Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

20DiscussionResults of the analyses carried out in this study clearly demonstratethat the network approach was effective in tackling the formidableconstraints of maize production in the subregion of WCA. WECAMANhas three key partners: the donor agencies, the NARS collaborators,and the IARCs which served as the facilitators. One of the objectives ofthe present study was to evaluate the performance of each partner overthe 20-year period of existence of the Network. Although the fundsmade available for network activities fl uctuated over the years, theywere released faithfully and promptly by the donors and distributedappropriately by the Steering Committee through the NetworkCoordinator. It is often said, “Who pays the piper dictates the tune.”This does not seem applicable in the case of WECAMAN activities.The donors gave the Network a free hand to conduct research onthe identifi ed constraints of maize production in the subregion. This ishighly commendable, and is perhaps one of the factors that contributedto the success of the Network.The analyses presented herein also showed clearly that the NARScollaborators worked hard to make WECAMAN achieve much of thepurpose for which it was put in place. Although initially, USAID wasthe only donor agency, UNDP and IFAD provided additional fundingthrough the Africa Maize Stress (AMS) Project to combat some specifi cconstraints to maize production in the subregion. Specifi cally, theproject’s goal was to develop resistance or tolerance to Striga, low soilN, drought, and stem borers. In addition, Nippon Foundation has beenfunding the Quality Protein Maize (QPM) Project in the subregion. Withthe addition of the AMS and QPM projects, WECAMAN expandedthe coverage of its activities from 8 to 11 countries and from theGuinea savanna to all agroecologies in the countries.As noted in earlier reports, the Network developed and transferredto farmers many technologies that have contributed greatly to themaize revolution in the subregion. Among these are early and extraearlymaturing varieties that have made the cultivation of maize possiblein ecologies traditionally thought to be unsuitable. Availability of thesevarieties has greatly facilitated the production of green maize throughoutthe year in most ecological zones of WCA countries. Earliness and extraearlinessare a drought-escaping mechanism that is effective only ifterminal drought occurs towards the end of the season. Unfortunately,the recurrent droughts of WCA are unpredictable and are, therefore, besttackled with drought tolerant varieties. Striga is a major constraint in muchof the savannas while low soil-N and stem borers are major constraints inmost ecologies. The AMS project provided funds to develop screeningsites for resistance or tolerance to all of these constraints, thus facilitatingthe creation of working groups to better solve breeding problems and