CIIFAD has received funding from Michigan State University/USAID's Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Program (Pulse CRSP) to support its project entitled Using Improved Pulse Productivity to Reinvigorate Smallholder Mixed Farming Systems in Western Kenya. The project is being conducted in collaboration with scientists from Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Kakamega (Dr. John Ojiem and Martins Odendo), CIAT (Dr. Robin Buruchara) and three Kenyan Universities (Egerton [Dr. Samuel Mwonga], Moi [Dr. Robert Okalebo], and Nairobi [Drs. James Muthomi and John Nderitu]). Dr. Julie Lauren (Crop and Soil Sciences) is the lead Principal Investigator (PI) from Cornell on the project, assisted by co-PI's Drs. Christopher Barrett (Applied Economics and Management), John Duxbury (CSS), Peter Hobbs (CSS), Beth Medvecky (CIIFAD), Alice Pell (CIIFAD) and Rebecca Stoltzfus (Program in International Nutrition). The goal of the project is to use improved pulse productivity to enhance household food and nutritional security and incomes in Western Kenya.

For more information on the Pulse CRSP, see the project website at http://pulsecrsp.msu.edu/ or contact Beth Medvecky or Julie Lauren.