Protecting Cropland in Malawi

By Chengxiu Li  Cropland expansion has become a common strategy for boosting agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, cropland expansion is not a sustainable form of agricultural development due to the environmental concerns it raises and the limited arable land available. We do not have a comprehensive understanding of …

Analysis of gaps between policy-makers and community stakeholders…

Analysis of gaps between policy-makers and community stakeholders in building climate change resilience in dry lands of Malawi: why do interventions fail? Considering the demand for research information to guide climate change resilience policies, BRECCIA researchers are investigating gaps that exist between policy-makers and community stakeholders on building climate change …

Understanding magnitude and variability of yield gaps in smallholder farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa

Driven by the need to improve food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), BRECcIA researchers are undertaking research to model crop yield and yield gap of maize in SSA and to further understand drivers of productivity gap under different socio-economic and biophysical environment contexts. Understanding the drivers of poor productivity will …

First BRECcIA Summer School

BRECcIA held its first Summer School in July in two villages in Malawi – Chinsamba and Chankhuntha – both close to Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. It brought together early career researchers (mainly PhD students and post-docs) from the wide range of disciplines and institutions within BRECcIA to provide experiential interdisciplinary training on …

Summer School

Henry Hunga The preparations towards the first Summer School started way back in January 2019. I had just joined the BRECcIA project team in Malawi and was still grasping the detail. This was like getting back into research after a considerable time in extension and outreach. Ideas kept floating on …

Working together is a way to enhance community resilience

– Lessons learned from BRECcIA Summer School in Malawi Chengxiu Li, University of Southampton When the plane landed in Lilongwe airport at 12:20 on 7th July 2019, I was very excited but also nervous on my summer school journey organised by project BRECcIA from the University of Southampton and the …