiveness can be improved by planning the impact pathways and peri- odically adjusting them in light of new ev- idence of causal linkages. Assumptions are often made about behavioural chang- es among farmers, community actors, ex- tensionists, policy-makers, market actors etc. Research can influence such chang- es through approaches that engage local groups, but largely the changes depend on activities and incentives outside the research domain. In order to make the uptake of research results more likely, re- search organizations invariably need to en- gage also in capacity development, policy dialogue and advocacy. Research groups need to identify and col- laborate with appropriate partners at re- gional and national level. Adaptive and ap- plied research that is often necessary for locally applicable results is best done by na- tional partners. Collaboration is also need- ed with a range of organisations including research institutions but also NGOs and the private sector. Many CGIAR programs consider that agricultural change and de- velopment is most sustainably pursued in agricultural innovation systems where re- search is but one component. Partnership and collaboration with local groups pro- vides the feed-back loops that are neces- sary for adjusting research strategies and impact pathways. 10 MTT SCIENCE 26 Research is only a small contributor to im- pact. It has been estimated that about 10 times more investment, that in the CGIAR research, is needed outside the CGIAR for the planned impacts to accrue. Such com- plementary investments include more na- tional funding to science and technology in agriculture. Better coordination at in- ternational, regional and national level is also needed for making research more effec- tive. It also requires institutional and policy changes. An example of the difficulty to co- ordinate research and policy for better nu- trition is that in developing countries the different ministries that deal with agricul- ture or health or sanitation or education do necessarily collaborate. In the overall effort to improve aid-effec- tiveness there is a trend to set targets also for research effectiveness in the internation- al context that the CGIAR is part of. Too often in the current discourse it is implied that research is accountable for “value for money” in terms of achieving quantifiable targets in food security and nutrition. Re- search is, however, by nature risky and its results take a long-term to generate out- comes and impacts on the ground. Re- search organizations have little control over outcomes beyond their outputs and research findings. Furthermore, serendipity is characteristic in research; outcomes from research occur unexpectedly. It is important to set the expectations from agricultural research at an appropriate lev- el where it is feasible to attribute change to agricultural interventions. Indicators, such as hunger index or stunting, used for mon- itoring of progress in the MDGs, are not appropriate. Agricultural research can be reasonably expected to influence change at farm and household levels in, for instance, productivity from diverse food sources, sea- sonal food availability, and resource-use ef- ficiency; and at national or sub-national level consumption patterns, food safety in the value chain or policy change. Even these changes depend on many other actors and conditions than just agricultural re- search. Therefore research plans with elab- orated theories of change and impact path- ways are intended to improve the relevance of research and adaptive research manage- ment and should not be seen as blue prints for success. Conclusions Agricultural research has great potential for increasing food security and nutrition se- curity in developing countries and among poor populations. Agricultural research can contribute overall economic groth, to food availability, affordability and quality and to sustaining the natural resource base that agricultural production depends on in the longer term. However, research is just one contributor along the impact pathways, whic typical- ly are protracted and non-linear. The ways by which agricultural research contributes are often very context specific. Therefore research planning and choice of strategies requires analysis of the target beneficiaries, environments and specific constraints, and integration of technology and policy re- search, capacity development and advoca- cy. Constant feed-back from new evidence of what works and what doesn’t is needed. The impact pathways from research to changes in food security and nutritional status of people depend on multiple part- ners contributing; some of them involved in the research process and others transating research results into practical applications and outcomes, and scaling up promising technologies and processes. Better coordi- nation and investment, particularly at the national level is needed. The expectations for what agricultural re- search can deliver should be realistic ac- knowledging that agricultural research has no control over the many other conditions that are needed for better food security and nutrition. The drivers for good nutrition in particular are largely outside of the agricul- tural research domain. Keywords: Agricultural research, impact pathways, food security, human nutrition, research effectiveness MTT SCIENCE 26 11 Abstract Since 2007 food prices in international markets have experienced three spikes, and prices of grains have been 50% higher on average than in the previous 25 years. Re- cent years have also seen an increased cor- relation between food and fossil fuel pric- es in international markets, implying that these two markets are co-moving. High and volatile food prices have been blamed for raising domestic consumer prices and thus reducing food consumption for net food buyers in developing countries and exces- sive volatility has also affect producers giv- en the uncertainty on what price they will get for their planting decisions. The poorest net buyers were the most affected by these shocks as they spend a large share of their income of food. Similarly, net food import- ing countries were also negatively affected. Among the key factors playing a role in creating the 2007-2011 price spikes and excessive volatility are increasing biofuel production, the medium- and long-term effects of climate change, and higher levels of trading in commodity futures markets. Insulating policies such as export restric- tions in important food-producing coun- tries also contributed to price increases and market jitters in 2010 and 2011. As a result in 2007-08 the above-mentioned shocks drove up excessive volatility to more than 100 days, affecting the livelihoods of both producers as well as consumers. Although ttoday’s agricultural markets have three characteristics that make the price re- sponses to these challenges more extreme. First, export markets for the main staple commodities—rice, maize, wheat, and soy- beans—are either highly concentrated in a few countries or very “thin” (that is, only a small share of production is traded). Giv- “Excessive Volatility and Its Effects. What to do?” Maximo Torero International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K Street NW Washington DC, USA, m.torero@cgiar.org en these high levels of concentration, the world’s capacity to cope with shocks is lim- ited. Any incidence of poor weather or oth- er production shock in these countries will immediately affect global prices and price volatility. Similarly, any policy changes— such as trade bans, customs taxes, or other restrictions on exports—in any of the top exporters will significantly affect the levels and volatility of food prices. Research sug- gests that such policies explained almost 40 percent of the increase in the world mar- ket price for rice during the 2007–08 food price crisis. Second, the world’s stocks of maize and wheat wereat historically low levels. This situation leaves the world vulnerable to food price spikes and threatens the proper functioning of markets. Third, appropri- ate and timely information on food pro- duction, stock levels, and price forecasting is sorely lacking. When information defi- cits lead to overreactions by policymakers, the result can be soaring prices. Despite since 2013 we don’t phase peri- ods of excessive volatility the three core characteristics that are structurally behind the vulnerability of global markets remain mostly unchanged. Moreover, commodi- ty markets continue to experience an in- creased number of extreme weather events. Stocks have remained at particularly low levels, increasing the probability of inter- national price spikes. Markets also remain highly concentrated, with just a few coun- tries dominating world exports. What are some of the global strategies that can be implemented to reduce volatility and build resilience against such shocks? Firstly, there is a need for institutional improvements such as efficient futures and exchange mar- 12 MTT SCIENCE 26 kets for commodities in order to enable farmers and other agents to hedge and mitigate against risks. Secondly, an effi- cient stock management strategy is neces- sary in order to ensure adequate stocks at regional levels as this would enhance risk sharing and diversification. Thirdly, there is a need for a strategy dealing with the most vulnerable individuals through so- cial protection mechanisms. An important long-term strategy is the implementation of policies that would enhance openness to trade across countries. WTO can play a major role in implementing this long- term strategy. Keywords: Food Prices, Volatility, Excessive volatili- ty, price spikes. MTT SCIENCE 26 13 Development of an X-Ray Method for Mineralogical Analysis of Africa Soils Using a Benchtop Diffractometer Mercy Nyambura1*, 2, Michael Gatari1, Stephen Hillier3*, Keith D. Shepherd2, Martti Esala4 and Benson Mochoge4 1Institute of Nuclear Science, College of Architecture and Engineering, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya 2World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), United Nations, Nairobi, Kenya 3The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland 4MTT Agrifood Research Finland 5Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya Abstract Soil mineralogy is a principal determinant of many soil functional properties that are expensive and time consuming to meas- ure, and can in turn determine soil agri- cultural, engineering and environmental qualities. Africa soil mineralogy has how- ever not been adequately and appropriately researched upon. This is because of poor- ly and fragmentally coordinated scientific investigations coupled with the limitations in the traditional analytical techniques. Re- cent developments in instrument designs and capabilities, and launch of bench-top X-ray Diffractometers (XRD) have wid- ened the possible application areas for high- throughput X-ray diffraction (XRD) as a powerful complementary tool for soil screening. This study was conducted to de- velop a high precision and rapid through put protocol for X-ray diffraction analysis and demonstrate its ability to make reliable and accurate measurement of Africa soil mineralogy, using a Bruker D2 PHASER benchtop diffractometer. A multiphase soil sample was investigated for independent evaluation of the analysis accuracy, pre- senting the sample preparation and mount- ing techniques used. A further 160 diverse set of top soils samples selected from the sentinel sites of the African Soils Informa- tion Services (AfSIS) project was used to develop a generalizable approach, and to test the applicability of the protocol devel- oped. With only half-hour scanning time, the method developed produced high qual- ity diffractograms that could reliably be matched to possible known patterns from the powder diffraction files, taking XRD from what has been largely time consum- ing and specialized measurement, to a rap- id and simple method that can be used for routine analysis of soil mineralogy by soil testing laboratories. Keywords: Sample Preparation, Preferred Orientation, Random Powder, X-ray, Diffraction. 14 MTT SCIENCE 26 Micronutrients in Selected Food Crops in Muguga, Kenya Magdalene Nguli1, 2, James Gatari Michael1 1Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi. P.O. Box 30197–00100, Nairobi, Kenya 2World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677–00100, Nairobi, Kenya Abstract Micronutrients are essential for growth of plants and although they are required in small quantities, inadequate supply of one or more of these results in reduced yields and quality of crop products. Micronu- trients are transferred through the food chain to human beings and are important for health, growth and development. De- ficiency of these poses a threat to the so- cial-economic development of a nation due to the associated effects which include in- creased mortality rate, impaired physical and cognitive development and reduced labor productivity. In the 2011 national food and nutrition security policy, it was reported that due to inadequacy of food quality and diversity in the regular diet among Kenyans, over 10 million people suffer from chronic food insecurity and poor nutrition. There is therefore need to carry out research on the levels of micro- nutrients in food crops and this would be helpful in the establishment of plant qual- ity monitoring systems as well as micro- nutrient bank and management systems in Kenya so as to monitor plant health and thus come up with possible interven- tions. The study was aimed at finding out crop response to micronutrients available in the soils on which they were grown and comparing the micronutrient levels among different food crop species. Leaves/whole plant of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), pota- toes (Solanum tuberosum) and maize (Zea mays) were sampled from Muguga, Ken- ya, following an offset grid sampling pat- tern in which plots of 100*100 m were marked out and samples randomly col- lected within a radius of 3 meters from the grid intersection and composited. All the samples were analyzed for micronutri- ents (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn) by Total re- flection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF). The mean concentration for Mn in beans, pota- toes and maize were 215.594, 168.876 and 177.756 respectively. For Fe, the means were 750.262, 553.318 and 917.031 re- spectively. The means for Ni were 2.354, 1.342 and 0.788 respectively while Cu had means of 9.374, 11.914 and 10.082 re- spectively. Zn showed means of 65.852, 40.045 and 67.393 respectively (all con- centration levels are in units of mg/kg). The results did not show deficiency among the micronutrients in all the food crops an- alyzed. However, following the coefficients of variation (CVs) the concentrations of Mn and Fe varied significantly between the crops while Ni, Cu and Zn showed no sig- nificant variation. Each plant takes up the available nutrients differently and this re- search showed that beans had the best re- sponse to available nutrients with a cor- relation of 0.9424. More research is to be conducted in other parts of the country for sufficient and conclusive micronutri- ent mapping. Keywords: Micronutrients, Food crops, TXRF, Kenya MTT SCIENCE 26 15 Senegal Dairy Genetics Karen Marshall1, Stanly Tebug1, Jane Poole1, Isabelle Baltenweck1, MiikaTapio2, Jarmo Juga3, Ayao Missohou4 1International Livestock research Institute (ILRI), P. O. Box 30709 Nairobi 00100, Kenya 2MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Biotechnology and Food Research, Jokioinen FI-31600, Finland 3Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 28, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 4Inter-state School of Veterinary Science and Medicine of Dakar (EISMV), P.O. Box 5077, Dakar (Fann), Senegal E-mail: k.marshall@cgiar.org Abstract The FoodAfrica work-package Senegal Dairy Genetics aims to improve the pro- ductivity and profitability of small to me- dium scale dairy enterprises in Senegal, leading to improved food and nutrition security, enhanced livelihoods, and a more sustained environment. In addition, the project aims to build the capacity of vari- ous stakehodlers in dairy, including young researchers, dairy-farmers, service provid- ers, extension agents, educators, and poli- cy-makers. The work-package is a colalbo- ration between four research institutions based in Senegal, Finland and Kenya (the Interstate School of Veterinary Science and Medicine of Dakar, The University of Hel- sinki, AgriFood Research Finland, and the International Livestock Research Institute), and has involved students from a number of West and Central African countries, as well as Finland. The particular focus of Senegal Dairy Ge- netics is to examine the trade-offs, in terms of both benefits and costs, of keeping dif- ferent breeds or cross-breeds of dairy an- imals. These include indigenous breeds, such as Zebu Gobra and Zebu Maure, which have been raised by Senegalese live- stock keepers over the centuries and are well adapted to the harsh environmental conditions, and crosses of these with new- ly introduced breeds, such as the Guzerat, Montbelliard and Holstein-Freisian, which produce more milk but require addition- al inputs in terms of health-care, feed and labour to survive and produce. To exam- ine these trade-offs, Senegal Dairy Genet- ics has partnerned with 239 dairy farming households located in two sites in Sene- gal. These households range from the very traditional (such as those from the Fulani ethnic group) to the more innovative, and together keep more than 3500 dairy ani- mals of numerous breed and cross-breed types. Productivity and economic infor- mation on these dairy animals is being collected over an 18 month monitoring period, resulting in an extremely valua- ble and unique database on dairy in Sene- gal. In addition, the breed-type of the an- imals will be determined using advanced DNA based approaches, ensuring this in- formation is accurately known in the ab- sense of recorded pedigree. On comple- tion of the data collection period, the data will be analysed with feedack on the ben- efits and costs of keeping different breeds or cross-breeds of dairy animals dissem- inated to a broad range of stakeholders, resulting in enhanced capacity and better decision-making on this key issue. Fur- ther, Senegal Dairy Genetics is working towards ensuring farmers can better ac- cess the dairy breed-types of their choice, by building the capacity of local stake- holders to strengthen the dairy germplasm supply system. Keywords: Dairy cattle, Senegal, breed, genetics, food and nutrition security, capacity 16 MTT SCIENCE 26 Milk Composition of Dairy Cattle Breeds in Senegal Patrick Jolly Ngono Ema1,2, Karen Marshall3, Stanly Tebug3, L. Lassila2, Jane Poole3, Isabelle Baltenweck3, Miika Tapio4 , Jarmo Juga2, Ayao Missohou1 1Inter-state School of Veterinary Science and Medicine of Dakar (EISMV), P.O. Box 5077, Dakar (Fann), Senegal 2School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Ngaoundere, P.O.Box 454 Ngaoundere,Cameroon 3International Livestock research Institute (ILRI), P. O. Box 30709 Nairobi 00100, Kenya 4Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 28, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 5MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Biotechnology and Food Research, Jokioinen FI-31600, Finland E-mail: p.jollyema@gmail.com Abstract Milk is rich in protein, energy and essen- tial micro-nutrients and its availability con- tributes to food and nutrition security. To improve milk production, mostly in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality, in Senegal, cross-breeding traditional breeds (such as the Zebu Gobra) with newly in- troduced breeds (Guzerat, Holstein Frie- sian, and Montbeliard, amongst others) has become common in some regions. This study takes place in the general frame- work of the project, ”Senegal Dairy Genet- ics”. The overall objective of the project is to determine the most suitable dairy cat- tle breeds for low-input, small to medium scale, dairy producers’ households in Sen- egal. The present study contributes to this overall objective by determining and com- paring the milk composition of the vari- ous dairy cattle breeds found within the project sites. Milk samples were collected from 241 lac- tating dairy cows belonging to 97 house- holds in two regions of Senegal (Thies and Diourbel), during the period September to December 2013 which is the wet sea- son when feed availability is high. Animals were classed into 4 groups based on their breed-type: group 1 comprising animals that are pure-bred ancient Zebu (such as the Zebu Gobra and Zebu Maure), group 2 comprising animals that are 75% ancient Zebu and 25% recently introduced Zebu (such as Guzerat), group 3 comprising an- imals that are 50% ancient Zebu and 50% recently introduced taurine (such as Hol- stein Friesian and Montbeliard), and group 4 comprising animals that pure-bred re- cently introduced taurines. The number of milk samples per group was 132, 38, 56 and 15 for groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respective- ly. The milk component analyses were car- ried out in the field, using a portable milk analysing device (Lactichek Analyzer®). Re- sults were obtained for the percentages of fat, solids-not-fat (SNF), protein and lac- tose; density and freezing point were also obtained. Each sample was analysed three times for machine repeatability and the av- erage of these measures was used. The dif- ferent groups were compared using Stu- dent’s t-test in SPSS® 20 software. Across all groups, average percentag- es (±SD) of 5.05±1.56; 9.86±0.60; 3.65±0.21; 5.47±0.31 were obtained for fat, SNF, protein and lactose, respective- ly. The milk content of cows in group 3 versus 4 clearly differed by all their com- ponents (p<0.05). Conversely, the milk of cows in group 1 and 2 was very similar in all their components. These latter differed from cows in group 3 only by their fat content; a higher level of fat content was found for animals of group 3 (5.75±1.89). Cows of group 3 also had the lowest lev- els of both SNF (9.53±0.57) and protein (3.52±0.21). The four dairy cattle breed groups derived from this study differ with regards to their milk composition. Keywords: Dairy cattle, Crossbred, Milk composition, Senegal MTT SCIENCE 26 17 Predicting Lactation Records from Test Day Samples in Indigenous and Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Senegal Lotta Lassila1, Karen Marshall2, Patrick Jolly Ngono Ema3,4, Isabelle Baltenweck2, Jane Poole2, Stanly Fon Tebug2, Miika Tapio5, Ayao Missohou3, Jarmo Juga1 1University of Helsinki, Agricultural Sciences, P.O.Box 28, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, lotta.lassila@helsinki.fi 2International Livestock research Institute (ILRI), P. O. Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya 3Interstate School of Veterinary Science and Medicine of Dakar (EISMV), P.O. Box 5077, Dakar (Fann), Senegal 4University of Ngaoundere, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, P.O.Box 454 , Ngaoundere, Cameroon 5MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Biotechnology and Food Research, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland Abstract Demand for milk in Sub-Saharan Africa is rising constantly and small scale dairy producers will continue to be an impor- tant part of African agriculture. Farmers in low-input dairy production systems in Sen- egal currently lack the needed information on the relative production performance of different breed-types to be able to select the best animals for their needs and to feed the cows according to their milk production. The aim of this study is to use different models to estimate lactation curves and pre- dict annual milk yield from test day records for different dairy breeds and crossbreeds. The Senegal Dairy Genetics project is working in two regions in Senegal (Thies and Diourbal), where there is a mix of both indigenous and non-indigenous dairy an- imals. In total 239 dairy households and about 3500 dairy animals have been re- cruited into the project. The data is collect- ed by a team of six field staff (enumerators). The enumerators are each allocated approx- imately 40 households and they visit these on a rotational basis (about once every 4 to 5 weeks), using questionnaires to collect socio-economic and productivity data. In addition, milk is recorded through direct milk measurements of both morning and evening milk production on the test day. All activities on farm are carried out in the local language of Wolof. On first four rounds of longitudinal mon- itoring (September 2013 - February 2014) test day result of milk volume was record- ed at least once for 984 animals. Of these, 489 animals had the needed information on date of last calving, number of parturi- tions, age and the breed of the animal, and were included in the analysis. Animals were grouped according to breeds, based on farmer-given breed-types. The largest group (50%) consisted of Zebu Go- bra and Zebu Maure breeds. The other main groups consisted of crosses between zebu and taurine breeds, crosses between taurine breeds or purebred taurines. The most commonly used taurine breeds were Holstein-Friesian and Montbeliard. Daily milk yield was estimated from morn- ing and evening milkings using a regression model, which took into account stage of lactation and number of parities. The es- timated daily milk yield for 365 days of lactation was 2.7 l for first parity and 2.6 l for later parities. For the breed group of Zebu Gobra and Zebu Maure, the estimat- ed average daily milk yield was 2.3 l for first parity and 2.1 l for later parities. The breed group of crosses between Zebu Go- bra (25%) and Holstein-Friesian (75%) or Montbeliard (75%) had estimated average daily milk yield of 3.8 l for first parity and the highest estimated average daily milk yield of 4.7 l for later parities. Keywords: cattle, dairy breeds, milk yield, lactation curve, Senegal 18 MTT SCIENCE 26 Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture & Agricultural Economies: The example of Senegal Amy Faye1, Sadibou Fall2, Siwa Msangi3, Assane Bèye4 1Scientist, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), amy.faye1@gmail.com 2Senior scientist, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), fallcheickhsadibou@gmail.com 3Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), s.msangi@cgiar.org 4Scientist, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), beyassane@hotmail.com Abstract The impact of climate change on agri- cultural economies is a topic of active re- search, given the concern about the limited adaptive capacity of less-developed coun- tries like Senegal that is likely to face se- vere consequences of ongoing and future global environmental change. The coun- try’s agricultural sector employs more than 60% of the active population but contrib- utes for less than 10% on the country’s GDP. This shows a bad performance re- lated to low productivity due to low lev- el of fertilizer use, old agricultural equip- ment, poor seeds and climate conditions (Jalloh, 2013). Recent studies on climate change in West Africa and Senegal specif- ically (Jalloh et al, 2013; Sène et al, 2012; Roudier, 2012, etc.) have pointed to the vulnerability of the agricultural sector in Senegal Most studies found that the 21st century will be warmer than the past cen- tury (McSweeney et al., 2010; Jalloh et al, 2013). Although there remains uncertainty in future rainfall patterns climate perturba- tions will probably have an impact on Sen- egalese agricultural production and farm- ers’ livelihood. In this presentation we discuss the poten- tial impacts of climate change within a key agricultural region of Senegal – the peanut basin. Specifically, we measure farmers’ re- sponse to climate shocks, i.e. inputs alloca- tion, and the impact of climate change on a population of farms. This has been done by combining two complementary mod- els : i) the PMP farm production mode- ling approach of Howitt (1995) to evalu- ate farmers’ response to different climate shocks ; ii) the “Trade-Off Analysis model for multi-dimensional impact assessment” (TOA-MD) of Antle and Valdivia (2011). The tradeoffs model assesses ex-ante the impact of climate change on economic variables in a heterogeneous population of farms by considering two systems rep- resenting farmers in two different situa- tions: an observed situation (current) and an unobserved situation (in 2050) with changing climate, social and economic conditions. The key drawback of the TOA model lies in the fact that it does not ex- plicitly embed behavioral response to cli- mate shocks, so we are not able to represent the endogenous adjustment process in pro- duction practices (either on the intensive or extensive margins) that we would ex- pect to occur as a result of climate change. As a possible remedy to this, we looked at complementary methodology that will allow us to represent farm-level adapta- tion behavior in a more explicit way and take that into account in the specification of the unobserved system of TOA-MD. The PMP farm production modeling ap- proach of Howitt (1995) offers a promis- ing way to do this, and we have illustrated the adaptive behavior for a representative household in the Peanut Basin. Our sim- plified model shows much more adaptive response than would be possible with the TOA model only, and offers a promising way to proceed with the further analysis of the peanut basin, as well as other key regions of Sénégal. The disaggregation of production types demonstrated by How- itt and Msangi (2014) offers a possible ap- MTT SCIENCE 26 19 proach that can be adapted to the case of Sénégal. We discuss the implications of the results, and also address some weaknesses in the methodology and the potential ways to address them. Our key results show that the extreme cli- mate shock to Sénégal described in Jalloh et al (2013) has a mixed effect on house- holds in the peanut basin, with larger households having expanded coping ca- pacity over smaller ones. Keywords: agriculture, climate change adaptation, global environmental change, economic policy References: Antle, J. 2011. Parsimonious multi-dimen- sional impact assessment, 20p. Antle, J, Valdivia, R. 2011. Methods for as- sessing economic, environmental and so- cial impacts of aquaculture technologies: adoption of integrated agriculture-aquacul- ture-aquaculture in Malawi, 17p. Howitt, RE. 1995. Positive Mathematical Programming. American Journal of Agri- cultural Economics 77: 329 -342. Howitt, RE, S Msangi. 2014. Entropy Es- timation of Disaggregate Production Func- tions: An Application to Northern Mexico. Entropy, 16(3): 1349-1364. McSweeney, C., New, M. & Lizcano, G. 2010. UNDP Climate Change Country Profiles: Senegal. Available: http://country- profiles.geog.ox.ac.uk/ [Accessed 16 De- cember 2013]. Jalloh A., Nelson G. C., Thomas T. S., Zougmore R. and Roy-Macauley H. 2013. West African Agriculture and Climate Change: A comprehensive Analysis, chap- ters 1, 2 and 11. Sene I. M., Diop M. and Dieng A. 2012. Impacts of climate change on the revenues and adaptation of farmers in senegal Roudier P. 2012. Climat et agriculture en Afrique de l’Ouest : Quantification de l’impact du changement climatique sur les rendements et évaluation de l’utilité des prévisions saisonnières, 189p. 20 MTT SCIENCE 26 Which Factors Could Determine Stunting in Rural Areas in Benin? Sam Bodjrenou1, 2, Waliou Amoussa-Hounkpatin1, Gervais Ntandou-Bouzitou2, Joseph Hounhouigan1 1Faculty of Agricultural Sciences/University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) 2Bioversity International, Benin Abstract Background: Benin is a West African coun- try where malnutrition is a public health problem. The trend of stunting among 6-to-59- months old children is rising af- ter 3 successive Demographic Health Sur- vey since 2001, showing prevalence over 35%. This prevalence is higher in rural are- as than urban despite the importance of bi- odiversity in these regions. Local biodiver- sity is a source of nutrients for populations and its valorization is generally considered as a strategy to fight against malnutrition. In fact, Benin villages profit a large biodi- versity provided by: agricultural produc- tion, animals breeding and an important diversity of non-grown product such as wild fruits, vegetables, roots, tubers, mush- rooms, animals. Objective: The main objective of this study is to identify the determinants of stunting in Bopa and Houéyogbé villages, two ru- ral communes in Southern Benin. Methodology: The study was conduct- ed on 1242 mothers and 6-23 months old children selected in 17 villages of Bopa and Houéyogbé. A consent form was signed before starting data collection. To assess the nutritional status, anthropomet- ric data (weight and height) were collect- ed among children and mothers as rec- ommended by the WHO. Data on the socioeconomic determinants of nutrition- al status were collected with the princi- pal caregivers of children, mothers in most of cases, using a semi-structural ques- tionnaire. We focused on education lev- el of mothers, size of household, number of children under 5 years in the house- hold and food insecurity assessed by HFI- AS questions. Goods and income gener- ating activities were also documented and permit to appreciate household income. Z-score Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Age and Weight-for-Height were used in or- der to evaluate malnutrition among chil- dren. The nutritional software WHO An- thro was used. The Body Mass Index of mothers was determined in Excel. For so- cioeconomic data, the food insecurity sta- tus of each household was determined as described in the HFIAS guide and the eco- nomic data were combined as an index to appreciate the wealth of households. SPSS 17.0 is being used to determine the correla- tion between the determinants (nutrition- al status of mothers, food insecurity and socioeconomic factors) and the severity of chronic malnutrition. MTT SCIENCE 26 21 Complementary Foods Patterns Among Infants and Young Children in Houeyogbe and Bopa Districts in Southern Benin, West Africa Irene Mitchodigni1,2, Waliou Amoussa-Hounkpatin1, Gervais Ntandou-Bouzitou2, Joseph Hounhouigan1 1Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey Calavi 2Bioversity International Abstract Background: feeding practices among Bopa and Houeyogbe districts in Mono Department, Southern Benin conform to the World Health Organization (WHO) guiding principles is uncertain. The in- adequate complementary feeding practic- es within infant young children is one of the main factors associated with the high level (43%) of stunted children noticed in Benin despite the diversity of local food resources. Objective: To characterize complementa- ry foods given to infants and young chil- dren of 6- to-23 months old and by point- ing out the role of local biodiversity and cooking practices. Methodology: The study was conducted for 2 months during one of the major sea- sons (dry season) and comprised 3 visits at 2 weeks intervals (±15d). A sample of 1263 children was randomly selected in 17 vil- lages within two districts of the study area. Dietary intake of infants was estimated us- ing two non-consecutive 24-hour recalls. Size of portion consumed at home was esti- mated using local household utensil stand- ardized for the study. Recipes of meals and foods consumed by children were collected immediately following the administration of the recall to the mother or the caregiv- er in order to reconstitute them. The reci- pes reconstitution was carried out among a sub-sample of 219 mothers selected ac- cording to their indigenous knowledge of food processing and cooking after three repetitions. Detailed weighed recipes data were also collected for all the composite dishes consumed by the children, and used to calculate the weight of the actual ingre- dients consumed. Average recipe data were compiled for use. For purchased meals an average value was calculated and an equiv- alence weight-volume-price was used to es- timate the quantity of food consumed in household during the survey. Preliminary results: Among 90 recipes itemized, 64 recipes have been reconsti- tuted Cereal-based foods in the form of porridge and as traditional family staples consumed with soup and stews were pre- dominate. Porridge of maize fermented or not like “Koko” (fon language) or “Godo” (Sahouè language) prepared at home are often the very common foods recorded. Another types of complementary food (CF) are composed of mixed local resourc- es such as starchy staples from cereals and tubers (maize, rice, cassava, potatoes,…) accompanied with traditional sauces based on palm nut/red palm oil or green leafy vegetables (Corchorus spp c, Amarantus spp, Solanum spp, Launanea taraxacifolia, Talinum triangulare, Telfairia occidenta- lis, Cleome gynandra, Struchium sparga- nophora, Moringa oleifera,…) or legumes (beans, soybean,…) and scarce animals proteins such as eggs, fish . These are the common family foods, showing that CF are not specific foods given to infant and young children in Benin. There is a notable absence of fresh fruit in the records. This may reflect actual dietary intake which will be confirm or not by the ongoing analysis. 22 MTT SCIENCE 26 Costs of Aflatoxins in Kenyan Dairy Value Chain Daniel Mugangai Senerwa1,2, Nadhem Mtimet1, Johanna Lindahl1, Erastus Kang’ethe2 and Delia Grace1 1ILRI, Nairobi, P.O Box 30709, Kenya 2University of Nairobi, Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Kenya Abstract Kenyas dairy industry plays an important economic role in the life of farmers, milk processors, milk traders, feeds manufac- tures and traders. This industry contrib- utes 14% of the the agricultural GDP and 3.5% of the total GDP. In Kenya, the dairy sector, and especially milk production is exposed to different risk contamination factors which will not only affect the prod- uct quality but also its innocuity. Economic costs of aflatoxin contamination could be split into two categories: direct market costs and human health costs. Us- ing agro-ecological zones, five counties in Kenya- Kwale, Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi, Kisii, and Bungoma were selected randomly for this study. For direct costs, questionnaires were directed to feed retailers, milk pro- ducers, milk traders and feed producers. Food and feed samples (99 dairy feed, 286 milk, 386 staples (maize, millet, sorghum ground nuts and cassava) were collected for laboratory aflatoxin analysis (ongoing) to estimate the aflatoxin daily consumption rates in man and dairy cattle. In the case of health costs, primary and sec- ondary data is being collected to assess the estimated cost of aflatoxin in Kenya. Fol- lowing Rico-Sole (2012) and introducing an additional weighting factor related to the proportion of aflatoxin provided by milk consumption, the health expenditure costs related to aflatoxin through milk will be estimated. It is possible to assess health costs using secondary data provided by the national health statistics in Kenya (health expend- iture, diseases, number of the population, number of exposed population, etc.) and fixing values for the remaining variables on the basis on literature review. However, the uncertainties about the actual health impacts of aflatoxin exposure in a popula- tion make it difficult to fully evaluate the burden. The approach in this study follows the risks of exposures at different steps in the dairy value chain and includes con- sumer surveys. This will provide increased knowledge about the risks and a basis for improved assessments of the costs. Keywords: Aflatoxin, costs, health, dairy sector, Kenya MTT SCIENCE 26 23 Aflatoxin M1 Survey on Raw Milk Collected from Rural Households in Four Agro-Ecological Zones in Kenya Anima Sirma1,2, Daniel Mugangai Senerwa1,2, Johanna Lindahl1, Kohei Makita1,3, Erastus Kang’ethe2, Delia Grace1 1Food Safety and Zoonosis Unit, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), PO Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya 2Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Nairobi, PO Box 29053-00625, Nairobi, Kenya 3School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 069-8501, Ebetsu, Japan Abstract Kenya has the largest dairy herd and high- est per capita milk consumption in east Af- rica. Kenya has also experienced multiple aflatoxicosis outbreaks in recent years, and several surveys have reported high levels of contamination in maize. When lactat- ing cows consume feed which is contam- inated with aflatoxins, they excrete a me- tabolite (aflatoxin M1) in their milk. This metabolite is injurious to human health, but there is no current information on the risk to human health posed by aflatoxins in milk in Kenya. To fill this gap, a risk as- sessment is being conducted in four agro- ecological zones in Kenya (semi-arid, tem- perate, sub-humid and humid). In 2014, we conducted a survey of households in these four zones. We surveyed 286 house- holds in 37 villages and in each household administered a questionnaire and collect- ed feed and milk samples. In all, 280 milk samples were analyzed using competitive ELISA. The limit of detection was 2 parts per trillion (ppt). Overall, 59 per cent of all samples had aflatoxin below the limits of detection, 32 per cent of samples had aflatoxin between 2 ppt and 50 ppt while 9 per cent exceeded the WHO/FAO lim- it of 50 ppt. Keywords: Aflatoxin M1, dairy, milk, risk assessment, Kenya 24 MTT SCIENCE 26 Creating Novel Approaches to Mitigate Aflatoxin Risk in Food and Feed with Lactic Acid Bacteria - mold growth inhibition Sara H. Ahlberg1,2, Vesa Joutsjoki1 and Hannu J. Korhonen1 1MTT Agrifood Research Finland, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland 2ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, P.O.Box 30709-00100 Nairobi, Kenya, Office Abstract Aflatoxins, produced by Aspergillus fun- gi, are ubiquitous toxins and they can pre- sent a severe health risk to humans and animals if contaminated food and feed is consumed. Fungi live in the soil and on the surface of the crop and Aspergil- lus species are dominant in favorable con- ditions of maize cultivation areas. A novel biological method could reduce the health risks of aflatoxins through inhibiting mold growth and thus aflatoxin production. Lac- tic acid bacteria (LAB) are commonly used in fermented food production; they are also known to inhibit mold growth. Mold growth inhibition by certain LAB strains may be caused by competition for living conditions between bacterial cells and fun- gi and/or production of antifungal com- pounds such as organic acids. 200 LAB strains of bacteria have been isolated from 21 different indigenous fermented dairy and cereal products prepared locally in dif- ferent parts of Kenya. These strains are be- ing tested for their growth inhibition abili- ties against aflatoxin producing Aspergillus fungi in laboratory conditions. Later, these same effective strains will be tested in var- ious food and feed matrices against Asper- gillus growth and then the ones with most potential will be identified. Novel biolog- ical methods can have a role in preventing toxic effects of aflatoxins in food and feed. Exploitation of LAB is a good option for existing methods as LAB are generally rec- ognized as safe. Keywords: Aflatoxins, lactic acid bacteria, Aspergillus, growth inhibition MTT SCIENCE 26 25 Household Features that Support Women Empowerment – The role of women in household decision-making in Uganda Mila Sell1, 2, Nicholas Minot3, Jarkko Niemi1 1MTT Agrifood Reserch Finland 2Department of Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 3International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K Street NW Washington DC, USA Abstract Up to 85% of all food consumed local- ly in Africa is produced by women farm- ers. The role and contribution of women concerning local food security, nutrition and family well-being is therefore of vi- tal importance. In addition to non-market household work women are also involved in both cash crop production and non- farm income generating activity. Howev- er, studies suggest that because of their lack of access to resources, women are of- ten less productive than men. This affects the well-being of the whole household and therefore should be a focus of research and development efforts. In order to support women farmers we need to identify which are the most problematic barriers prevent- ing women’s access to resources. Our hy- pothesis is that one of the essential barri- ers is lack of empowerment, specifically the ability to make decisions about production and the allocation of household resources. In this paper, we discuss women deci- sion-making and household patterns and features that relate to it. The goal is to examine the determinants of women em- powerment and gender equality in house- hold decision-making. More specifically, what are the household characteristics asso- ciated with unequal decision-making pow- er within the household? Our analysis will identify focus areas in which the strength- ening of women empowerment could have an important effect on human develop- ment goals, such as household wellbeing and economic security of women. The data are from a detailed household survey collected among small-scale farm- er households in Uganda as part of the FoodAfrica Programme. The survey was administered to over 1400 farmers in eight districts of rural Uganda in late 2012 and early 2013. The data include information on agricultural production, input use, crop marketing, and income, but also on the roles of household members in mak- ing decisions about production and mar- keting. The household-level question- naire was administered to one household member, either male or female. In addi- tion, an individual-level questionnaire fo- cusing specifically on the decision-making was administered to both female and male members of the household, in most cases the household head and spouse. The individual component is an impor- tant part of our analytical framework, in- spired by the Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). The index was developed in 2012 by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Ox- ford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). It identifies five do- mains of empowerment related to agri- culture. The overall empowerment score of an individual is calculated from the achievements in the individual domains, a methodology based on multi-dimensional poverty theory. In addition the WEAI cal- culates a gender parity index (GPI) show- ing the difference between the man and the woman on the household level. In our 26 MTT SCIENCE 26 work we have used an adapted version of the WEAI. We test new ways of measuring empow- erment and inequality and the implica- tions these have on household well-being. The WEAI offers an interesting perspec- tive and opportunity for this. Being able to compare responses of men and wom- en in the same household provides insight into power relations and structures with- in the household that may not have been captured by previous surveys, which typi- cally use the household as the unit of anal- ysis. Previously comparison has more often been made between male and female head- ed households, leaving the large group of women farmers within male-headed house- holds unanalyzed. This is where our study can contribute to previous knowledge, both in terms of testing a new approach for collecting data and through identify- ing the key household features and patterns that correlate with high women empower- ment in the Ugandan context. We examine the level of input into deci- sion-making as the main indicator of em- powerment. We have used the WEAI ques- tions to measure the level of input into decisions made on production and oth- er income generating activity as well as on the use of income from these activities. We compare the response levels of men and women through creating a continuous var- iable for decision-making and looking at the overall difference as well as differenc- es on the specific activities. Through re- gression analysis we then look at how high scores of decision-making among wom- en relate to a range of specific household characteristics which may be causal fac- tors, such as the age and sex composition of the household, family size, and the lev- el of education of the man and the wom- an in the household. Preliminary results show that there is a clear difference between the levels of de- cision-making between men and women, especially when it comes to the use of in- come. The data will be disaggregated and analyzed further to identify categories of households with different types of deci- sion-making patterns and the specific fea- tures of these households. The results suggest that women’s empower- ment could be strengthened by addressing some of the problems of households where women in general have a smaller impact on decision-making. Considering the chang- ing dynamics of African agriculture and ru- ral development, where there seems to be a trend towards feminization of agriculture, focusing on and understanding the role of women is essential. The intra-household setup used in the present study contributes insight into this through the novel way of collecting gender-sensitive data. Conclu- sions and policy implications will be for- mulated based on further analysis. Keywords: Women Empowerment, agriculture, deci- sion-making, Uganda MTT SCIENCE 26 27 Improving Livelihoods of Smallholder Dairy Farmers Through Increased Fodder Accessibility: New strategies, linkages and options for stakeholders in Kipkaren sub-county, Kenya Tuei Beatrice Chepkoech Egerton University, Department of Agriculture Education and Extension, P.0.Box 536 – 20115 Egerton, Kenya. tueibc@yahoo.com Abstract Livestock production is projected to ben- efit smallholder farmers due to the dou- bling demand of its products in devel- oping countries. However, farmers are constrained in maximizing milk produc- tion and experience pervasive fodder short- ages despite fodder technologies developed to boost production. The low impact on livelihoods of smallholder farmers has been attributed to development approaches used in the past that focused on linear flow of knowledge from researchers to farmers. The study builds on concepts in the ag- riculture innovation system to examine stakeholder linkages, strategies, working practices and the institutions in orgarniz- ing fodder innovation. The purpose of the study is to provide a framework for estab- lishing a robust fodder innovation system to improve access to and use of fodder for improved livestock productivity and liveli- hoods of smallholder dairy farmers. A par- ticipatory research design will be adopted whereby key stakeholders will be co-re- searchers in an action research process in Kipkaren sub-county, Kenya. It will com- mence with a baseline survey, benchmark- ing the status of the fodder innovation sys- tem. About 10% of the dairy management groups will be randomly sampled followed by purposive sampling so that each loca- tion in Kipkaren sub-county is represented. Initially farmers will be engaged in a focus group discussion to agree on present and attainable milk production figures in the dry and rainy season. Based on the milk yelds, the groups will be divided into three using quartiles and a fourth group com- prising of individual farmers not affiliated to any group will be included in the sam- ple for comparison purposes. There will be focus group discussions with members of groups applying the five models of ca- pabilities to assess group capabilities to in- novate and appreciative inquiry to assess actions responsible for present fodder sit- uation and those required for a future de- sired state. Venn diagramming, ranking, scoring and key informant interviews will be used to determine stakeholder activities, categories and linkages in the system. The action research process will comprise of a series of stakeholder meetings where learn- ing and sharing of ideas will take place on how to improve the fodder situation in the study area. Gap analysis using SPSS (Sta- tistical Packages for Social Scientist) soft- ware will reinforce qualitative data gath- ered from the focus group discussions on the variation in fodder availability among the groups. Chi-square statics will be used to analyze methods of managing innova- tion, attributes of each method and differ- ences in mean. A diagrammatic represen- tation of strength of linkages between the stakeholders and effectiveness of methods of organizing innovations will be shown using the spider web tool. It is expected that institutions that enable stakeholder in- teractions, learning and joint problem solv- ing will generate knowledge useful in alle- viating fodder scarcity. Keywords: stakeholder, fodder, agriculture innovation system, innovations 28 MTT SCIENCE 26 FoodAfrica Programme Brief Title: Acronym: Improving Food Security in West and East Africa through Capacity Building in Research and Information Dissemination FoodAfrica Sector: Agriculture Focus: Food security Geographical coverage: West and East Africa (Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda) Duration: Four and a half years (including inception phase): July 2011- December 2015 Beneficiaries: The direct beneficiaries are the local research institutions and universities in the African partner countries, as well as local extension experts from Government Ministries and non-governmental organisations, NGOs like farmers organisations. Through these partners the research results are expected to be transferred to the final beneficiaries of the programme, the local small-scale farmers and food producers, many of whom are women. Overall objective: To create new knowledge and tools for the use of decision makers and local farmers for reducing absolute poverty and improving food security in Eastern and Western Sub-Saharan Africa. Purpose: Activities: Improved capacity of local research and education institutions in research, education and information dissemination for strengthening the agricultural sector, local livelihoods and food security in Western and Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa Seven work packages (WP) encompassing the following applied research topics (countries involved in brackets): 1) Micronutrients in soil fertility (about 20 African countries) 2) Genetic improvement of livestock (Senegal) 3) Economic effects of climate change in food production (Senegal) 4) Traditional foods for improved nutrition (Benin) 5) Safety of the feed-food chain (Kenya) 6) ICTs to support market access of small scale farmers (Ghana, Uganda) 7) Innovative extension approaches for African farmers (Cameroon, Kenya) MTT SCIENCE 26 29 Expected results: 1) Strengthened capacity of local research and education institutions, and local soil laboratories for diagnosis and management of soil micronutrient deficiencies 2) Strengthened capacities of local institutions to support sustainable dairy production 3) Best agricultural practices and adaptation responses produced for and disseminated to the farmers, agricultural extension officers and national policy makers 4) Strengthened information base on traditional foods for marginal and vulnerable households through nutrition-sensitive value chains 5) Improved methods for reducing risk for mycotoxin contamination in staple crops 6) Improved market access for small scale farmers through market information by modern information and communication technology (ICT) 7) Innovative extension approaches made available for local extension organizations for transfer of research results to end-users Partners: Finnish partners: MTT Agrifood Research Finland (Programme Coordinator) University of Helsinki (UH) Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) CGIAR Centres: Bioversity International World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Local partners: local universities, research institutions and NGOs in each WP country Resources: 9.5 million Euros of Finnish ODA + 2,3 million Euros from the above partners Total value about 11,8 million euros Further information: Prof. Hannu Korhonen, MTT Agrifood Research Finland Biotechnology and Food Research Programme Director e-mail: hannu.j.korhonen@mtt.fi M.Sc. Mila Sell MTT Agrifood Research Finland Biotechnology and Food Research Programme Coordinator e-mail: mila.sell@mtt.fi MTT is publishing its research findings in two series of publications: MTT Science and MTT Growth. The MTT Science series includes scientific presentations and abstracts from conferences arranged by MTT Agrifood Research Finland. Doctoral dissertations by MTT research scientists will also be published in this series. The topics range from agricultural and food research to environmental research in the field of agriculture. MTT, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland. 26 Food and Nutrition Security in Africa Book of Abstracts Susanna Rokka (ed.) MTT CREATES VITALITY THROUGH SCIENCE www.mtt.fi/julkaisut