Wheat farmers in Doyogena district in southern Ethiopia are starting to rotate their fields with legumes after years of growing wheat on the same land, through a CGIAR project that paired training with shared seed costs and links to buyers. The Private Sector Incentives and Investments (PSii) project runs under CGIAR's Agroecology-TRANSITIONS programme.
The farmers face degraded soils, expensive fertiliser and poor access to quality seed. Continuous wheat in cluster farming systems has made rotation hard to introduce, and weak market links gave smallholders little reason to change. Many were at first reluctant to plant legumes, and carrying compost to cluster plots far from home proved costly.
The project brought producer organisations, district agriculture offices, seed suppliers, processors and researchers onto shared platforms. Demonstration fields let farmers try faba bean and wheat rotations, fertiliser applied to suit each site, soil conservation and home gardens, and choose what fitted their land. Since June 2023 it has held five training and awareness sessions reaching 585 producers and local officials, and nutrition sessions in October 2024 linked legume growing to household diets.
To ease the cost of seed, a 50:50 co-financing deal between the project and farmers delivered 1,500 kg of haricot bean seed to 20 producers for 15 hectares, and vetch seed was supplied for another 10 hectares. Events in April and May 2025 brought 40 producers from the Adoye and Selam clusters together with 14 experts to discuss how legumes can improve soil, save water and widen income. Work with research institutes aims to improve access to certified faba bean seed.
Farmers taking part report better soil and steadier yields, though CGIAR notes these observations are not yet measured impacts. "From this single plot of land, I can raise three different types of crops and utilize them, and my neighbors can benefit from this valuable practice as well," said Degefe Dalelo, a producer in Doyogena.
Officials in neighbouring districts want to copy the approach, and seed suppliers, millers and fertiliser dealers have begun looking at business openings, CGIAR's Scaling for Impact programme says. Wider uptake will depend on reliable seed, market incentives that make the switch pay, and continued coordination among the partners.
Source: CGIAR
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