Project overview
LegumeCHOICE ''': 'Realizing the underexploited potential of multi-purpose legumes towards improved livelihoods and a better environment in crop-livestock systems in East & Central Africa
The Goal of the project is to improve food and nutrition security, reduce poverty, and enhance the production environment of smallholder farmers and rural populations, in particular women, through facilitation of the smart integration and use of multi-purpose legumes, providing food, protein, feed, fuel, and/or organic matter in crop-livestock systems.
The Purpose of the project is to provide knowledge and tools to farmers and development partners facilitating farmers to make rational decisions for enhancing short and long-term contributions of multi-purpose legumes to farmer livelihoods including aspects of legume production, input supply systems, and markets.
The project will deliver 4 Outputs: (i) Farming system diagnosis and related entry points for multi-purpose legumes in farming systems and synthesis of lessons learnt across all Action Sites, (ii) A suite of proven, farmer- and system-specific legume-based options for system intensification, (iii) LegumeCHOICE – a decision support framework for enhancing the contributions of legumes to farmer livelihoods, and (iv) Effective partnerships within Humidtropics R4D platforms facilitate and enabling environment for the dissemination of multi-purpose legumes.
Well-defined impact pathways will link outputs to users and immediate and longer term outcomes.
The target countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Kenya, and Ethiopia, all located within the East and Central African Highlands Action Area [1] of the Humidtropics. Within these countries, the project will operate within Action Sites [2]and Field Sites [3].
[1] Action Areas are geographically defined areas within the Humidtropics where impact will be delivered. [2] Action Sites are areas within the Humidtropics Action Areas that are homogeneous in overall agro-ecological and institutional conditions. R4D platforms will be operationalized at the Action Site level (see also Appendix A). [3] Field Sites are sites within Action Sites where activities will be implemented with farmers and stakeholders
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