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A Madagascar, l’igname est une ressource alimentaire marginale mais néanmoins importante comme plante d’appoint pendant la période de soudure. Historiquement, les études botaniques sur les ignames se sont principalement axées sur les espèces sauvages. En revanche, peu d’informations existent sur les ignames cultivées notamment sur la richesse en variétés et sur les risques sanitaires. Le projet Corus 6020 (Université d’Antananarivo, Cirad) se propose maintenant d’étudier la diversité génétique des ignames cultivées et la présence des maladies virales susceptibles de réduire la production.

Namibia is one of the countries mostly vulnerable to the negative impacts of cli¬mate change which may affect our national development goals, particularly the agricultural sector, including food security. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and the Ministry of Agricul¬ture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) is implementing a five-year project entitled “Scaling up community resilience to climate variability and climate change in Northern Namibia, with a special focus on women and children” (SCORE Project) with funding resources from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The SCORE Project is a five-year project with an overall GEF/SCCF allocation of USD3, 050,000.00 and co-finance from UNDP USD 860,000 and GRN USD 19,157,263.00. The project is being implemented in seven northern regions of Namibia namely: Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Kunene, Kavango West and Kavango East. These regions are regularly, and increasingly threatened by extreme weather events such as floods which causes damage to infrastructure and agricultural productivity, as well as severe droughts. A combined effect of these natural disasters have detrimental effect on the livelihoods of people including their health status.

The project aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity of 4000 households to climate change and reduce their vulnerability to droughts and floods, with 80% of these households being women-led, and children from 75 schools in Northern Namibia. The project’s desired outcomes include: (1) Smallholder adaptive capacity for climate resilient agricultural practices strengthened; (2) Reduce vulnerability to droughts and floods; and (3) Mainstreaming climate change into national agricultural strategy/sectoral policy, including budgetary adjustments for replication and scaling up.

Local climate change and its variability pose greater risks for vulnerable, poor, and marginalized communities due to the physical impact it makes there. Since 2009, the UNDP-GEF CBA project in Namibia has been working with 12 villages that are facing a number of key problems that stemfrom extreme local climate events (e.g. pronounced droughts and floods, rising and variable temperatures, increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns and amounts, severe land degradation leading to loss of productive arable land and range, loss of livestock, as well as high levels ofdeforestation and over utilization of natural resources).

The agricultural sector in Namibia is particularly affected by climate change. Droughts and erratic rains, interspersed with floods that originate in Angola, plague the northern side of the country and leave brittle, nutrient-poor soil, which renders farm lands unproductive. This negatively affects food, water security and general livelihoods due to failed harvests, and decreases livestock numbers and products. The UNDP-GEF CBA project is working to safeguard livelihoods by encouraging target communities to improve farm gate incomes, diversify the sources of other farm-based incomes, and properly utilize farmlands. The CBA project is also working with communities to build resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change in agro-pastoral communities and to foster community participation in the identification of climate drivers, risks and adaptive solutions. The target group is comprised of the most vulnerable community members, including women and children, that depend on rain-fed agriculture (e.g. planting pearl millet, maize, sorghum, ground nuts and cowpeas), natural resources (e.g. collecting fruit and oil from the wild), and livestock rearing for both subsistence and cash incomes in the semi-arid areas of northern Namibia. The first step, and short-term objective of the project, is to enlist community participation in the vulnerability assessment and solutions-generation stage by bringing members together to identify the climate change drivers, risks and adaptive solutions. The project uses a vulnerability reduction assessment method to assist communities, through a participatory process, in determining an appropriate plan of action. This is done through cohesive social groups and trainings before piloting projects.

Zambians should take pride and start consuming more indigenous vegetables and fruits to improve their nutrition status, a nutritionist has advised.

Nelly Phiri, the Nutrition Program Officer at the Zambia Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition Alliance said local vegetables such as Chibwabwa, Impwa and Kalembula have more nutrition value than most western foods.

Zambia is one of the most malnourished countries in the world with close to 40 percent of children under five years stunted while a growing adult population is obese.

Years ago, we never used to hear of malnutrition because we used to grow our own vegetables in the backyard.

Ms. Phiri said consuming local vegetables and fruits is cheaper and beneficial for households with low incomes.

‘Most of these vegetables and fruits contain vitamins like A,D, A, K which are fat soluble vitamins and B Complex which are water soluble vitamins and these can be gotten from our local fruits such as Baobab fruit which is locally known as Masau including the Masau which also have other mineral elements which people can benefit from,’ Ms Phiri said.

Traditional or local vegetables include many species which are wild, semi-cultivated or are protected in some way. They may also include species mainly cultivated for their pods, fruits, roots or tubers, but whose leaves are sometimes consumed as a vegetable. The majority of rural people in Zambia rely on traditional vegetables for their relish. In a rural survey, it was found that traditional vegetables were used by 52-95% of the respondents (Ogle et al. 1990). The diversity in traditional vegetables offers variety in family diet and helps ensure household food security. More than 175 different species have been documented as local vegetables in Zambia (Johansson 1989; Ogle et al. 1990). Among the more prominent species are Amaranthus spp., Cleome spp., Corchorus spp.,Disa satiria, Solanum aethiopicum/macrocarpon, Ipomoea spp., cassava, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, various cucurbits and Ceratotheca sesamoides. Apart from the major species, there are a large number of ‘minor’ vegetables known by fewer households and used less frequently. Many traditional vegetables are specific to particular areas and ethnic groups. Notes on the genetic resources, cultivation and use of some local vegetables are given below.

Pour accompagner le développement actuel de la culture des ignames à Madagascar, l’estimation de la prévalence et la caractérisation partielle des viroses présentes sur les ignames cultivées de parcelles paysannes de certaines régions productrices du pays ont été réalisées. Des tests PCR ont permis de détecter le Dioscorea bacilliform virus (badnavirus) sur les trois espèces d’ignames les plus fréquemment rencontrées, Dioscorea alata, D. bulbifera et D. esculenta. Le séquençage partiel de ces virus a permis de révéler la présence d’au moins dix souches distinctes réparties dans six des treize groupes génétiques de DBV. Plus problématique pour ses effets sur le rendement, une souche originale de Yam mild mosaic virus (potyvirus) a également été mise en évidence par RT-PCR sur une plante D. alata. Compte tenu de la présence constatée de virus, des mesures de sélection sanitaire, incluant destruction des plants infectés, sélection et indexation des plants-mères, mise en place de pépinières de multiplication sécurisées et schéma de quarantaine, sont proposées avant toute diffusion de maté

Bambara nut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) is a nutritious legume, however, its production is characterised by use of landraces, which have been maintained by farmers. Lack of improved varieties has contributed to low yields. This re– search was done to identify potentially high yielding and farmers’ preferred genotypes for improved production of Bambara in Malawi. A completely Randomised Block Design experiment with eight genotypes (181CR, 181RD, 194, 137CR, 137RD, 317, 2762 and 2768) and four replicates was implemented at Chitedze, Chitala and Mbawa Research Sta– tions to identify high yielding genotypes. In addition to the yield, farmers’ criteria based on plant vigour, ability to fully bury its pods in the ground (mounding), yield at harvest, maturity period, seed colour, grain size, taste of boiled dry grain and taste of fresh pods were used to identify farmers’ preferred genotypes. Significant yield differences were identified between genotypes (P < 0.0001), sites (P < 0.001) and interaction between genotypes and sites (environment) (P < 0.001). Yield means across sites show that genotype 181CR yielded highly (1322 kg/ha) followed by 2768 (1066 kg/ha), 181RD (1064 kg/ha) and 2762 (841 kg/ha). In contrast to the high yielding genotypes, genotype 137RD gave the lowest yield (485 kg/ha) followed by 194 (573 kg/ha), 317 (617 kg/ha) and 137CR (620 kg/ha). Mbawa Research Sta– tion showed significantly high yields with site mean of 1177 kg/ha compared with Chitedze and Chitala with site means of 703kg/ha and 530 kg/ha respectively. Farmers ranked the eight accessions in order of importance as follows: 181RD, 181CR, 2768, 137CR, 194, 137RD, 2762 and 317. Combination of yield and farmers’ preference identified three geno– types (181RD, 181CR and 2768) as potential varieties for production in Malawi. Accessions 181RD and 2768 were specifically selected for relish unlike 181CR, which has been selected for use as snack. However, further research on nutrition, value addition and marketing needs to be conducted on the identified genotypes.

The eggs are elliptical, and their colour varies from oyster-white to bright yellow, darkening in the embryonic phase and becoming almost black near eclosion.

The first-instar larvae are whitish soon after eclosion, becoming greenish or light pink in the second to fourth instars according to food (leaflet or ripe fruit, respectively). There are usually four instars.

The Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Service (PQPS) is the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of Zambia mandated to provide services that prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests into the country and facilitate local and international trade through Cap 231 and 233 of the Laws of Zambia. The Plant Pests and Diseases Act Cap 233 of the Laws of Zambia was established to provide for the eradication and prevention of the spread of plant pests in Zambia and for the prevention of the introduction into Zambia of exotic plant pests and diseases as such PQPS had a privilege to conduct a surveillance on tuta absoluta.

Tuta absoluta or tomato leaf miner is a major pest of processed and fresh tomatoes, both in greenhouse and open field crops. It also occurs on eggplants, sweet peppers as well as potatoes and various other cultivated plants and weeds of solanaceae family.

The pest has spread rapidly since its introduction to Europe in 2006 and within just a few years its global status has changed completely, from a South American tomato pest into a major threat to world tomato production. In tomatoes it can attack any plant crop stage and if it’s not managed at all, it can cause up to 100% crop destruction.

Smallholder farming in much of Sub-Saharan Africa is rain-fed and thus exposed to rainfall variability. Among the climate variables, rainfall is projected to decline and have an overriding effect on crop productivity. With little opportunity for supplementary irrigation for the majority of farmers, a plausible strategy to maintain crop production under water-limited conditions includes balanced nutrient management for enhancing efficiency of use of limited soil water. Co-application of judicious rates of organic and mineral nutrient resources, particularly including the use of phosphorus (P) on P-limited soils, will facilitate development of an extensive crop rooting system for efficient exploration and capture of soil water, especially at a depth &gt; 0.8 m. This chapter explores case studies across Eastern and Southern Africa where various soil water conservation and nutrient management approaches have been used to gain ‘extra miles’ with limited available soil water. Firstly, an approach is described that varies nitrogen (N) fertilizer application across growing seasons, by adjusting N application rates to match current season rainfall trends. The approach offers opportunities for farmers to increase crop productivity to &gt; 6 t ha-1 in high agro-potential areas, compared to a ceiling of 4.5 t ha-1 for the fixed fertilization model, while minimizing economic losses due to investments in N fertilizer during drought years. Secondly, we deal with the subject of fertilization across nutrient gradients, where a poor agronomic N use efficiency of &lt; 18 kg grain kg-1 of applied N is demonstrated for soils with &lt; 0.4% organic carbon, compared with &gt; 35 kg grain kg-1 of N applied when soil organic carbon &gt; 0.5%. Thirdly, the conservation agriculture (CA)-nutrient management nexus is examined, where maize yields in farmers’ fields with CA alone were barely 0.5 t ha-1 compared to an average of 2.5 t ha-1 for CA combined with fertilizers. Fourthly, a novel system that involves intercropping two legumes with contrasting phenology for enhanced cropping system functioning is described. Finally, an approach that can be used for co-learning with farmers on soil fertility management principles for risk management is presented. The data lead to the conclusion that the ‘doubled-up’ legumes system results in reduced fertilizer requirements for cereal crops grown in sequence, which benefits yield stability over time. Variable use of N fertilizer according to season quality and more tailored targeting of nutrients are vital for profitable investments in fertilizers in Africa. The Africa RISING project in Eastern and Southern Africa is currently harnessing some of these principles as vehicles for intensification of smallholder farming systems.