The project registered remarkable progress between July 2015 and June 2016. Project implementation activities have been going on as planned in Ethiopia Rwanda and Uganda. In Burundi the political unrest in 2015 disrupted implementation of key activities especially led by ICRAF but the situation has improved in 2016 and activities led by ISABU are ongoing.
A notable event was a very successful end-of-project review which took place on 15-24 April 2016. The review was carried out in Ethiopia Uganda and Rwanda and Claudette Nkurunziza the Burundi Project Coordinator travelled to Rwanda to participate in the review. The team comprised of Dr Ian Nuberg from University of Adelaide Dr John Okorio from the MDG Centre and Prof Haile Mitiku UNESCO Deputy Representative of Ethiopia Australia. Also present were Tony Bartlett and Melissa Wood (ACIAR) and Catherine Jeremias and Fergus (ICRAF). The team was hosted by the respective ICRAF country representatives (Kiros Clement and Athanase) and country project coordinators (Abayneh Hillary and Tenge). Representatives from WV CSIRO and CIMMYT attended the review in some of the countries. Overall the review team was pleased by the high level of success the project had achieved and the positive impacts that it had on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The reviewers also provided comments on Phase 2 project proposal that the team considered in developing the proposal.
The project has also enjoyed good relations and support from the Australian High Commission offices in Kenya; H.E John Feakes visited ICRAF on 11th November 2015 to learn more about ICRAF work Australian support to ICRAF and the impact of this support.
Another remarkable achievement was the approval by ACIAR of a second phase preliminary proposal of Au$ 5M (2017-2021). The full proposal has already undergone external review and is ready for submission for in-house review on 18 July 2016.
The project has reached 23228 people by mid April 2016 through scaling up activities like participatory trials and country specific strategies Rural Resource Centres (RRCs) and trainings (Muthuri et al. 2015).
Publication year
2016
Authors
Muthuri, C.W.; Mukuralinda, A.; Derero, A.; Okia, C.A.; Hadgu, K.M.; , Buyinza.J.; Smethurst, P..; Ngoga, T.; Nkurunziza, C.; Baudron, F.; Kinuthia, R.; Masikati, P.; Iiyama, M.; Musana, B.; , Kuria.A.; Safari, D.; Tofu, A.; Asseffa, A.; Kiptot, E.; Mowo, G.J.; Sinclair, F.L.
Keywords
Livelihoods, Farming systems, Agriculture, Agroforestry
