Developing locally-led learning and adaptation processes in coastal Bangladesh, enabling farming communities to systematically choose agricultural adaptation options and system-level implications for climate change.

Sustainably intensifying smallholder farmers' wide-row crop production to improve productivity, food, nutrition and income security, and climate change resilience.

Investments in appropriate-scale farm mechanisation in Zimbabwe around mechanised Pfumvudza, and transferring learnings to South Africa.

Characterising novel sources of wheat blast resistance, identification, and molecular mapping of resistance loci/gene(s) and their introgression into varietal development pipelines for rapid dissemination of resistant varieties in Bangladesh.

This project aimed to accelerate delivery of two-wheel tractor-based technologies to smallholder farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa, and help them adopt the technology. This improved access to mechanization, reduced labour drudgery, and minimised biomass trade-offs. Sub-Saharan Africa needs sustainable intensification of agriculture. Research for development work is increasing the efficiency with which land, water and nutrients are being used, but farm power appears to be a forgotten resource.

A project aimed at reducing poverty in the Eastern Gangetic Plains by making smallholder agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable, while safeguarding the environment, and encouraging women to participate. 

This program was part of the Australia Food Security Initiative for Africa. It built substantially on completed ACIAR projects in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It focused on maize as the main staple and legumes as an important dietary protein source for the rural poor. Combined rainfed maize-legume cropping systems show considerable promise in boosting productivity and helping reverse the decline in soil fertility that is a fundamental cause of low smallholder productivity in the region.

This project studied how socioeconomic factors (including gender), changes in farming systems, climate variability and policies influenced production risks and whether smallholder farmers in Africa adopted technology. Few studies assess how adopting technology affects livelihoods in Africa. Without understanding the economics of farming decisions under uncertainty, technology scaling out interventions and policy decisions will be made based on incomplete information.

Creating more productive, resilient, profitable and sustainable maize-legume farming systems that overcome food insecurity and help reverse soil decline.

This project aimed to address the threat to wheat production caused by wheat blast in Bangladesh and South Asia by deploying resistant wheat varieties.  With over 160 million people, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Wheat is the country’s second most important staple food after rice. 

Wheat blast is a devastating disease severely influencing wheat production in the Southern Cone region of South America and has the potential to cause yield reduction of up to 100% under conducive environments.

This project aimed to introduce new, high-yielding, drought-tolerant and disease-resistant varieties of wheat and maize to Afghanistan. Afghanistan has one of the highest per capita wheat consumptions in the world but does not produce enough to meet domestic demands. Afghan wheat research lacks a home-grown wheat breeding programme, and research in other disciplines also needs support to develop and disseminate useful implementable technologies.