CGIAR, a global research partnership focused on the needs of smallholder farmers, has announced the launch of an initiative designed to support climate-smart agriculture and livelihoods in east and southern Africa (ESA).

Named Ukama Ustawi—Ukama referring to partnerships in Shona in Zimbabwe, and Ustawi meaning well-being and development in Swahili in Kenya—the initiative includes partnerships with national agricultural research extension programs, government representatives, private-sector actors, funders, and national and regional agricultural research and development organizations. The integrated initiative will help vulnerable smallholders in the ESA region intensify, diversify, and de-risk maize-mixed farming through improved extension services, institutional capacity strengthening, targeted farm management bundles, policy support, enterprise development, and private investment.

The initiative will support efforts in twelve countries. The effort will launch in Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe in Phase 1; Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda in Phase 2; and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa in Phase 3. To provide spaces for exchange and learning with partners across the region, Ukama Ustawi will use four interconnected platforms—a scaling hub, policy hub, accelerator program, and ESA learning platform—and will work with innovative multimedia platforms to share knowledge.

“It is time we move away from CGIAR-initiated to country-initiated development activities, said Jean Claude Rubyogo, who is part of the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), a key partner of Ukama Ustawi. “This is what Ukama Ustawi is all about.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Onyinye Photography)