Wheat for Africa

CCARDESA is coordinating the implementation of the CIMMYT-led IFAD funded Enhancing Smallholder Wheat Productivity through Sustainable Intensification in Wheat-based Farming System of Rwanda and Zambia (SWPSI) project. The project intends to establish the potential of smallholder wheat production towards increasing food security and reducing wheat import bills in Zambia and Rwanda. This is based on the observation that most countries in Sub Saharan Africa have high wheat import bills despite the high potential for wheat self-sufficiency in some southern African countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. 

The majority of the farmers in the SADC region are smallholders. Therefore, there is need to establish how feasible it is to harness the existing potential for wheat expansion through rain-fed and irrigation under the smallholder production systems. Lessons drawn from two pilot countries (Zambia and Rwanda) will be used for informing the scaling-up initiatives to increase wheat production in the spill-over countries (i.e. Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania).

Project Goal and Expected Results

The goal of the project is to contribute to food security and nutrition and rural incomes and the expected outcomes of the project are:

• Increased effectiveness and returns to investments in smallholder wheat production and value chains
• Increased uptake of appropriate wheat technologies and management practices by smallholder wheat producers
• Enhanced evidence based created stimulates further investment in inclusive wheat security through national and regional production and processing in a competitive environment.