2018 Technical Report - CIALCA

Abstract

In 2018 marks 1 and half years into the current CIALCA phase, we can already report good progress. We entered into several co-investment agreements with scaling partners such as One Acre Fund in Rwanda (serving approx. 265,000 farmers) and the International Fertilizer Development Center in Burundi. Also, we identified 4 new PhD students from Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo that are starting their doctoral studies with Belgian Universities and have 5 additional students that conduct their PhD under the CIALCA umbrella. CIALCA also attracted considerable additional investment of USD 7.25 Million that complement or build upon previous and ongoing CIALCA work. Last but not least innovative research for development work with the Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Laboratory (SWMCNL) of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division is providing insights in increase water use efficiency (WUE) to counteract drought effects on cassava production in Central Africa. We build on big data platforms such as RHoMIS and SANDMAN to better understand household heterogeneity and cassava agronomy at scale.