The Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Program (AMSAP), a public-private partnership (PPP) between the US Agency for International Development (USAID), DuPont, and the Government of Ethiopia, surpassed its goal by 150pc to boost the production of maize among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.
The program aimed to help 100,000 smallholder farmers in 16 Woredas and has already helped 250,000 in 53 Woredas from Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations,Nationalities & People ‘s regional states of the country to adopt new technology and implement smarter agricultural practices.
Prior to the program, these farmers were harvesting 2.2tn per hectare; they now harvest 7.5tn per hectare. Since its launch four years ago, participating farmers have achieved an almost 300pc increase, on average, in their maize yield productivity.
They are also more efficiently connected to markets, which has helped boost incomes to as much as 1,500 dollars per farmer, every year.
The program, as part of America’s Feed the Future initiative, mobilized its funding from dollar for dollar matching programs between 2015-2018 and leveraged a two million dollar contribution from DuPont.
credit: allafrica.com
