Northern Region

1. Northern Region CunthiaKoraul, SiiseAliyu, Abdou Fall, Mary Glower-Amengor, Konlan S. Pigangsoa, Franklin Avoryo, Cosmos Nyar, Zakaria S. Iddrisu, Kazuki Saito, Kenneth Opare-Oboubi, Alexendra N. Wiredu and Fred Kizito West Africa Review & Planning workshop Towards Achieving an Integrated Systems Approach

2. What available technologies and institutional arrangements do we have that can be integrated to improve productivity and NRM? • Small scale mechanization for; • Cropping, Transport, Processing • Soil conservation techniques • Zai, Ridging, contours etc. • Integrated soil fertility mgt. • Combination of organic and inorganic • Crop rotation • Rhizobia inoculation • Nutrient manager( AfricaRice) • Understanding Intensification approach that enhances crop and livestock systems

3. - Need sensitization of farmers to eat quality products: HH nutritional sensitization • - Food preparation could reduce mineral content • - Animal source foods are an entry point for improving quality • - Training on handling and processing at the processing level is critical: adding value to soybean ; and food preservation • - Conducting baseline studies where nutritional content of food taken up is assessed thru lab analyses • Interventions: • Introduce fruit trees for each household to improve nutrition • Eating patterns, traditions socio-cultural constructs and settings • Available technologies/socio-economic tools for Integration • Improved availability of quality biomass • Irrigation • Fodder/ multi-purpose trees • Cover crops • Food-feed crops • Medicinal plants • Bio-conservation (no bush burning) • Straw management • Promotion of improved genotypes of cereals and legumes • High quality seeds • Farmer sensitization on production of quality products (Eg. Rice) • Markets • Nutrition

4. What specific activities will leverage the power of integrated research? • Crop livestock intensification • Crop-poultry • Crop-small ruminants • Cereal-legume-multipurpose trees • Develop functional MSPs for value chain promotion • Information access • E-learning (extension materials) • Water harvesting structures • On-farm for livestock and supplementary irrigation Identify specific dev. domain • - Approaches that assess systems and identify entry points leading to FtF outcomes. • - Conveyance of manure: Introduce means of transport to facilitate manure movement for crop soil livestock integration: trailer mounted on bicycle, donkey transport • - Txt msgs to inform farmers when to plough sow get inputs, market info • - Construct solar driers to dry poultry manure, pkg them to sale them • - Linkage of manure abundant areas to manure scarce areas

5. Natural Resource Base Tools/strategies Research ideals • Conceptual Integration Framework Soil/ Water • Small scale mechanization. (processing) • Soil and water conservation techniques • Water harvest • Irrigation • Red. erosion • Improved biomass • Improved access to market & inputs Int. S & W Mgt Crops CLSI Value chain development Land and water right systems Institutional arrangements Live-stock Nutrition /food security Tech-Interventions Process-oriented interventions: Cross-cutting

6. Writing team? • Specific individuals? Key project partners • Research team? • Generic functions required? Yes; outcome driven • Specific institutions and individuals? • CG Centres • National Partners • Public partners e.gMoFA • CBOs, NGOs, Private Sector • Who should be part of the research team?

7. Development partners • Other ‘knowledge’ partners • Specific institutions (and individuals)? • CSIR: ARI, WRI, SARI • KNUST • IPA • Women dev. groups • Who could we partner with?