UPSCALE

Upscaling the benefits of push-pull technology for sustainable agricultural intensification of East Africa

The UPSCALE project addresses the critical challenges of yield gaps, food insecurity, changing climate, and the unsustainability of conventional agricultural intensification methods by expanding the scope, reach and impact of Push-Pull Technology (PPT) in East African Smallholder Agriculture. PPT, an agroecological cropping strategy, uses repellent legume intercrops and trap border crops to enhance pest control, soil fertility and water retention, resulting in a remarkable cereal and fodder yield improvement. UPSCALE project advances the applicability of PPT in different integrated cropping systems with novel experimentation and action research from the field scale to the farm, landscape, and regional scales. Identifying and addressing bottlenecks to PPT success across scales, UPSCALE enables the targeted implementation and prediction of push–pull effectiveness and resilience under current and future climate conditions. By harnessing the benefits of PPT across crops and scales, UPSCALE promotes the design and widespread implementation of climate-smart and environmentally-friendly food production in East Africa and beyond.

Funding acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 861998