Instant Insights: Supporting Cereal Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

This specially curated collection features four reviews of current and key research on supporting cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa. The first chapter reviews how research and development can support smallholder wheat farmers through improving access to resources and services. The chapter considers current obstacles faced by smallholder farmers, including biophysical limitations such as climatic issues, as well as socio-economic limitations such as land availability. The second chapter assesses the importance of increasing the adoption rate of improved maize technologies within smallholder farming households across Africa. The chapter discusses the economic and institutional barriers inhibiting adoption, as well as farmer attitudes to innovation. The third chapter describes the effect of poor soil fertility, drought and weeds on maize yields in West Africa. The chapter considers strategies for mitigating these constraints, including nutrient management using fertilizers, weed management and resistant varieties of maize. The final chapter discusses phosphorus scarcity in areas of West Africa and details the need to improve sorghum breeding to enhance the crop’s tolerance to low-phosphorus soil conditions.