{"id":12709,"date":"2026-06-20T12:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/cialca-marks-10-years-of-transforming-livelihoods-in-rwanda-burundi-and-dr-congo\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:47:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:47:36","slug":"cialca-marks-10-years-of-transforming-livelihoods-in-rwanda-burundi-and-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/cialca-marks-10-years-of-transforming-livelihoods-in-rwanda-burundi-and-dr-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"CIALCA marks 10 years of transforming livelihoods in Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A field visit to CIALCA site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nKigali, Rw anda \u2013 12 June 2016 \u2013 The Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA), a multi-partner platform, marks its 10th anniversary this year with over half a million people lifted out of poverty in Rw anda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.\n\nThe initiative has widely tested and disseminated a range of innovative technologies to increase the productivity \u2015 and resilience to climate change \u2015 of legume-based farming systems in the three countries to improve the food security, nutrition, and livelihoods of the farming communities. These interventions include improved, high-yielding and disease resistant varieties, pest control, and integrated soil fertility technologies.\n\nAn impact assessment conducted in 2014 by one of the founding partners, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) concluded that in South Kivu, DR Congo, and in Rw anda, CIALCA had contributed to lifting an estimated 560,000 people out of poverty.\n\nIn its first phase, the initiative\u2019s research-for-development agenda focused on on-farm testing and validation of technologies to enhance crop production and scaling out of these proven technologies in the second phase (2009-2011).\n\nFrom 2011, CIALCA became a key operating platform for the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics. It builds on its many years of investment in innovation and partnerships to mobilize multi-stakeholder networks in Burundi, Rw anda, and eastern DR Congo for technology dissemination and adoption.\n\nCIALCA was created in 2006 by three international research organizations\u2015Bioversity International, the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and IITA. It is funded by Belgian Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGD). The initiative has also worked with a range of partners at both national and international levels including national agricultural research systems (NARS) and training institutes.\n\nA forum to celebrate a decade of achievements will take place during the 7th African Agricultural Science Week organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) taking place in Kigali, Rw anda on 12 \u2013 16 June.\n\nSome of CIALCA\u2019s major impacts include:\n