Partnerships for Learning (Issue 60)

A magazine on drylands development and sustainable agriculture / Issue 60, December 2010

Partnerships for Learning

BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 1

Editorial Dear Reader, It is amazing that time has passed so fast that Christmas bells are starting to ring again! This has been a significant year for the Network as we embarked on a number of initiatives meant to serve you better. The team at the headquarters and the field has been working hard to put a solid foundation in the establishment of the Maarifa (Knowledge) centres and at the same time coming up with a new Strategic Plan (2010-2015). In line with this strategy, ALIN has opened a country office in Gulu, Uganda in collaboration with Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD). This office is expected to roll out more Maarifa centres in northern Uganda. Containerized model of Maarifas centres have been fabricated and delivered to three sites in Gulu and Moyo regions. The new country Manager Ms. Jackline Atingo was excited as she received the containers in November.

During the year, we repackaged ourselves to serve you better with new information products such as this Baobab magazine, which is part of the AgriCultures, a global network with similar regional publications in The Netherlands, Latin America, Peru, Brazil, West Africa, India, China and Indonesia. We remain committed to producing information and knowledge that will promote sustainable family farming. We also hope that most of you receive our other publication on climate change adaptation practices, Joto Afrika.

This issue of the Baobab focuses on partnerships for learning. We look at the need for forging partnerships networks between different stakeholders in promoting sustainable agriculture. Partnerships enable information and ideas exchange that bridge information gaps. The Theme Overview takes a historical review of agricultural partnerships in East Africa and briefly examines recent developments in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. We also look at the existing partnerships between institutions and schools that promote agriculture such as Junior Farmers Field Schools and the role technology plays in disseminating research work to farmers. Next year we shall have interesting themes starting with the March 2011 issue on Youth and Agriculture followed by Forest and Agroforestry (June), Regional Food Systems (September), and Land Issues (December). As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

From the Headquarters, we wish you a very

Merry Christmas

James Nguo Regional Director

ALIN 2010 Team: HQ staff, Field Officers and some Community Knowledge Facilitators

and a great holiday.

Contents

4 8 15 20

THEME OVERVIEW: Partnerships for Learning

PROJECT FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY Using social media to disseminate research

OPEN COLUMN:

ShareFair Broke Barriers, Services

GOAT REARING:

Joint initiatives improve livelihoods for farmers

Other Pages...

Partnerships for better food ................................................................................Pg 12

Stork Story ...........................................................................................................................Pg 18 TECHNICAL NOTE: Agrobiodiversity Conservation ......... Pg 26 GUEST COLUMN: Marketing Networks .......................................... Pg 28 OPEN COLUMN: Bridging food security gaps ............................ Pg 30

ISSN: 0966-9035 Baobab is published four times a year to create a forum for ALIN members to network, share their experiences and learn from experiences of other people working in similar areas.

Editorial board James Nguo Anthony Mugo Noah Lusaka Esther Lung’ahi Kendi Kiruki - Intern Susan Mwangi – Chief Editor Illustrations Shadrack Melly Layout and Design Lisa Waweru (Noel Creative Media Ltd.) Important notices Copyright Articles, photos and illustrations from Baobab may be adapted for use in materials that are development oriented, provided the materials are distributed free of charge and ALIN and the author(s) are credited.

Copies of the samples should be sent to ALIN. Disclaimer Opinions and views expressed in the letters and articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or ALIN. Technical information supplied should be cross-checked as thoroughly as possible as ALIN cannot accept responsibility should any problems occur.

Regional editions 1. Farming Matters global edition by Ileia 2. LEISA REVISTA de Agroecologia, Latin America edition by Asociacion ETC Andes.

3. LEISA India, by AME Foundation 4. SALAM Majalah Pertanian Berkelanjutan by VECO Indonesia 5. AGRIDAPE, French West African edition by IED Afrique 6. Agriculture, experiences em Agroecologia, the Brazilian edition

by AS-PTA 7. Chinese edition by CBIK Talk to us

The Baobab magazine Arid Lands Information Network, ALIN P.O. Box 10098, 00100 GPO, NAIROBI, Kenya AAYMCA Building, Ground floor Along State House Crescent, Off State House Avenue, Nairobi Tel. +254 20 2731557 Telefax. +254 20 2737813 Cell. +254 722 561006 E-mail: baobab@alin.net Or visit us at www.alin.net

About ALIN Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) is an NGO that facilitates information and knowledge exchange to and between extension workers or infomediaries and arid lands communities in the East Africa region. The information exchange activities focus on smallscale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resources management, gender and other livelihood issues.

THEMEOVERVIEW

THEME OVERVIEW

Partnerships for

LEARNIN In East Africa, partnerships aimed at promoting agricultural production have a long history but mixed success in their effectiveness. In this article, a broad review of that history and more contemporary initiatives aimed at joint action by various actors in agriculture is made in line with the theme of this issue of Baobab.

-By Baobab Team

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he

importance of partnerships their inherent benefits including cross-learning and mutual support is now well acknowledged in the global, regional and national development spheres. The formation of global partnerships for development as encapsulated in the eighth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 8) is especially relevant to the achievement of the first, MDG No. 1: reduction of extreme poverty and hunger on which the work of the AgriCultures Network is anchored.

As a network promoting small-scale sustainable agriculture, there is need to support the growth of partnerships within and across borders since they are critical in facilitating the achievement of the Network’s aspirations. After all, the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of achieving these outcomes are many and complex: pressure to increase agricultural production based on high external input systems; accelerating climate change; stubbornly high levels of poverty in developing countries and; tariff and non-tariff barriers to developed countries’ markets among many others. These cannot and will not be overcome through isolated efforts, hence the choice by the Network of theme: Partnerships for Learning for Farming Matters and the regional editions which include Baobab.

Left: A farming demonstration at an Amiran farm.

Below: An Amiran farmer shows his produce

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Rural folk were encouraged to work together to increase production and therefore help combat what the government had identified as the three “enemies of development” namely: poverty, ignorance, and disease. A British government-backed effort to resettle Africans who had been displaced from the so called “white highlands” achieved some success in giving poor farmers land for small-scale agriculture. It was soon however dogged by corruption as those senior in government worked in cahoots with settlement officials to allocate themselves huge tracts of land leaving many poor families to squat on marginal land. Most of that land remains idle to date greatly compromising the potential of small-scale farmers to engage in meaningful agricultural production.

Uganda perhaps was better oriented towards establishing more balanced agriculturebased partnerships even prior to the country’s independence. This took the form of a nascent cooperative movement. In the 1950s until independence in 1962, British Colonial Office policy encouraged the development of co-operatives for subsistence farmers to partially convert to selling their crops: principally coffee, cotton, tobacco, and maize. By1965 Uganda’s cooperative movement had 500,000 individual members.

Systematic Agriculture Partnerships Emerge A Historical Perspective In East Africa, the history of modern agricultural production is marked by a patchwork of attempts at partnerships formation some of which, though well intended, can only be described as having been coercive at best. Tanzania offers a historical example of a state-driven partnership model between the government of a newly independent state and its rural communities. In the mid- 1960s, the then President Julius Nyerere, introduced Ujamaa, a socialist oriented system through which his government nationalized agriculture and introduced communal farming systems. The well-meaning Nyerere intended that Ujamaa would promote lifelong learning and joint social action to boost agricultural production through communal farming. After years of experimentation with this system, it did not yield the desired results eventually forcing the Tanzanian government to revert to individual land ownership.

Soon after independence in 1963, Kenya’s first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta mobilized the citizenry through his rallying call of Harambee! (pulling together) and urged them to “go back to the land”.

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More recently, the three East African governments have made systematic efforts to nurture partnerships particularly in the context of marketing of agricultural produce, provision of inputs and delivery of extension services. In 1999, the Tanzania Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock (TCAL) was launched through the influence of private associations and individual farmers. It aimed to bring about active private response to the then existing agricultural policies and a united private sector contribution to agriculture in Tanzania. In 2005, it was renamed the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (TAC) and mandated to lead in advocacy, networking and facilitation of projects dealing with agricultural development in Tanzania. In October 2006, a TAC initiative known as “Fast Track” was launched with the aim of improving the fertilizer value chain. Fast Track was in August 2007 transformed into the Tanzania Agricultural inputs Partnership (TAIP). TAIP is made up of national and international organizations coordinated and managed by Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT).

In Uganda, The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) in 2002 began efforts to develop a demand driven, farmer-led agricultural service delivery system targeting the poor subsistence farmers, with emphasis to women, youth and people with disabilities. Its

development goal is to enhance rural livelihoods by increasing agricultural productivity and profitability in a sustainable manner. Its members include associations of input suppliers, agro processors’ associations and researchers Kenya has the latest agricultural development blueprint known as the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) 2010–2020 that is intended to provide a guide for public and private sectors’ efforts in overcoming the outstanding challenges facing the agricultural sector. It is centred on encouraging partnerships in order to have agriculture play a key part in delivering the 10 per cent annual economic growth rate envisaged under the economic pillar of the country’s Vision 2030.

Non-State Actors Get Involved Other governmental, corporate and nongovernmental agriculture oriented agencies are increasingly opening up to partnerships-driven initiatives supporting small-scale agriculture.

In Uganda, for example, a partnership aimed at facilitating joint learning was spearheaded by three institutions namely: International Centre for Development Oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and Makerere University (MAK). In March 2004 the three institutions signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration on capacity building for collective action, called “Learning Together for Change In Agricultural Research for Development in Uganda”.

These partners were later joined by the African Highlands Initiative (AHI) and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

intention is to identify the most effective ones and support their scaling up.

Tanzania has a good example of an initiative on partnerships for learning documented in a book by Earthscan and International Institute for Environment and Development titled: Innovation Africa, Enriching Farmers’ Livelihoods focusing on partnership to strengthen Post-Harvest Innovation Learning Alliances. The initiative brings together decision makers, policy influencing agencies, civil society organisations, academic and research institutions and donors with the objective to have diverse stakeholders from multiple organisations to work and learn together in the strategic pursuit of common purpose in reducing post-harvest losses.

Private sector partnerships are also emerging and creating positive synergy towards the development of small-scale agriculture. An example is partnership being built between AMIRAN Kenya, a company that promotes greenhouse farming and farmers from arid lands. AMIRAN has introduced Farmers Kits or “Farmers Greenhouses” suitable for small plots. In the dry Yatta District, AMIRAN has installed 15 greenhouses for local farmers and another in 15 secondary schools in the area. Other partners in this initiative include: the Kenya Red Cross, World Vision, the Africa Wildlife Foundation, and Food and Agricultural Organisation.

Additional writing by Sunday Wambui, Ujuzi Media Limited.

E-mail: swambui@ujuzi.or.ke

References http://www.kilimo.go.ke/kilimo_docs/pdf/ASDS_Final.zip http://africanhistory.about.com/od/tanzania/a/What-WasUjamaa.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Uganda http://www.naads.or.ug/news.php?id=82 Innovation Africa: Enriching Farmers Livelihoods, Pascal C. Sanginga, Ann Water-Bayer, Susan Kaaria, Jemimah Njuki and Chesa Wettasinha ETC EcoCulture, 2009, Earthscane 8 – 10

Photos: © Amiran Kenya

In Kenya, the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme (NALEP) is presently reaching out to non-state actors with a view to learn more about innovative extension services being used. The

BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 7

PROJECTFOCUS

Right: Mark Irungu, Left: Brian Waihenya during a UN-ICRAF Global Event, 2009.

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TECH

The ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins is a global partnership devoted entirely to research on the tropical forest margins. The partnership includes over 90 research institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations, community organizations and farmers’ groups operating worldwide.

ASB is hosted at the World Agroforestry Centre’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 1994, ASB has operated as a systemwide programme of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ASB has sites in Asia, Africa and South America that play a key role in developing partnerships with local institutions. This article captures experience in use of social media by ASB. -By Godfrey Mwaloma and Elizabeth Kahurani

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he

use of social media has enabled the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins to disseminate its research to a wide audience in the past three years. This has seen the programme’s research gain greater prominence in global discussions on forestry, sustainable land use and climate change. In 2008 when ASB first started using social media tools and in particular Web 2.0 for development technology, traffic to the website dramatically went up resulting in a 71 per cent increase in the number of research publications downloaded.

While the use of blogs, Twitter, online video and RSS feeds has not replaced printed publications, workshops and press briefings, it has supplemented their reach, especially by attracting more people to the ASB website. “Social media have tremendously changed our communication at ASB,” says Dr. Peter Minang, the Global Coordinator for the ASB Partnership. “Not only have they enabled us to attract more visitors or reach more people, they have also enabled us to interact and learn from others.”

How Social Media have Helped with ASB Communication Social media consist of the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other. The focus of the interactions can be personal interest, consumer-oriented or business-to-business. 1 The use of social media has grown phenomenally, especially since the mid 2000s, as information communication technologies have become more accessible and affordable.

The tools normally referred to as social media are: blogs, social bookmarking (Delicious, Stumble Upon, Diggit), Twitter, Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, 1

Social Media Marketing Myths and Universal Truths. Available on: http://www.emarketingandcommerce.com/article/social-media-marketing-myths-and-universal-truths

NOLOGY

Using social media to disseminate research BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 9

The results of adapting social media have been quite impressive. In the first year of implementation, downloads of ASB research publications increased by 71 per cent. Most recently, between October 2009 and September 2010, the ASB website registered a total of 912,179 hits up from 619,305 in the previous year marking a 47 per cent increase.

At ASB social media are used in conjunction with a monthly email newsletter called the eNews. The eNews has been a successful and popular tool, and is a major source of bringing traffic to the website.

In the week when ASB sends out the e-News, traffic increases by more than 100 per cent. The newsletter captures relevant news items, new publication, commentary from ASB global coordination office and ASB partners, and events. Back issues are available at http://www.asb.cgiar.org/newsletter/.

Managing Social Media Use Social media are a highly effective way to quickly report on issues and events. They are extremely useful for getting feedback not only about an

Training TrainingininWeb Web2.0 2.0tools toolsatatthe theWorld WorldAgroforestry AgroforestryCenter Centre(ICRAF) (ICRAF)on on9th 9thJuly, July,2010.

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organization’s communication activities but about the organization itself. “Through social media, we get to know what people think about our work, and that is always helpful in helping us improve,” says Dr. Minang’.

However, social media require planning. There needs to be a strategy regarding what content is posted, who posts it, how often, and who is expected to read it (the target audience). Lots of people use social media tools for personal communication, but few know how to use these in an organizational setting. This means that organizations must invest in training for those staff responsible for communication.

Social media expose an organization to the public and this comes with its own risks because the information can be distorted or misused – even manipulated as is sometimes the case with images.

“We are aware of the dangers presented by new technology, especially the risk of losing credibility with our research evidence. We therefore follow guidelines that help us use social media through proper moderation,” says Elizabeth Kahurani, the ASB Partnership’s Communication Officer.

About the Writers

Godfrey Mwaloma is the Communications Assistant attached to the ASB Partnership and PRESA project at the World Agroforestry Centre and Elizabeth Kahurani is the Communications Officer of ASB. E-mails: g.mwaloma@cgiar.org and e.kahurani@cgiar.org

Photos: © ICRAF

among others. ASB specifically makes use of a blog, Delicious bookmarks (http://www.delicious. com/asb_partnership) and Twitter as well as other online facilities such as Google Docs, Slide Share and iGoogle for both internal and external communication and collaboration.

Joto Afrika is produced four times a year by ALIN in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of the University of Sussex and AfricaAdapt.

OPENCOLUMN

Partnerships

for better food

In a world where life has become fast resulting in a fast life, fast food and the disappearance of traditional foods, an interesting movement of partnership to have ‘slow food’ on our table is a commitment that they have made to world community and the environment.

-By Petra Bakewell-Stone

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he value of meeting is at the

heart of Slow Food, a movement of people who love quality food.

This value is powerfully reinforced every two years at the Terra Madre gastronomic gathering in Turin, northern Italy. An enormous and colourful Terra Madre 2010 brought together 6500 delegates, including farmers, food lovers, academics and activists, united by a mission to promote good, clean and fair food for all.

Founded in 1989 by Italian writer, Carlo Petrini, Slow Food is an association promoting the gastronomic heritage of different places. It started in opposition to the globalisation of cuisine and agricultural industrialisation, and as a protest against the introduction of American-style fast-food restaurants in Italy. Now it is a global network of 100,000 members in 153 countries, grouped in 1300 local chapters called “convivia”. Slow Food develops local, regional and global activities and projects that defend biodiversity in our food systems, promote food and taste education and connect sustainable producers to co-producers through events and by building networks.

Smallholder farmers from East Africa are becoming increasingly active in this delicious revolution, especially after John Kariuki Mwangi, the 20-year old son of Kenyan farmer was appointed Vice President of the movement in 2008. Experiences from school gardens in East Africa have inspired an ambitious new Slow Food project called “Thousand Gardens in Africa”.

As part of this project, school vegetable gardens are being promoted as platforms of education.

Professor Cristiana Peano, of the University of Turin, described how school kitchen gardens are being developed in order to exchange knowledge of local produce, share seeds, preserve agrobiodiversity, safeguard local recipes and learn how to transform food through preservation, storage and cooking. One feature of the gardens is intergenerational learning, such as by inviting elders into schools to tell children stories and transmit their time-honoured knowledge of the land and growing food.

In Tanzania, Regent’s Senior Women’s Group (RESEWO), an association of over 60 retired professionals have been promoting indigenous leafy vegetables in schools and training catering staff, teachers, parents and children how to prepare them.

RESEWO manages several educational gardens in Dar es Salaam. A Tanzanian Kitchen companion booklet, produced in collaboration with ethnobotanists,

agronomists and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, has been published in both English and Kiswahili. It contains agricultural and nutritional information about the region’s traditional edible plants and a collection of local recipes. This highly collaborative project demonstrates the importance of dialogue between traditional knowledge and science.

Another innovative way that Slow Food is fostering joint learning is by bringing together producers and consumers. This transforms local and typical products into an economic reality for smallholder farmers, helping them to increase the quality of their products and providing them with a market.

In addition, by buying local products, people get an opportunity to support local economies and enhance biodiversity. As shown by the growing popularity of buying organic and fair trade, consumer choice is becoming a powerful tool in environmental and social campaigning. Slow Food promotes the concept of co-producers - eaters who are informed about where and how their food is produced and actively support local producers.

Whilst Slow Food opposes the harmful aspects of globalisation, it also shows how globalisation can empower smallholder farmers. On the one hand, it rejects cultural homogenisation and Westernisation, which alongside commercialisation, population increase and urbanisation, are changing patterns of production and consumption and negatively impacting human diets. On the other hand, Slow Food embraces global communications systems such as the Internet, which are giving formerly isolated groups new means to make their voices heard, and channels for partnership and solidarity.

Two-Way Learning Terra Madre facilitates the type of social interaction wherein farmers not only exchange material goods but can also learn from one another, and from others.

This “cultural edge” results in a capital of knowledge, practice and institutional organisation that helps to maintain livelihood flexibility and supports climate change adaptation.

It is perhaps not surprising that so many people share the vision and the philosophy of Slow Food, which argues that the pleasure of good food is a fundamental right for all, a right that carries with it the responsibility for protecting the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Appealing to a universal appreciation of good, tasty food and the revival of convivial values (which include being merry, sociable and enjoying BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 13

Photos: Petra Bakewell-Stone

good company) is a major strength of the movement.

After all, and as author Raj Patel pointed out in the closing ceremony, ‘no-one’s going to want to join a movement where you must suffer for what you believe in ’! Furthermore, quality and quantity of food do not need to be mutually exclusive.

Another unifying theme of Slow Food is a dedication to protecting ‘endangered foods’. Nutrition transition, characterised by an increased availability and affordability of refined carbohydrates including wheat, rice and sugar, is being brought about by high external input agriculture and long-distance transport. In Africa, edible oils, imported rice and wheat are replacing traditional cereals as the main energy sources. Slow Food works to reverse these global changes in agricultural, horticultural and dietary traditions by supporting local farmers and advocating food sovereignty.

Whilst contemporary trends are eroding biocultural diversity2 , traditional food systems, which are characterised by high levels of agrobiodiversity and the availability and accessibility of a variety of plant and animal foods, can form the basis for healthy diets.

Slow Food member and primary school teacher Jane Mlangwa of Morogoro in Tanzania, is promoting the nutritional and medicinal values of indigenous foods and leafy vegetables such as iron-rich mchunga (hare or bitter lettuce - Sonchus luxurians), used traditionally in Tanzania to alleviate diabetes, malaria, measles, stomach pain as well as treating boils and other skin afflictions. This diversity of biological species and traditional cultural knowledge that can be drawn upon for livelihoods maintains socio-ecological resilience. Forward planning benefits from looking back; and celebrating our gastronomic heritage and food past gives ample clues as to our food future.

Traditional African foods on display at the Terra Madre.

The agroecological solution offered by the Slow Food movement is a shift to good, clean and fair cuisine grown mainly organically and by local farmers.

The report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) demonstrates a high degree of consensus that local, traditional, farmer-controlled agricultural production, not high-tech industrial agriculture, is the best hope for ending hunger.

African farmers need not work in isolation. Slow Food demonstrates that food is tied to many aspects of life, including culture, politics, education, agriculture and the environment. The concept of neo-gastronomy recognises the strong connections between plate, planet, people and culture. By working within the Slow Food movement, smallholder farmers can bring about fundamental changes in public attitude, commercial behaviour and public policy, as well as motivating people to engage in practical projects that support food security. Slow Food can be likened to a vast fishing net, sewn initially by many different groups in different places, and then woven together through the Terra Madre. The challenge now is making the net-work!

About the Writer

Petra Bakewell-Stone is an Agro-ecological Consultant with AFRIKABISA Organics in Tanzania. E-mail: petra@acamedia.org P.O. Box 297, Bagamoyo, TANZANIA

References 1. Slow Food http://www.slowfood.com/ Terra Madre http://www.terramadre.info/ 2. Bakewell-Stone, P. (2009) Africa’s Slow Food Revolution.

New Agriculturalist 2009-2. http://www.new-ag.info/ developments/devItem.php?a=704 3. Johns, T. and Sthapit, B.R. (2004) Biocultural diversity in the sustainability of developing-country food systems. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 35 no. 2

Fonio (cultivated grain of Digitaria genus) and other traditional foods from Mali, West Africa 2. Biocultural diversity: ‘the relationships among traditional knowledge, biological diversity, and cultural diversity’ (Johns & Sthapit, 2004: 143) 14 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

4. Mayda, C. (2005) Slow Food: The case for Taste. By Carlo Petrini. Book Review. Food and Foodways, 13: 299-303, 2005 5. Turner, N., Davidson-Hunt, I.J. and O’Flaherty, M. (2003) Living on the Edge: Ecological and Cultural Edges as Sources of Diversity for Socio-Ecological Resilience. Human Ecology, Vol. 31, No. 3, September 2003

OPENCOLUMN

ShareFair Broke Barriers, Put Rural Farmers on a Pedestal -By Anthony Mugo

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he

recently concluded AgKnowledge ShareFair held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia broke many barriers towards making agricultural knowledge more accessible to those who need it most. In numerous ways, it lived up to its billing in achieving one of its key aims: showcasing how African ‘talents’ are creating, sharing and using rural knowledge - at the grassroots, in research and policy, and through intermediaries.

A distinguishing element of the Fair, which ran between October 18 and 21, 2010, was the close integration between the proceedings there and emerging ICT-based information sharing platforms. Every learning pathway, focus group, marketplace and even Bunna (a special Ethiopian meeting space with coffee, wireless internet connection and conversation zone) was “present” in some virtual space including Twitter, the ShareFair Wiki and blog, the Daily Tail (a daily ShareFair newspaper), tens of video blips and hundreds of pictures posted online. The first of its kind in Africa, it set itself apart by facilitating unfettered conversations rather than presentations (use of power point was discouraged and use of stories, drama, song and dance and ordinary face to face exchanges encouraged).

BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 15

Francis Kiarahu, Flora Nzambuli and Julius Matei on the podium during a feedback session on farmers’ participation at the event.

The main objective of the organizers, who were led by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and which was hosted at the Addis Ababa ILRI Campus, was to have all players in small-scale agriculture and livestock production in Africa connect, and share knowledge.

“We wanted to showcase the ways agricultural and rural knowledge in and of Africa is created, shared, communicated, and put to use,” noted Peter Ballantyne, ILRI’s Head of Knowledge Management and Information Services and the Fair’s main coordinator.

For ALIN and other actors involved in knowledge sharing at remote rural areas in Africa, the Fair offered an unprecedented opportunity to three rural farmers from Kenya. Ms. Florence Nzamburi (Flora to all she met) took to many platforms with a message on climate change delivered mainly in song. At different sessions, she narrated about processes followed in setting up farmer field schools in her area and initiatives being taken to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.

“The most important thing I learnt from the Fair was that everybody including researchers and farmers has a role to play in achieving both food security and adaptation to climate change,” she told Baobab after returning to her farm in Mutomo, Eastern Kenya. Flora is the Chair of the Advisory Committee of Mutomo Maarifa (Knowledge) centre. “The Fair offered all of us a chance to share what people at different levels and in different fields are doing with

Flora Nzambuli being interviewed on her climate song use in her community.

16 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

Flora Nzambuli leads the participants in her Climate Change adaptation song.

respect to climate change so that everybody can put into practice what they have learnt.”

From another part of Kenya, Mr. Francis Kiarahu, from Ng’arua area in Laikipia County in the Rift Valley, a member of ALIN’s Ng’arua Maarifa centre, singled out the role of language in facilitating or impeding agriculture knowledge sharing: “Due to the language barrier and low literacy levels, I learned that it is important to device ways of delivering information to the grassroots farmers who may not be educated. There are barriers inhibiting the transfer of knowledge from experts to the rural farmer in the village,” observed Mr. Kiarahu who needed an interpreter to make his contributions at the Fair.

An avid documenter in pictures and on-farm records, Mr. Kiarahu got the opportunity to showcase his achievements in ground water harvesting and how the technology has enabled him to have year-round production of a wide variety of crops and livestock, Ng’arua being an arid area. Through technologies learned at ALIN’s Maarifa centre, he uses various methods of preservation and value addition of fruits and tubers deriving substantial income as a result.

His stand at the Fair, where he had placed samples of his commodities, was a great attraction to many curious visitors.

The opportunity to share indigenous knowledge was not to be missed. The third farmer in ALIN’s

Part of Agricultural Information dissemination discussions.

team Mr. Julius Matei, a technology enthusiast who is also the Community Knowledge Facilitator (CKF) at Kyuso Maarifa centre, a dry area of Eastern Kenya, presented indigenous techniques of non-chemical pest management. In one example, he demonstrated the use of goat droppings to control weevils in stored cereals and Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves to control field pests. Participants were fascinated by his obvious experience in harnessing knowledge “from the Web to the field and from field to the Web� through the use the internet based portal that focuses Online Information System on Non-Chemical Pest Management in the Tropics (OISAT) – see www. oisat.org. “I learnt that there is valuable information held within communities and entrusted to elders. Effort should be made to document this community knowledge and to share it for the benefit of the wider community who need to use it now to increase farm productivity,� observed Mr. Matei, who has since opened a Facebook account through ALIN’s Mutomo Maarifa centre and exchanged correspondence with people he met at the Fair.

The presence of farmers was well felt and acknowledged by participants. Roxanna Samii, a Knowledge Management practitioner and social media strategist affiliated to IFAD writing in her blog after the Fair noted: “We finally had the pleasure of hearing the voices of farmers - the very people that we serve. The farmers were indeed

Some of the donkeys used to display information materials.

Francis Kiarahu exhibiting dried produce from his farm at the ShareFair.

the ‘missing link’ in other Share Fairs. Perhaps the biggest lesson learnt for future share fairs is to make sure that we have adequate representation from all the people who we work with and serve - this means smallholder farmers, producers but also decision makers.�

Her observation echoed that of the keynote speaker at the opening of the Fair, Owen Barder who in his captivating opening presentation (see: http://www. owen.org/wp-content/uploads/101019-Addis-ShareFair.pdf ) noted the emerging need for knowledge to move from institutions to communities. For this to be possible, he was of the view that knowledge needs to get to infomediaries as much as possible. Through them it should go through what he called “social filtering� which is made possible by the numerous new options and spaces where people share, modify and make use of knowledge to make their day to day decisions.

More from the Agknowledge Share Fair can be found on t 4IBSF'BJS CMPH IUUQ UJOZVSM DPN TGBEEJTCMPH t 5XFFUT IUUQ UJOZVSM DPN TGBEEJTUXFFUT t 1IPUPT IUUQ UJOZVSM DPN TGBEEJTQIPUPT t 7JEFPT IUUQ UJOZVSM DPN TGBEEJTZPVUVCF t 1PEDBTUT IUUQ TIBSF GBJS QPEPNBUJD DPN

About the Writer

Anthony Mugo is the Programmes Director, ALIN. E-mail: amugo@alin.net

Social Media reporters at the AgKnowledge ShareFair.

Photos: Anthony Mugo, Julius Matei and Susan Mwangi

Julius Matei making a presentation at the ShareFair.

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STORKSTORY

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BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 19

GOATREARING

In the last decade, a silent agricultural revolution has been taking place in the larger Meru County in Kenya’s Eastern region.

In the mid-90s, Farm Africa, an international non-governmental organisation, initiated a dairy goat project in the larger Meru, aiming at alleviating poverty for the resource poor smallholder farmers.

Goat Rearing

joint initiatives improve livelihoods for farmers -By Mwangi Mumero

20 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

James Gitonga, a smallholder farmer who has benefited by learning new goat husbandry skills on Bundi’s farm.

S

tarting

off with 130 Toggenburg goats - 90 bucks and 40 does - the Farm Africa project linked up with 44 self-help groups in the region hoping to boost goat milk production and eradicate poverty. The self-help groups under the umbrella Meru Goat Breeders Association (MGBA) have now grown to 161 each boasting of an average 25 members. The association also enjoys membership of private farmers who are not affiliated to any of the self-help groups.

Driven by ambition and information technology, Ayub Bundi of Kigene village near Nkubu market in Meru Central, has taken goat rearing to higher levels. Working closely with local goat farmers, MGBA, extension officers, researchers and nongovernmental organisations, Bundi has been able to expand his goat herd to more than100. Presently, he has 58 goats with the kids forming the bulk of the herd. In recent years, he has become a chief source of breeding stock to both local and international farmers. “We have been able to sell young goats to almost all regions in the country and export to Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi and even Angola,” observes the former school principle and history teacher at Kathanthatu Secondary School.

Before resigning to venture into goat keeping and other businesses, Bundi had taught for 12 years, having graduated with a Bachelor in Education degree from Moi University, Eldoret in 1994. On his two acre farm, he has constructed pens where 14 does (females) and one buck form his breeding stock. Young kids are regularly sold as demand for dairy goats soars across the country and beyond.

“Demand has been rising and we expect it to rise as the government promotes the dairy goat as a

Bundi feeds his goats in their pens.

viable alternative to smallholder farmers as land size shrinks. Demand for the nutritious goat milk has gone up as consumers look for low-fat products,” he observed.

On the farm, the goats are fed on banana leaves, bean straw, napier grass, Calliandra leaves and supplemented with wheat bran. Water is cheaply accessed from the numerous rivers and streams in the Meru region.

Benefits of Goat Rearing Goat keeping is a cheap enterprise and even resource poor farmers can engage in it profitably.

Even leaves of locally available trees such a Moringa (Ben oil tree also Drumstick tree) can be used as feed. The only thing farmers need is commitment.

Each pure breed young goat is sold at Kshs 25,000 (US$ 312) with crossbreeds going for Kshs 12,000 (US$ 150). At present, the farm sells 15 kg of goat milk to a local dairy per day. Monthly costs on the farm amount to Ksh 15,000 (US$ 187) accruing mainly from labour and purchased feeds. Other costs go towards treatment of worm infestations and pneumonia which are easily controlled.

A goat can have kids twice a year with the twinning rates at 45 per cent. Triplets have also been born on the farm making goat keeping a very lucrative business. Goat manure and milk add to the farm returns. Annual return from the sale of goats, according to the farmer, is in the tune of Ksh 1.5 million (US$ 18,750) with much of the cash being profits. His initial investment of Kshs 300,000 (US$ 3750) has yielded huge return since 2006. Recently, he took a Ksh 300,000(US$ 3,750) loan from the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) to boost his venture. “I have been able to expand the pens and increase the breeding stock. I have also purchased a BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 21

30-acre farm in Timau in which I will expand my goat breeding enterprise in future,” reports Bundi.

Training Ground Bundi’s farm has in recent years become the training ground for prospective farmers from across the country. Every fortnight, an average 50 farmers are ferried by buses to his farm from across the country and beyond to learn goat management skills.

Visits are organized by NGOs such as Food for the Hungry International, Save the Children Canada, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Vision and the Kenya Red Cross. Local self-help groups affiliated to the MGBA also come to the farm to learn. “I advice them on goat housing, de-worming, feeding, breeding, general hygiene and all other aspects of animal husbandry such as hoof trimming. Information on goat marketing is also offered free of charge as is the case with all other forms of training,” says the married father of three, adding that his training as a teacher makes it easier for him to disseminate information well through audio-visual materials.

Creating captivating teaching aids in a professional way has helped the farmer to pass vital information well to a wide range of others of diverse educational levels. The visitors spend 2-3 hours on the farm but additional contact with local smallholder farmers can be organized through the Kabogo Self-Help

Group, an affiliate of MGBA. To reach to a level where a former history teacher can give agricultural advice, Bundi has had to undergo regular in-house and on-farm training on emerging issues on goat management.

He has attended an intensive one-week IFAD sponsored course on goat keeping. Over the years, he has interacted with 24 veterinary officers across the country who are actively involved in goat issues. Stakeholder meetings-held regularly at regional and national level have also provided the farmer with new insights on goat marketing and husbandry. Specifically, he cites Dr Julius Mboroki from the department of veterinary services who is a regular visitor on the farm to give invaluable advice. Another technical person has been Dr. Njeru Nyaga, officer in charge at Farm Africa’s Livestock Department who has provided vital information to the farmer. Through his membership at the MGBA, Bundi has been able to access latest research work from such bodies as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI ) and Nairobi and Egerton universities.

About the Writer Mwangi Mumero is a freelance journalist based in Nyahururu, Kenya. E-mail: mwangimumero@gmail.com Ayub Bundi can be contacted on +254 721 217447

Photos: Mwangi Mumero

Below: Bundi with George Kirinya, an official of the Meru Goat Breeders Association.

22 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

LET’STALKABOUTAIDS

A Partnership Approach Improves

Photo: © ALIN

Response to HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Kenya

Combating HIV/AIDS at national level demands creation and strengthening of partnerships and involvement of many stakeholders.

In Kenya, the Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO) provides leadership, promotes collaboration and enhances capacity building among Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to respond to HIV/AIDS and TB at the community level.

-By Annie Mumbi BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 23

The magnitude of challenges posed by the HIV/ AIDS aids pandemic demand concerted and coordinated effort at the national level. In order for these partnerships to be effective in facilitating joint initiatives and learning aimed at bringing about an effective response, certain agencies have to dedicate themselves to the role of coordination.

Partnership formation does not end at the level of coordination however as the following two cases studies demonstrate:

Photo: KANCO

In Kenya, KANCO has taken that mandate for a number of years. KANCO is a national membership network of over 1000 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based

Organizations (CBOs), Faith Based Organizations (FBOs), Private Sector actors and Research and Learning Institutions responding to HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya. It is an accredited linking organization for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and therefore uses globally accredited materials and approaches in the national fight against HIV/ AIDS.

KANCO staff offering legal aid to community memmbers in a medical camp in Huruma, 2009.

Case Study 1 Jane Maneno* is a woman with three children and has been living with HIV for over five years. KANCO organized a workshop in Nyeri, Central Kenya whose main objective was to empower people living with HIV on their inheritance and property rights. Jane began to get sick and therefore decided to go for a HIV test.

The results were positive. Upon her husband learning that Jane was HIV positive, he chased her away. KANCO, through her lawyer adviced Jane on her rights and also referred her to the Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya (FIDA). She started pursuing the matter with court. The matter was decided in her favour and she is now in the process of getting back a piece of land they had jointly bought with her husband.

Case Study 2 Grace Babu* has been living positively for the past seven years. She is a member of Kenya Network of Women with HIV/AIDS (KENWA) as well as a 24 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

beneficiary of the nutritional support offered by KENWA in Korogocho, Nairobi. She is separated from her husband. This is as a result of suffering domestic violence by her husband. She gave birth to twins three years ago through caesarean section. Since then, her husband has been beating her frequently which made it difficult for the wound to heal. This in turn affected her health psychologically, mentally and physically.

In addition her husband refused to go for HIV testing since he was in self denial and routinely forced her to have unprotected sex with him. He made her default on her TB medication several times putting her at a risk of contracting multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB).

Due to the beating in November 2009, she had to run away from home and seek refuge with the Women’s Rights Awareness Programme (WRAP) rescue centre for one month through the help of KANCO. KANCO also assisted her to get free medical services at Kenyatta National Hospital and linked her to KENWA who assisted her to get some money. She now sells fish to support herself.

As is evident from the two cases above, strong partnership between institutions plays a fundamental role in bringing to bear the various strengths of the different organisations. NGOs providing free legal aid and those providing care and support complement the work of network agencies such as KANCO to enable the delivery of holistic care and support of people living with HIV/ AIDS.

Challenges of Maintaining Effective Partnerships Lack of funds to support partnership initiatives Maintaining effective partnerships requires good coordination by one of the partners (the convener).

In many instances, moneys are not year-marked to cater specifically to expenses related to coordination such as those needed for partners’ meetings and associated administrative inputs necessary for the management of the partnership. Setting up and nurturing partnerships requires that resources for coordination be set aside at the outset.

Lack of clearly defined terms of partnership Absence of defined terms of partnership is often a challenge, particularly in partnerships that evolve without formal mechanisms such as memoranda of understanding. It is advisable to formalise partnerships to minimise misunderstanding of the responsibilities of individual partners.

Lack of effective management of expectations As partnerships evolve, particularly in instances where funds and other resources are involved, unmet expectations of one partner by the other pose a challenge. This calls for proactive efforts to manage expectations by defining the roles of the partners as clearly as possible.

Competition and duplication of efforts Competition among partners and in some cases duplication of efforts needs to be managed through systematic sharing of tasks and better definition of the roles of each partner. Putting in place effective systems of monitoring and evaluation is also important as it helps to define which partner/s is responsible for which results. Partnerships often become necessary because isolated efforts may not bring about the desired level and extent of change.

There should therefore be openness about sharing resultant outcomes.

Lack of effective systems of communications Even in instances where solid memoranda of understanding have been put in places at the beginning of partnerships, more often than not, information between partners does not automatically flow as freely as it should. From a practical perspective, partners get deeply involved in actual implementation and sometimes fail to address the processing and sharing of information about critical project milestones, hence jeopardising the health of the very partnerships on which these successes are based. * Names in the case studies have been changed for reasons of confidentiality.

About the Writer Anne Mumbi Muchiri is a Project Officer, Legal and Human Rights, KANCO For more contact Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium Policy Development & Advocacy Department P.O Box 69866-00400, Nairobi Kenya Tel: + 254 722 203344/733 333237

...strong partnerships between institutions plays a fundamental role in bringing to bear the various strengths of the different organisations...�

BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 25

TECHNICALNOTE

Agrobiodiversity Conservation Partnerships Experiences in Kenya -By Maryleen Muchemi

T

he Participatory Ecological

Land Use Management (PELUM) is an association of civil society organizations promoting ecological land use practices such as sustainable agriculture among communities in Kenya. In 2007 PELUM launched a campaign for promotion of indigenous foods in Kenya as an alternative to genetically modified foods commonly called GMOs. The project was born out of a food fair competition held in Kabwe, Zambia among ten PELUM country working groups of which PELUM Kenya emerged the winner of the ‘Food Torch’.

and sharing the lessons learnt among the network members. A survey carried out revealed that most communities, especially the youth have a negative attitude towards indigenous foods and market outlets are few. Indigenous foods have the potential to solve food insecurity and are known to have the following benefits: t Better adaptability to different ecological zones. t Suitability for small-scale farming systems. t High nutritional value.

Why Agro Biodiversity Conservation?

t Wholesome composition and therefore require longer time to digest allowing slow but steady release of energy by the body making them appropriate for use by those with conditions such as diabetes.

This project was initiated to create awareness on the implications of GMOs in African agriculture

t Some have been proven to boost the body’s immunity.

26 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

t Traditional root crops have natural food storage systems and can be harvested in bits for consumption over long periods. t They withstand droughts, pests and diseases better. t Grown as recommended, they are high yielding and require less external inputs.

Fostering Partnerships The three-year project was implemented from 2007 to 2009 and focused on promoting production, consumption, agro-processing and marketing of traditional foods. PELUM Kenya partnered with four member organizations working with different communities in Kenya. These included SMART Initiatives working with the Pokot, Resources Oriented Development Initiatives (RODI) Kenya working with Luo, INADES Formation working with Kamba, BERMA working with Luhyia and YARD working with Kikuyu communities respectively. The role of PELUM was to mobilize financial resources, coordinate project implementation and promotion through media whereas the partner organizations mobilized communities and facilitated indigenous food production. The communities offered land, local labour and regular observations during the crop production seasons and nominated specific farmers for training. The purpose of targeting different communities was to increase the diversity of food crops explored for multiplication and production.

farmers accessed clean sweet potato vines and cassava cuttings for planting. The farmers also got training on simple value addition that can be easily done in farms. Advice on new seed varieties of sorghum and sample seed was also obtained from the research institution.

YARD’s marketing strategy YARD worked with Junior Farmer Field schools and developed a marketing strategy taking advantage of their close proximity to Nairobi. They partnered with the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN) and sold the organic products at the Village Market in Nairobi. A marketing unit was formed to pilot production using production calendars to supply the market. YARD community farmers still promote indigenous food in Nairobi restaurants.

Challenges Faced From the partner implementation and evaluation reports some of the challenges faced were: t The indigenous food seeds were unavailable or in short supply at the Project’s onset t The youth’s interest in the project was only evident when profits were made t There are still limited market outlets for indigenous food t Where available, farmer production schedules did not meet the regular annual market supply since they rely on rain-fed agriculture.

PELUM Kenya organized joint activities including an open food forum to compliment GMO awareness creation in Makueni with the Kamba community.

Project farmers from other organizations were invited. Makueni grows drought tolerant crops such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, sweet potatoes and cassava.

RODI Kenya – working with prisoners Resources Oriented Development Initiatives (RODI) Kenya works with prisoners in Kenya to promote agricultural and value addition initiatives among the inmates. The food produced by inmates is used for meals boosting their nutritional intake. Kitchen gardens and green-houses were introduced in Thika, Kamiti and Kiambu prisons during the Project’s implementation.

INADES Formation partnering with KARI Katumani INADES Formation worked closely with Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Katumani Station based in Machakos for training and information sharing. During implementation,

Photos: © PELUM

Partner Experiences

A display of various foods made with pumpkin during a field day in Machakos, 2009

About the Writer Maryleen Muchemi is a Programme Officer, Research & Information Management PELUM Kenya. E-mail: pelumkenya@ pelum.net Website: www.pelum.net P.O. Box 6123-01000 Thika, Kenya BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 27

GUESTCOLUMN

Marketing Networks aid Tanzania Cassava is a perennial crop that many farmers plant due to its resistance to drought.

Commonly referred to as ‘the poor man’s crop,’ it is grown mainly as a staple food. This article focuses on a partnership initiative to strengthen and support small-scale farmers in forming farmer groups for production, value addition and marketing of cassava in Mkuranga District in Tanzania.

-By Susuma Susuma Top: Women peeling cassava, Bottom left: Harvested cassava, Center: Cassava being grounded,

The Marketing Challenges

T

raditionally, farmers in Mkuranga District in Tanzania produced cassava in low quantities and sold it unprocessed to middlemen who exploited them by using altered weighing machines. The middlemen would for instance pay for two tonnes of cassava while in the actual sense they should have paid for three. They would also decide the terms for buying and selling of cassava.

Generally, there was no assured and stable market for cassava hence plenty of cassava would go to waste.

In addition, farmers had no skills and equipment for processing cassava.

The Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA), Kiswahili for Tanzania Network of Small-Scale Farmers’ Groups and Vredeseilanden 28 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

Copibo (VECO) - a Netherlands-based development organization working in seven regions worldwide - initiated a partnership in 2005 with the aim of empowering small-scale farmers to create sustainable producer groups and networks to collectively market their produce right from the grassroots to the district level.

The partnership entailed training the farmers, facilitating agricultural market chains for food and income security, improving advocacy capacity of farmers and institutional strengthening of MVIWATA. According to the cassava growers, before the project started in 2008, they were selling three to four tonnes of unprocessed cassava for between Tsh150,000 (US$100) and Tsh250,000 (US$167) compared to current rate whereby two tonnes of processed cassava can earn more than Tsh1 million (US$ 670).

Farmers to

Reap Millions

Photos: Susuma Susuma

Developing a New Marketing Strategy Implementation of this project involved three stakeholders MVIWATA, VECO and Mkuranga District Council. MVIWATA identified producers and mobilized them into groups and networks. Some 46 groups with a membership of 2,760 were formed and engaged in cassava production.

MVIWATA provided training on leadership and financial management as well as lobbying and advocacy through seminars, exchange visits and farmer field schools.

Apart from financing the project, VECO ensured that farmers had access to a steady market. The District Council Right: Packaged cassava flour provided technical services and created suitable policies that enabled the project to sustain itself. The council also supplied modern farming equipments like Power Tillers (small tractors) to a few farmers.

The farmers were supported to form cassava value chain networks at village and ward level, which have been tasked to search market opportunities. Through the networks, business centres were built on pieces of land donated by different farmers. At those centres, they sell cassava at their own determined prices. This has resulted in a rise in sales attributed to their ability to secure markets with large-scale buyers.

“We are thankful to MVIWATA and VECO. Before, we were selling unprocessed cassava, but after the training, we were given simple processing machines and also linked to the big buyers who want us to supply 3,000 tonnes of cassava flour per week. We therefore need to produce more to meet the market demand”, said Ms. Asia Kilungi of Njopeka Village, Mkuranga District.

After the mobilisation, training and groups’ formation, the farmers’ role was to expand farms and increase production. Agriculture Officials in Mkuranga District report that farmers now produce five tonnes of cassava per acre up from less than two tonnes per acre. The project’s goal is to produce 7.5 to eight tonnes of cassava per acre by 2013.

Achievements t Farmers are now better organized into strong commodity-specific groups and networks. t Through farmers’ forums, the programme has enabled farmers’ to interact with the local government and other agriculture stakeholders at the ward and district levels. It has therefore enabled the important process of dialogue between farmers and other stakeholders to be kick-started. t As a result of the emergent networks, farmers in Mkuranga now actively contribute to their own social and economic development activities.

Foreseen Challenges t How to ensure sustainable economic empowerment of small-scale farmers. t Financial sustainability of farmer networks. t How to use farmer networks and forums (advocacy tool for farmers) to serve as catalysts of improving transparency and accountability in the local government, and addressing broader agricultural development challenges. t How to ensure quality representation of farmers during dialogue with the local government and other stakeholders. t How to ensure farmer networks play their role in influencing policy makers to develop policies favourable to small-scale farmers.

About the Writer Susuma Susuma works for MVIWATA Morogoro, Tanzania. E-mail: susuma9@yahoo.com Tel: +255 754 652773 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 29

OPENCOLUMN

Junior Farmers’ Field Schools

bridging food security gaps

Kyambuko Primary School pupils and their head teacher Mr. Benjamin Wambua in the school JFFL kitchen garden monitoring crops. Machakos, Kenya.

Since 2003, growing numbers of Junior Farmers’ Field Schools (JFFLS) are operating in 17, mainly African countries. The goal of the JFFLS is to empower vulnerable youth, giving them livelihood options and long term food security while minimizing their vulnerability to risky coping strategies.

-By Esther Lung’ahi 30 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a group learning process whereby farmers take part in activities from which they learn by experience. This helps them to understand the ecology of their fields and improve their farming practices. The JFFLS are a further development of the FFSs to school going children.

In a JFFLS, around 30 rural boys and girls meet weekly to acquire agricultural and life skills. They work together on a piece of land to learn about and experiment with new and traditional agricultural techniques and discuss issues that are crucial in their daily lives such as prevention of diseases. The sessions are organized and facilitated by adults from the community often teachers and agricultural experts who have been trained on the JFFLS approach.

The JFFLS approach was initially developed by Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme as a response to the HIV orphan crisis and first started in Mozambique. It has been adapted to address emergency situations, rural youth employment and child labour prevention. FAO, various governments, NGOs and UN joint programmes have since then integrated the approach into their programmes.

The JFFLS Learning Process

Case Study

In the JFFLS learning process, which is adapted by the facilitators according to the climatic and socio-cultural circumstances, focus is on learning by doing. A constant link is made between the agricultural cycle and the life cycle. The JFFLS approach is based on an experiential learning process that encourages the group to observe, draw conclusions and make informed decisions consistent with good agricultural and life practices.

In the field, the participants study crop related issues within the framework of their analysis of the problems they face in their own lives. In JFFLS, participants analyze livelihood and social problems and discuss the problems with their peers, through drama, role play and other methods.

Investing in orphans and vulnerable children in Northern Uganda In Adjumani District, JFFLs steering committees were set up with the children’s guardians, the schools headmasters and members of the schools management committees. Approximately 600 school children among Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) aged 12 to 18 years were identified to join JFFLs jointly by the local stakeholders.

It has been observed that girls are more likely to drop out from JFFLS than boys, mainly because of their workload at home. One of the main objectives of JFFLS is to promote the creation of gender equal attitudes, by enabling the youth to exercise the same roles and responsibilities and to stimulate them to think critically about the gender relationships in their society.

Training Modules Preventing child labour in agriculture The module on child labour in agriculture, which will help to address the topic in JFFLS explicitly, has been developed by FAO in collaboration with International Labour Organization (ILO), facilitators and partner organizations in Mozambique, Kenya and Ghana.

Land and property rights The initiative to develop a JFFLS training module with information and practical exercises was taken

by FAO. The exercises include role play to help children and their caretakers understand the basic concepts of land and property rights and; the impacts that gender inequality in land and property rights can have on people’s livelihoods and food security.

Entrepreneurship and business skills Given the often limited opportunities for gainful employment in rural areas, JFFLS graduates are likely to sell surplus or set up their own agribusiness later on. The module includes simple exercises and games to make children think strategically about how they can improve their future livelihoods in agriculture.

t Children built a sense of team work and established solidarity ties. t Children became very active in peer –teaching thus increasing the impact of the knowledge transfer outside the JFFLs groups. t Peer-teaching, associated with distribution of vegetables seeds, allowed families to develop household vegetable gardens. This consequently improved their dietary diversity and provided income generating possibilities through the resale of surplus produce. t Orphans became better integrated in their host families. t School attendance rates improved. t The approach also prepared the ground for interventions on other local issues requiring urgent attention and action.

Photos: VVOB Healthy Learning programme 2009

Gender Sensitivity

Lessons Learnt

Suguta Marmar School flowerbed replaced by a vegetable garden.

About the Writer

Article compiled by Esther Lungahi, Projects Officer at ALIN elungahi@alin.net The article was adapted from Dimitra Newsletter No 18, Brussels, June 2010 For more on JFFLS contact Eliane Najros, Project Coordinator FAO Dimitra project +3225490310 JFFLS@fao.org BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 31

How to water

Baobab Magazine Introduction

The Baobab is a quarterly magazine that is published in March, June, September and December. Every issue has a theme that guides the topic one can write on. Topics for 2010: t March: Livestock t June: Finance t September: Water t December: Partnerships for Learning

How to Write Know what you are writing about in advance and think clearly, carefully reflecting on: t WHAT was the initial context and what were the difficulties faced? t WHAT were the reasons for the approach taken to improve the situation? t HOW did they go about it and who took the initiative? t WHEN did all this happen, and to what extent was the timing important? t WHAT happened as a result?

2. Include no more than five references. Each reference should include title, year of publication, name of author, and publisher.

3. Please provide a current contact address at the bottom of the article. This will also be published in the magazine. We would also appreciate a contact phone number for our own use.

The editor reserves the right to decide whether or not to publish an article or contribution after receipt of the first full draft. Articles that are accepted will be edited to the Baobab house style and shortened if necessary.

Contributions edited in this way will be returned to the authors for approval before publication. Articles accepted for publication in the Baobab may be chosen for translation in any of the six regional editions. We will endeavour to inform authors if their article appears in

t WHY did it work out as it did? (We appreciate opinions/analyses/conclusions relevant to field level, as well as recommendations for policy makers).

other editions.

t WHERE did the action take place?

Photos

Please Ensure that You

Pictures speak volumes. Two to four pictures relevant to what you have written must accompany your article.

1) Thoroughly read the call for articles and check that the article fits well with the theme being covered.

2) Explain any terms or ideas that may not be understood in every part of the world.

3) Acknowledge all sources and references used.

4) Explain any abbreviations used.

Full editorial support is provided. As the articles go through a rigorous editorial process, authors are usually requested to provide additional information or clarifications. We would therefore rather have too much information than too little in the first draft!

Format 1. Articles should be about 700 to 1000 words (one, two or three-page articles) and should be emailed to baobab@alin.net or smwangi@alin.net as a word document attachment.

32 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

Illustrations, drawings, or maps are also welcomed. Please provide the name of the photographer or artist. Please ensure the photos or illustrations are of suitable quality.

Send the pictures as attachments in jpeg format of at least 300kb and above. Also remember to include a caption outlining the people or activity in the picture.

Creative Common License Please note that we use the “Creative Commons License Attribution non-commercial share alike 3.0 unported’’ policy regarding copyright. We encourage free and open exchange of information. As such readers and authors are encouraged to copy and circulate articles from the Baobab quoting the source. In addition, this means that we may use submitted photos or text in our other publications. We will try to contact you and credit your work in accordance with the license.

Call for Articles Baobab Issue 61 Theme: Youth and Farming dealing with difficulties that young people face such as lack of access to credit and the steps being taken to solve them will be highlighted.

We welcome your suggestions for articles, articles, photographs, contacts of people you think have expertise in this area or ideas for topics you feel we need to address. Please write to Susan Mwangi, editor, on smwangi@alin.net by January 14, 2011.

Let Us Know by Sms!

Dear reader, In East Africa, the youth form the highest proportion of the population in a region that heavily depends on agriculture for food and income. Over the years, rural urban migration has been on the rise as young people move to cities in search of white collar jobs.

This has resulted in older people being the workforce in agriculture, which would benefit more from a younger, more energetic population.

Agriculture needs to be “attractive” again for the youth. The youth need to be encouraged to live, work and invest in farming for a food secure future.

Agriculture must also become more productive and profitable generating remunerative livelihood opportunities for rural youth.

The March 2011 issue of Baobab will look at the specific role which youth play or can play in farming.

It will address how young people can turn to agriculture, first as an income generating activity addressing their jobless status and second, as their role in being the bridge from the past to the future in family farming hence improving livelihoods.

We shall also look at the capacity of agriculture to “absorb” them, and provide them with work, income, and a decent livelihood. The role of technology in agriculture as it relates to the youth will be examined.

We shall also explore how the benefits that new information and communication gadgets bring to farming could facilitate more involvement of young people in agricultural activities. Approaches for

The short messaging service (SMS) option of getting in touch with the Baobab editorial team is back! Send us an SMS letting us know what you think about a certain article, suggestion for future articles or any other general comment.

To send an SMS, start with your name, gender, age, location, country, email, postal address followed by the letters BB, page number of article then your comment.

For Example Mwalimu Juma, M, 43, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, mjuma@yahoo.com, P.O. Box 123 Kwetu. BB. Page 17.

I increased my goats’ milk production by following your advice!

Or BB. Future article. How to do drip irrigation in an arid place BB. Comment. I received my copy of the Baobab!

BB. Question. How can I subscribe to the Baobab?

Send your sms to the number + 254 717 032 322

BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 33

Book Reviews -By Kendi Kiruki

Hidden Resources

INTRODUCTION TO AMARANTH, 2ND EDITION

Non Timber Forest Products for livelihood improvement and biodiversity conservation: documenting Kenyan experiences.

African Amaranth Institute Series

Many innovative and successful attempts to strengthen livelihood and welfare in poor and marginal areas have never been documented. They remain inaccessible even though they could be of great value to communities and households living in similar ecological and economic areas.

The book features case studies on how communities have come to realize the potential of their forests. It details how, by adopting specific NTFP (Non Timber Forest Products) activities, practices that lead to woodland degradation can be halted.

The NTFP initiatives featured are economically viable and contribute to livelihood security. They are also technologically appropriate, show awareness of current health, safety and environmental standards and are developed from sustainable resources in an ecologically sensitive way. Attention is also given to the social and economic impact of newly introduced NTFP activities.

The experiences recorded are intended to stimulate an innovative and constructive approach to environmental management particularly in those woodland areas threatened by increasing aridity.

Published by: AGROMISA, CTA & PELUM (Kenya) P.O. Box 6123-01000 Thika, Kenya pelumkenya@pelum.net, www.pelum.net www.agromisa.org www.cta.int

The book creates awareness about the benefits of grain amaranth and its potential to reduce total dependency on conventional medicine, reduce hunger, and improve the nutritional status of poor families. It highlights the role grain amaranth can play in reducing costs of healthcare and delves into how the crop can create wealth and help eradicate poverty. Overall, it seeks to stimulate action in exploiting the grain’s benefits for improvement of rural livelihoods.

The book is intended to be a tool for economic development rather than a text book or survey in agriculture. It has been written for dissemination of information about grain amaranth particularly to administrators, politicians, community leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs and health workers in Kenya as well as other parts of Africa.

The author has developed 137 varieties of amaranth seed out of which he has selected 20 varieties which are suitable for cultivation in all ecological zones of Kenya.

Davidson Mwangi P.O. Box 2504-00200 beatamaranth@yahoo.com

34 BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010

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Dear Editor

I am grateful that you send me Baobab magazines whose topics I find to be very important as they are related to economic development of our nations, but particularly addressed to farmers and extension workers. Please continue with this very important work and I request to be put on the mailing list so that I keep getting the Baobab issues regularly.

Thank you very much!

Gibutayi Mateba Department of Uganda, Mbale, Uganda

Dear Gibutayi Mateba,

Dear Editor

I acknowledge receipt of Baobab magazine Issue 58. I take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful work you have been doing. I also thank you for recognizing my presence as a reader and user of the publication which carries information on sustainable agriculture.

I have gone through it and it is a true picture of what happens in our communities. It is a good magazine for extension officers. I hope to organize community based facilitators (CBFS) in my area to take the information deeper through more than 70 farmers’ groups which we have been working with. I hope each of the groups will have a chance to subscribe for the magazine soon.

I request to receive the magazines on a regular basis.

Thank you.

Dr. Philip Wakimwere, Veterinary Department, Mbale Uganda

Dear Dr. Wakimwere,

Thank you for the continued interest in the Baobab magazine. We shall ensure we send you a copy of each publication to the address you provided.

Editor

Thank you for the continued interest in the Baobab magazine. We shall ensure we send you a copy of each publication to the address you provided.

Editor

Dear Editor,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued total support towards issuing of the Baobab.

I am a crops development officer cum agri-business development officer (divisional level) at Yathui Division, Mwala district.

The magazine has been of great assistance as far as execution of my duties is concerned. This is especially in training, field days and farm visits. It contains the relevant topics which are currently being advocated by the Ministry of Agriculture in order to uplift the livelihoods of the farming community.

Yours, James Nzue Musila, Iluluini A.I.C, Wamunyu Kenya

Dear Musila,

Thank you for the encouraging feedback on the Baobab magazine. The Baobab is keen to continue offering information that is helpful on sustainable agriculture hence improving livelihoods. Keep reading the Baobab for more resourceful articles in the future issues.

Editor BAOBAB ISSUE 60, DECEMBER 2010 35

“Every bit as important as new scientific knowledge, agricultural inputs, or technical training is the creation and delivery of all three through dynamic partnerships of farmers, communities, governments, researchers, and non-governmental organizations.’’

Lori Ann Thrupp. World Research Institute in the book New Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture

“The way we make progress...is like a compost mixer: Farmers and scientists work together, talk together, out in the fields learning together, mixed around and stirred up...and that way we come up with good new ideas!’’

Dr Anthony McMullen World Research Institute referring to importance of farmer- scientist partnerships

“To meet the long-term demand for food, it is necessary to have comprehensive risk management tools helping farmers in their business. We see public-private partnerships (PPP) as the strongest possible basis for an intelligent solution, in which farmers, government and the insurance industry work together’’ Lord Nicholas Stern at the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark outlining the essentiality of public-private partnerships. December 2009

“Farmers from the grassroots communities are a key part of food production. They should not be left out when there are discussions on sustainable agriculture and food security. Scientists and researchers also need their input if the partnership has to work.”

Francis Kiarahu, a farmer from Ng’arua, Rift Valley, Kenya during the AgKnowledge Share Fair in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. October 2010

ag r i cultures

NETWORK

Baobab is published by ALIN with support from ileia - The Centre for learning on sustainable agriculture. ALIN and ileia are members of AgriCultures, a global network of organisations that share knowledge and provide information on small-scale, sustainable agriculture worldwide.