Coordinate and create synergies with recent and ongoing projects and local and international platforms on sustainable intensification in Africa
Form multi-actor communities (MACs) of practice for effective transdisciplinary collaboration and participatory research among UPSCALE partners and stakeholders in planning, programming and implementation of activities at national and regional levels
Strengthen the functional linkage between UPSCALE research and innovation activities and farmers, policy and value chain-oriented extension stakeholders
Build networks supporting advocacy for an enabling policy environment for institutional dissemination and adoption of the push-pull technology, both at regional and national levels
Identify ‘best practices’ for transformative transdisciplinary research in service of sustainable intensification
D1.1 Report on identity and structure of Multi-actor Communities of practice formed in each study country and their links to existing projects, platforms and networks (M9)
D1.2 Final proceedings on all regional and national multi-actor workshops held in the study countries (M60)
D1.3 Strategic plan for multi-actor knowledge sharing and capacity-building within MACs (M15)
D1.5 Report on guidelines and advice on best (transdisciplinary) multi-actor practices for future transformative research and innovation efforts (M58)
WP2 – Farm, landscape and regional-scale determinants of push-pull success [Months: 1-48]
Establish the socioeconomic baseline of the target communities in the study regions and indicators for monitoring project effectiveness and impact
Develop maps and select field sites for experimental tasks in WP2-4
Empirically assess how soil fertility, landscape context and climatic region determine the level of pest control and other ecosystem functions in push pull and monocrop cereal
Map food webs of push pull and monocrop cereal crops to identify key predators to native and invasive pests and to assess indicators of resilience against environmental change
D2.2 Report on how soil fertility, landscape structure and climatic region determines the efficacy of current push pull (M36)
D2.3 Report on key natural enemies for stemborer and fall army worm control (M36)
D2.4 Report on redundancy and climate resilience in food webs (M48)
WP3 – Functional mapping for mechanistic prediction [Months: 3-60]
Describe the distribution of known and candidate push and pull factors (properties of repellent vs. attractive plants) in and surrounding push-pull fields, versus conventional fields
Distinguish which candidate factors have a push or pull effect on pests and their natural enemies
Determine the relationship between the presence and distribution of push and pull factors and distribution of pests (prey) and beneficial insects (predators)
Determine whether the distribution of push and pull factors within and surrounding push-pull fields is connected to the distribution of plant damage or yield
Derive “activity maps” depicting these relationships
D3.2 Catalogue of associations between push-pull factors and arthropods, outcomes (yield) (M60)
D3.3 Final functional field maps (M60)
WP4 – Social-ecological impacts of enhancing push-pull intensification across scales [Months: 3-54]
Anticipate short and long-term, small and large-scale social-ecological impacts of upscaling push-pull intensification
Identify feedback loops, trade-offs, synergies and thresholds associated with enhancing push-pull at field to regional scales
Gain predictive knowledge on the long term safest approaches to reap the benefits of push-pull technology across scales
D4.1 Report on impacts of upscaling push-pull on agricultural effectiveness in push-pull and monocrop cereal (M36)
D4.2 Report on the impacts of push-pull on ecological spill-over outside crops (M36)
D4.5 Report on anticipated social-ecological feedback loops and their impacts when upscaling push-pull (M54)
D4.4 Report on socio-economic, value chain and governance impacts of upscaling push-pull (M42)
WP5 – Push-pull across space and time: knowledge synthesis for targeting upscaling under a changing climate [Months: 1-60]
Geovisualise empirical and modelling results together with biophysical and climatic conditions, social and farming systems as an online information resource for upscaling
Identify target regions for upscaling in which the focal crops and smallholder systems are likely to be viable and the push-pull system is effective in increasing yields well into the future, considering different climate projections
Anticipate the joint effects and interactions of climate change and sustainable intensification strategies on the wider socio-ecological systems, including climate resilience at multiple scales
D5.2 Interactive online map for geovisualisation of the effectiveness of push-pull in different biophysical, climatic, land use, farming system and socioeconomic conditions (M45)
D5.4 Scientific assessment of the resilience of push-pull vs. non push-pull systems across East Africa under different future climate conditions (M50)
D5.5 Participatory assessment of sustainable intensification strategies under climate change using socio-ecological models for contrasting regions of East Africa (M58)
WP6 – Co-constructing transdisciplinary push-pull expansion pathways and assessing their socioeconomic impacts [Months: 1-60]
Provide a state-of-the-art synthesis of push-pull performance and potential for integration with other crops and systems
Map the relevant actors and provide a needs assessment for push-pull expansion and improvement
Establish push-pull in a new crop system outside cereal
Intensify the cereal push-pull system through inclusion of high value crops as intercrops
Determine the effectiveness of push-pull under different sustainable intensification pathways including integrated water and soil fertility management, integrated pest management, and organic farming
Merge the benefits of push-pull technology with those of other sustainable intensification practices and with other farming systems
Enable push-pull technology transfer to systems at scales and in market niches other than smallholder agriculture
Evaluate the socioeconomic impact of push-pull innovation on livelihoods of men, women and youth farmers
D6.1 Synthetic review of the options for expansion of push-pull and integration with other crops and practices (M18)
D6.2 Meta-analysis of push-pull performance across East African regions and its measured benefits (M51)
D6.4 Proof of principle (results of factorial experiments) for new push-pull crop systems including socioeconomic and market impact assessment (M51)
D6.5 Report on multi-actor integration of cereal push-pull with high-value crops including socioeconomic and market impact assessment (M51)
D6.6 Report on the effectiveness of push-pull under different sustainable intensification practices including socioeconomic and market impact assessment (M60)
WP7 – Barriers to push-pull adoption and opportunities for improvement [Months: 6-57]
Identify socioeconomic and policy barriers to push-pull adoption and mitigation strategies among men, women and youth farmers
Enhance value chain integration through transdisciplinary multi-actor involvement in knowledge exchange, infrastructure, and policy.
Develop policy guidelines for enhanced push-pull innovation adoption and value chain integration
D7.1 Gender-based report on socioeconomic and policy barriers to push-pull adoption and possible strategies of addressing them (M36)
D7.2 Report on push-pull integration in the value chain through transdisciplinary multi-actor involvement (M48)
D7.3 Policy guidelines on strategies to enhance adoption of push-pull technologies across the value chain (M57)
WP8 – Exploit, disseminate and communicate push-pull innovation in East Africa and beyond [Months: 6-57]
To develop and implement a communication and dissemination plan, including specific goals for target groups and the plan’s implementation timeline
Produce documentation and communication material oriented directly to the targeted stakeholders, especially to farmers, as future clients/users of UPSCALE
Establish a multi-actor Knowledge Exchange Hub for effective stakeholder dissemination, feedback and transfer of sustainable intensification practices to farming, research and policy communities, and society
Adapt the e-Granary platform to support farmers in accessing both push-pull input and output markets and forming economic groups that fit modern markets
Develop and implement a set of dissemination and promotion activities and events to pave the way for the exploitation of the project’s results
Establish an Exploitation and IPR strategy that will ensure post-project sustainability
D8.4 First batch of practice abstracts (INOSENS, M35)
D8.5 Second batch of practice abstracts (INOSENS, M60)
D8.6 The UPSCALE website (M3) transferred into Knowledge Exchange Hub – architecture and services (INOSENS, M18)
D8.7 Updated Knowledge Exchange Hub – architecture and services (INOSENS, M48)
D8.9 The UPSCALE promotion Events and Stakeholder Engagement (icipe, M30)
D8.10 Updated report on UPSCALE promotion Events and Stakeholder Engagement (icipe, M60)
WP9 – Project management and coordination [Months: 6-57]
Ensure correct implementation of the proposed activities and proper day-to-day management
Day-to-day coordination: foster communication within the project, schedule and organize the project’s internal communication and consortia meetings, ensure the implementation of the proposed organisational structure and decision-making processes
Provide scientific and administrative coordination (i.e., grant issues, financial issues, legal issues, reporting)
Support all project partners in managing potential cultural and scientific hurdles (conflict management)
Lead the Steering Committee
Ensure efficient data management to guarantee that research data will be easily discoverable, accessible, assessable and intelligible
Handle risk assessment and management
D9.3 Data Management Plan (M6, report, public)
D9.4 Updated Data Management Plan (M55, report, public)
WP10 – Ethics requirements [Months: 1-60]
The objective is to ensure compliance with the ‘ethics requirements’ set out in this work package.