Blogs

In 2012, Africa RISING funded an ‘early win’ project in Tanzania led by the Africa Rice Center.
The objectives of this quick-win proposal are to train local end-users, craftsmen and private service providers on the use and manufacturing of labor-saving and efficiency-enhancing weed management technologies for rice-based systems in Tanzania and to enhance local R&D capacities for assisting farmers’ decision making in weed management, by introducing an online weed science network and portal to relevant information and tools.
The outputs will be:

• Two farmer instruction videos: one on a labor-saving device for resource-poor farmers (“rotary-hoe weeding in lowland rice”) and one on reducing risks for human health and the environment (“safe and efficient use of herbicides”) in three languages (English, French, Kiswahili) produced and disseminated among end-users (10,000 copies)
• Locally adjustable rotary weeders tested with farmers and national partners and the for Tanzania most suitable weeder selected for reproduction
• Local craftsmen trained in the manufacturing and repair of locally adjustable rotary weeders
• Weed knowledge capacities enhanced among local agricultural R&D professionals and students

Download the project proposal / view all outputs of the project
More ‘early win’ projects

The Africa RISING program comprises three linked research-for-development projects, funded by the USAID Feed the Future Initiative, and aiming to sustainably intensify mixed farming systems in West Africa (Southern Mali and Northern Ghana), the Ethiopian Highlands and East and Southern Africa (Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi).
To produce some short-term outputs and to support the longer term objectives of the projects, in 2012 Africa RISING funded several small, short-term projects in each of the regions. More information.