International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Builds Local Institutional Capacity in Legumes.

Soybean has a high growth potential in the high rainfall regions of northern Mozambique and is becoming a major cash crop for small holder farmers in these regions. Production is driven by the demand from the poultry industry for chicken feed. However, productivity is low due mainly to poor access to good quality seeds, limited information on appropriate crop management practices and little use of inputs. In the last few years, IITA and its partners have developed a number of interventions to strengthen the knowledge and skills of community based organizations, farmers’ associations, national research and extension services which are contributing to narrow the yield gap. These interventions include participatory selection of varieties by farmers, training of farmers and extension service agents, dissemination of technology packages through on-farm demonstration and distribution of limited quantities of inputs for testing by farmers and internship and degree training programs in collaboration with local and foreign Universities.