Worldwide Projects, Africa, describes projects managed through International Programs in Agriculture.  This is not a comprehensive list of all OSU/CFAES research projects in Africa.

Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative (iAGRI)

IPM-CRSP Regional IPM Program for East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda

Collaboration with Universite Gaston Berger, Senegal

INTSORMIL-CRSP - Market Development in Support of Sorghum and Millet Farmers in Tanzania and Zambia

Trilateral Partnership for Food Security in Kenya

Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative -  iAGRI (2011-2016).   iAGRI is a 5-year project funded by  USAID to improve food security and agricultural productivity in Tanzania by providing advanced degree training in agriculture for more than 100 Tanzanian graduate students.  The project also will strengthen the teaching and research capacity of Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania.  OSU is the managing entity of the project for a consortium of five US universities including Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Tuskegee University, and Florida.   The project aims to prepare faculty, researchers, and extension practitioners in Tanzania to cooperatively and effectively address needs of smallholder farmers and the growing agribusiness sector.   Co-PIs for this project: Mark Erbaugh, International Programs in Agriculture; Dave Kraybill, Dept. of Agricultural, Environmental, and Developmental Economics.

Since the fall of 2011, the iAGRI program has placed 35 Tanzanian students in M.S. and Ph.D. graduate programs at OSU and Consortium partner universities.  Six M.S. students have already returned to Tanzania for one year of field research after completing their coursework in the US.   An additional 30 students have been placed for graduate studies at African Institutions.  The iAGRI program also has sponsored workshops at SUA, a competitive research grant program, and professional development for administrators from SUA.  

view iAGRI factsheet
view iAGRI website
view iAGRI student profiles

  IPM-CRSP Regional IPM Program for East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (2009-2014).  The overall objective of this program is to develop IPM technology and strategies to increase horticultural crop production and incomes for small-scale growers.  The consortium of U.S. and East Africa partners include Ohio State, Virginia Tech,  Makerere University (Uganda), the National Agricultural Research Organization (Uganda), the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), and Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania).  The OSU PI is Mark Erbaugh (IPA).  OSU co-PIs involved in the project include Sally Miller, Joe Kovach, Mark Bennett, Matt Kleinhenz, and Feng Qu.  Key objectives include developing critical linkages among the agricultural stakeholders, with particular attention to women; providing both specialized short-term and advanced degree training; developing and disseminating integrated pest management programs to growers for key pests of tomato, onion, coffee, passion fruit, and scotch bonnet peppers.  During the past year, six OSU faculty visited the region to assist  20 East African Scientists in developing productivity-enhancing IPM technologies and training for nearly 2799 farmers. 

 IPM-CRSP is  multi-institutional project.  OSU's research partners include scientists from Makerere University Faculty of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda; the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute's (KARI) horticultural research station at Thika; and the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania.  Regional collaboration is fostered through the Regional Technical Committee (RTC) composed of two scientists from each country, the Regional Coordinator, Samuel Kyamanywa, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Makerere University, and the Site Chairperson, Mark Erbaugh, OSU, and USA-based technical experts from OSU and Virginia Tech.  

USAID Higher Education Development Project at the University of Gaston Berger, Senegal.  This five-year project is developing academic, research, and service programs at the Université Gaston Berger, Senegal (UGB) that focus on sustainable food production in the Sahel of Africa.  The goals of the project include 1) assisting with curriculum development at UGB for associate and bachelor degree programs in agroecology; 2) building UGB faculty capacity for teaching, research and extension; 3) building a pilot program of integrated research and outreach for small farmers; and 4) facilitating faculty exchanges.  Richard Dick (SENR) co-directs the project with former OSU post-doctoral scholar, Professor Mateugue Diack of UGB.  Amanda Davey (SENR) coordinates project logistics, purchasing, reporting, and UGB faculty and PhD student training at OSU.

In July, 2012 the Rector of UGB, Dr. Mary Teuw, visited OSU with project co-director MateugueDiack, and Abdou Sene, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture. The UGB delegation met with Dean Bobby Moser and other faculty and had the opportunity to travel to OARDC in Wooster and regional OSU experiment stations. In the past year several OSU faculty in addtion to Richard Dick have traveled to Senegal on this project.  Steve Neal provided UGB faculty with an intensive overview of ATI’s two-year technical program.  UGB faculty expressed much interest in developing a similar program at UGB.  Brad Bergefurd provided extension expertise and recommendations in the area of vegetable crop production, mechanization, drip irrigation and direct marketing. OSU Weed Scientist Emily Regnier (HCS) gave two presentations at Gaston Berger University in 2012.  Teaching Weed Ecology through a Field Exercise was presented to 21 UGB faculty and staff.  She followed up with a practical weed ecology field exercise for 23 students enrolled in the Agronomy program.

     International Sorghum and Millet CRSP (INTSORMIL-CRSP)  Don Larson (AEDE) and Mark Erbaugh (IPA) have been working since 2005 with agricultural economists at the University of Zambia and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania to improve food security and farm income of sorghum and millet farmers in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.  Sorghum and millet are well-adapted to semi-arid climates in these countries, but crop productivity is low and farmer livelihoods are tenuous.   The project goal is to increase the value and predictability of small farm incomes by making sorghum and millet production more commercially viable.  To achieve this goal the project will identify new market opportunities for the crops and determine how to remove constraints to those markets

Trilateral Partnership for Food Security in Kenya.  In 2012, IPA negotiated an agreement with USDA/FAS to partner with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in a program to enhance food security in sub-Saharan Africa.  Punjab Agricultural University is a long-time OSU partner in India.  Together, OSU and PAU will provide technical assistance to Egerton University in Kenya, strengthening that institution’s capacity to increase food security in Kenya.n 2012, IPA negotiated an agreement with USDA/FAS to partner with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in a program to enhance food security in sub-Saharan Africa.  Punjab Agricultural University is a long-time OSU partner in India.  Together, OSU and PAU will provide technical assistance to Egerton University in Kenya, strengthening that institution’s capacity to increase food security in Kenya.