AGRA

Since I started working for a non-profit organization, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is: “so, if you’re giving out free money, how do you measure your success and failure?”

This, of course, is a fair and relevant question.

Most foundations and NGOs operate as “grant-makers.” A grant is defined as a transfer of cash, goods or services for which no payback is required. In simple terms, that means the money is effectively free, well, sort of. The expected payout is not a “financial return,” but rather a social impact, such as improved health, better nutrition, increased agriculture yield and so on.

However, but if the money doesn’t have to be repaid, then how do foundations and NGOs make sure that those funds are not being misappropriated or wasted? How do they measure whether a grant is utilized properly and effectively to achieve the envisioned impact?

Or, in developmental speak, how do we carry out “Monitor and Evaluation (M&E)?”

M&E is a sophisticated subject and development organizations usually have specialized M&E teams. Monitor and evaluation can be implemented at an institutional level, for example, to examine whether the overall strategy is effective.  It can also be applied to a specific project where detailed where the goals and the process are determined in advance.

General M&E Challenges in the Developmental Sector

Needless to say, M&E is important for every developmental institution. Nevertheless, it’s extremely complex and sometimes even controversial. Some of the more common M&E challenges include:

• Insufficient funding: A comprehensive M&E study throughout a 3 year project requires a baseline survey, intermediary reporting and regular field visits, workshops, and stakeholder meetings, and, of course, a final report. As a rule of thumb, those M&E costs should be somewhere between 5% to 10% of the total project cost, but even that amount is sometimes seen as an expensive luxury.
• Inadequate planning: A good result framework, or project objective, starts with a well-knit “Theory of Change”(TOC). Theory of Change is a methodology that defines long-term goals and then maps backward to identify necessary preconditions and assumptions. However, not every project starts with a clear Theory of Change and the definition of performance indicators and process milestones. This is where that old saying “well begun is half done” really comes to mind.
• Causation or causality? Another key dispute when evaluating a project’s success is the difference between attribution and contribution. Attribution, or causation, is the idea that a change is solely due to your intervention, whereas contribution, or causality, is the notion that your influence is really just one of many factors that contribute to a change. It is almost impossible to attribute any outcome achievement in development to a single intervention, project or institution. For example, crop yield can be improved by using good seed varieties accompanied by appropriate field management, fertilization, and irrigation. However, natural conditions such as sunshine, temperature, and pests also affect the agricultural yield. Therefore, it is difficult to attribute “crop yield increase” to a single intervention such as improving accessibility of seeds to farmers.

While there are many general challenges associated with M&E in the development work, I have learned that M&E requires extra attention and efforts in the China-Africa development cooperation realm. The challenges that I have encountered in the project are on a micro-level, but these micro level M&E issues shed light on the reasons for skepticism, myths, and accusation on China-Africa Development Cooperation on a macro level.

M&E Requires Extra Attention and Effort in China-Africa Development Space

Earlier, I wrote about a China-Africa agricultural partnership in Mozambique that initially encountered quite a few difficulties that were eventually resolved. But among the challenges on this project was the difficulty in measuring success and evaluating the project’s overall impact.

There were two obstacles, in particular, that stood out in that project and are considering within the context of better M&E best practices, especially for Chinese stakeholders who are relatively new to these kinds processes in Africa:

Activity-oriented v.s. Impact-oriented:

The “Theory of Change” framework starts with the headline goals and then cascades the goals into objectives, outcomes, outputs, and activities. These higher-level goals define the overall impact intended for the project, for example, smallholder farmers’ livelihood improves; the mal-nutrition rate decreases; national food security improves. The lower level outputs are more tangible, measurable and actionable.

For example, if the goal of the project is to “improve smallholder farmer’s livelihood,” this is what would need to be done:

• The outcome would be to increase rice yield from 1 ton per hectare to 6 tons per hectare.
• The output would increase the adoption of the right type of fertilizer.
• The activity would be to conduct 4 farmer trainings to increase awareness per year.

And here’s what the cascade would look like:

Admittedly, as we discussed the difference between attribution and contribution (causation or causality), it’s impossible to attribute the high level impact to any single activity. So that’s why it’s important to have certain benchmarks throughout the course of the project, or activity-level goals, that serve as a form of oversight to make sure that funds are not misappropriated in any way.

And this is one area where international project management standards differ from those employed by Chinese development organizations.

The majority of Chinese development projects seem to only report on activities. If you read a brochure of seemingly any China-Africa project, it normally reads something like this:

“Organized most than 100 high-level agricultural demonstration and learning activities.” “dispatched 450 experts to African countries.”

“successfully experimentally raised 1000 broiler chickens.”

What’s lacking here is any reference as to what was actually accomplished that impact-level evaluation. The activity results are actually the easy part, so long as the project has enough funding and capacity.

But the bigger question, that often goes unanswered, is whether the farmers really learned how to use the methods and technologies that were demonstrated as part of the Chinese partnership?

Furthermore, even if they did learn about what to do and would like to adopt the new methods and technologies, would these subsistence farmers in a place like Mozambique even be able to buy the tools, fertilizers and seeds, and, if so, could they afford it?

By only focusing on the results at the activity level, the project runs the risk of overlooking eco-system factors and sustainability. So, whether these activities then translate into any kind of meaningful impact then remains an open question.

Lack of Private Sector Awareness

One of the biggest challenges in a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP), is that private sector players often lack awareness about the importance of M&E. It is not to say that a Chinese company wouldn’t have their own KPIs. The problem is that man of the Chinese companies KPIs focus primarily on revenue and cost, information that will be used in their income statement and balance sheet. But development projects don’t usually align with a standard profit and loss model. An entirely different set of data is needed instead, such as a farmer’s database or a training attendance sheet in order to measure whether a project meets its objectives.

For example, when I visited a Chinese company in the rice production and processing business, I asked them: “do you know whether the smallholder farmers that work with you have improved their livelihood?” One of the members of the staff proudly replied: “Totally! For example, there is one old lady. She lived in a small hut with thatching roof four years ago. Now she’s already building her first brick and mortar room!” Impressed by the story, I said: “That sounds fantastic! Do you have any photos or stories documented? Even better, do you have an overall record for income increase for all the 500 farmers who work with you?” He seems surprised: “Of course we don’t have that! I know it because the changes are happening before my own eyes!”

For a private company, it might seem unnecessary to note the age, gender, land area and income increase of each farmer but in the development sector, this kind of data collection is absolutely essential. Therefore we learned an important lesson about establishing M&E expectations and guidelines at the very early stages of any Chinese public-private partnership in Africa and also to set aside sufficient budget so as to train all of the relevant private sector stakeholders in how to properly conduct monitoring and evaluation throughout the life of the project.  

Telling the China-Africa Story Better Starts With M&E

Good M&E goes far beyond just implementing effective project management. In fact, there’s actually a lot at stake. China’s aid and development agenda on the African continent is under careful scrutiny and there is often a lack of objective and nuanced analysis. In order to paint a more accurate picture, we need evidenced-based knowledge generation and learning, and we need to start with better M&E. 

For many traditional donor countries such as OECD countries, development cooperation has existed for decades and evolved into an industry with a set of internationally recognized principles. In recent years, China has emerged as a “non-traditional” development partner with its own philosophies and methodologies. For example, the Eight Guiding Principle of China’s economic aid and technical assistance that was put forward in the early 1960s, are different and unfamiliar to the western donors. China also uses a different definition rather than official development assistance (ODA) which has been used by traditional donors for decades. Naturally, these differences result in skepticism and mistrust on China’s development intention and results. In order to build more trust and alignment in the multilateral system, China-Africa projects need to be self-critical and implement proper M&E to generate evidence in a transparent way.  

China also needs to systematically learn from past development efforts, to double down on our strengths and avoid known mistakes. Just two years ago, in April 2018, China formally established its first independent foreign aid agency: the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA). Compared to the long history of USAID (founded in 1961), DFID (founded in 1997), Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (founded in 1974), China still has a long way to go to build its institutional and technical capacity. Nevertheless, there are already plenty of lessons to be synthesized and learned. Since as early as 1950s, China has been sending out medical teams and providing product donations such as drugs, equipment and vaccines to most African countries. Chinese sponsored Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centers (ATDC) are located across the continent, the earliest ones built almost 12 years ago. There have been a lot of notable achievements, pockets of successes and also valuable lessons learned from failures that need to be documented and studied. A self-critical and objective evaluation framework is in urgent demand at this infant stage of building capacity for China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

Lu Xinqing is a Kenya-based Associate Program Officer at AGRA who focuses on developing and implementing strategic partnerships with China and strengthening African countries’ capacity to effectively leverage Chinese aid and investment to support agricultural transformation.

Originally published

Valério Vicente is a 39 years old farmer and more recently also a Community Agribusiness Entrepreneur (CAE/VBA) under the Otumiha consortium, who completed the 5^th grade before reverting full time to farming. He lives in Nioce village, Malema District, Nampula Province. Valério farms his family land since he was a child, cultivating mainly maize, beans and vegetables.

Valério grew up using the traditional cropping system of shifting cultivation planting local varieties of maize and beans usually getting relatively low yields. The only improved seeds he used to purchase were vegetable seeds that he planted during the cold dry season on his plot located in a low lying area which he is able to irrigate by gravity.

In December of 2017 (2017/2018 cropping season), Valério joined Otumiha project as CAE. The project trained him on Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) as well as post/harvest management.

Using the knowledge acquired from Otumiha support, Valério mobilized and assists 250 farmers, which he also trains on GAP, post-harvest management and advises on market dynamics.

The 2017/2018 cropping season

As part of his activities as CAE, Valério established maize and soybean demonstration plots using improved varieties and organized the farmers to visit the demonstration plots at various times. During these visits the farmers recognized the better performance of the improve varieties, especially the PAN53 hybrid from PANNAR.

During this cropping season he took the first steps in aggregation of product to sell to local traders. He was able to aggregate 12.9 tons which he sold for a margin of 0.5 MZN/kg with a total of 6,450 MZN (about USD 108) while he purchased 5 tons with his own money which he sold for a margin of 10,000 MZN (USD 167).

The 2018/2019 cropping season

In the cropping season 2018-2019, Valério contacted an agro dealer and bought 10 kg of PAN53, he used the seed to establish a half an ha of maize which he also fertilized with with 50 kg of YARA Cereal (23:10:5 Mg-2 S-3 Zn-0.3 at a rate of 100 kg/ha).

Besides, he also distributed 215 kits of small packs (50 g of maize and 200g of fertilizer) to his farmers’ network.

Although investing in improved varieties, Valério still had most of his farm planted with the local maize variety without fertilizer (about 3 ha).

During crop development stage, Valério begun to realize that PAN53 performed much better than the local maize.

As an active CAE Valério organized a field day to demonstrate the results of the improved maize variety and the added fertilizer application. The field day counted with the participation of 207 farmers (70 women). Valério showed the improved maize plot and compared it to the plot where he had the local variety. The participants were very impressed with what they saw. Together with the farmers maize yields were determined and the result further convinced the farmers of the good performance of PAN53. While PAN53 yielded 5.2 tons/ha the local variety only got 1.3 tons/ha.

He also bought 120 kg of maize seed from a local Agrodealers and was able to sell the whole lot to his own farmers and a neighboring CAE with a total profit of 1,800 MZN (30 USD).

During this season his aggregation efforts didn’t have much success because the SME he negotiated with end up without funds and he didn’t have enough time to find alternatives before the farmers sold everything.

However, he had good results from his own production. He planted 1 ha of local variety and 1 ha of PAN53 which yielded respectively 0.75 tons and 4 tons, with the improved variety yielding 5.5 times more than the local. After selling the 4 tons of improve variety at 10 MZN/kg he earned a total of 40,000 MZN (USD 670). With his earnings he managed to purchase zinc sheeting to cover his house, a second hand motorcycle, 2 solar panels, 1 second hand water-pump and 4 bags of fertilizer for the onion fields, school materials for his 5 kids and, he was finally able to do the “mwali” of his older daughter.

The 2019/2020 cropping season

Now that Valério is convinced about the advantages of using improved maize seeds, he plans to buy 50 kg of improved seed to increase his farm under improved seed from one (1) hectare to two (2) hectares. Likewise, some of farmers he supports asked and gave him cash to purchase 60 kg of PAN53.

Sebastião Jaquisson is a 32 years old farmer and produce trader who, lives in Chiuta village, Mecanhelas district, Niassa province. Jaquisson cultivates maize, sweat potato, and tobacco, and is involved in trading vegetables (buys and sells).

Jaquisson joined Otumiha project in 2017 as Community Agribusiness Entrepreneur (CAE). The project trained Jaquisson on Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), post-harvest management and market related issues. In the 2017/18 cropping season, Jaquisson used improved varieties of maize and soybean to establish demonstration plots in his farm. In that season, Jaquisson assisted about 250 farmers through training on GAP, post-harvest management, and by sharing experiences in the field days organized locally. Besides, with the additional training received, he also worked as an aggregator of produce for his farmer network. An interesting fact is that, in 2018/19, Jaquisson planted a demonstration plot of soybean on his farm for the first time. He and his fellow farmers were very much impressed with results attained by the soybean demonstration results. Thereafter, everyone started demanding for soybean seeds to grow in their own farms.

In 2017 Jaquisson joined the Otumiha project – funded by AGRA – as a Community Agribusiness Entrepreneur (CAE) and got involved in the management of Demonstration plots of Maize and Soybean, and in GAP technology dissemination to farmers, assisting 250 farmers.

As a CAE e started promoting product aggregation among the farmers assisted, linking farmers with product buyers. A very important event for the life of Jaquisson and the farmers he assisted was the success of the soybean demo and the good price it fetched, and decided to get involved with soybean production in 2018/19.

With the growing interest in soybean seed an imminent problem appeared. Chiuta had no agro-dealer and the nearest agro-dealer was based in Tóbuè village, 25 km away from Chiuta. This was aggravated because the Tóbuè´s agro dealer was not selling soybean seeds. Therefore, the only place to get soybean seeds was in Cuamba, 35 km away from Chiuta. This was a great challenge for Jaquisson and his farmers’ network.

On the other hand, Jaquissone realized that there was an opportunity to sell soybean seeds, because demand was there.

The fact that his village had no agro-dealers, the nearest agro-dealers was 25 km away and sold no soybean seed, and it was only found 35 km away in Cuamba, rather than becoming an unsurmountable problem, Jaquisson saw it as an opportunity and decided to become an AGRO-DEALER.

He approached Otumiha and applied and received a matching grant to begin his business as an agro-dealer. Today he sells seeds and other inputs and in the short life of his business already made 8000 MT profit.

Jaquisson had a successful application for USD 500 matching grant facility offered by Otumiha to become an agro-dealer to respond the demand for soybean seed in his village. As Jaquisson fulfilled two major selection criteria: (i) having a facility to use as retail shop and (ii) experience of managing small business, he was approved and trained on input storage and basic business skills. Then, he became an agro dealer.

Currently, Jaquisson is a CAE and agro-dealer. He trains his farmers as well he sells inputs such as soybean, maize and vegetable seeds, pesticides and other inputs. Since Jaquisson started his input business, he already made a 8,000 MT ($120) profit.

Zito Fazbem Impiro is a 23-year-old farmer with primary school diploma (7^th grade). He lives in the community of Chicopera, Gurué district, Zambézia province. Zito grows corn, soybeans, onions and beans.

In 2017, Zito joined the Otumiha project funded by AGRA as a Community Agribusiness Entrepreneur (CAE/VBA).

After successfully completing his training on GAP (Good Agronomic Practices), post-harvest technologies, product quality and aggregation, and business awareness, he became involved in the dissemination of new varieties of soybean and maize, and fertilizer through the distribution of small packs to the farmers he assists.

As a VBA he assists a total of 250 farmers. After mobilization, he begins by training them on Good Agricultural Practices with “learning-by-doing” at the demonstration fields he established with Otumiha’s support.

As a VBA, Zito began aggregating his farmers´ produce and making linkages with potential buyers. These linkages resulted in good sales that benefited the farmers and allowed him to earn a considerable commission which boosted young Zito’s business spirit.

In the 2017/2018 cropping season, Zito aggregated 500kg of beans and 40 jute-bags of onion (100-120 kg each) which he sold for 42 MZN/kg (0.70 USD/kg) and 4,000MZN/jute-bag (USD 67/jute-bag) of common bean and onions respectively, comparing to the going market prices of 40 MZN/kg (USD 0.67/kg) and 3,500MZN/jute-bag (USD 58/jute-bag) respectively. Zito received from his farmers the margin of 1MZN per kg of beans and 100 MZN per jute-bag giving him a total pay-out of 4.500 MZN (USD 75).

Zito used the value obtained from the margins and part of his money to bought a TV, 4 plastic chairs, 3 solar panels and 1 current inverter.

Zito noted that the relationship with his farmers was already well established. From there, he identified a promising business opportunity in the market of inputs, mainly seeds and pesticides, and began selling seeds and pesticides to his farmers in the 2018/2019 cropping season.

To jump start his seed business he bought 100 kg of maize seed at of 110MZN/kg and 250 kg of soybean seed at 25 MZN/kg, which he sold at 120 MZN/kg and 40MZN/kg respectively. With that he made a total profit of 4750 MZN (USD 80).

Zito also decided to get involved in the insecticide business by acquiring 6 mono-dosage vials (for ¼ ha) at 150MZN/bottle and resells the 250MZN/bottle and keeps the business alive by reinvesting his income by buying new stock and increasing the volume of the stock. Initially, he bought 16 vials, now keeps a revolving stock of 230 vials and already sold a total of 181 vials with a profit of 18,100 MZN (USD 300).

Zito noted that the relationship with his farmers was already well established. From there, he identified a promising business opportunity in the market of inputs, mainly seeds and pesticides, and began selling seeds and pesticides to his farmers in the 2018/2019 cropping season.

To jump start his seed business he bought 100 kg of maize seed at of 110MZN/kg and 250 kg of soybean seed at 25 MZN/kg, which he sold at 120 MZN/kg and 40MZN/kg respectively. With that he made a total profit of 4750 MZN (USD 80).

Zito also decided to get involved in the insecticide business by acquiring 6 mono-dosage vials (for ¼ ha) at 150MZN/bottle and resells the 250MZN/bottle and keeps the business alive by reinvesting his income by buying new stock and increasing the volume of the stock. Initially, he bought 16 vials, now keeps a revolving stock of 230 vials and already sold a total of 181 vials with a profit of 18,100 MZN (USD 300).

Rafael Fazenda Muramua 42 years old, is one from fourteen (14) Agrodealers engaged by the Otumiha project in Cuamba District. Rafael was born in Lurio locality very close to one of the largest rivers in Northern Mozambique. Due to the political instability during his youth he did not have chance to carry-on with his studies and still completed Grade 7.

For many years Rafael was growing cotton as his main cash crop and reached a position of promotor (lead farmer) within the cotton network.

However, cotton yields and prices were not enough for his liking and decided to expand into trading. Initially he was trading in second hand clothing which he considered to be very laborious and not very profitable due to very high local competition.

In 2012, Rafael engaged into a new business as retailer in a small shop located in Lurio. With 60.000 MZN (about USD 1,000) he made from a good year of cotton production and additional support from PROMER, an IFAD funded project, he was able to rehabilitate and improve his general trading shop, and invest in buying stock of different products such as food, hygienic products, farm tools, etc.

With his general trading business life improved but it was not enough to support his family with 7 school age kids.

In October 2018 a representative from JFS Cotton Company contacted Otumiha looking for partnership to sell Agricultural Inputs in the cotton concession zones in Cuamba. Otumiha accepted the invitation and engaged seven new Agrodealers with established businesses as local traders. Rafael was one of them.

Because of the good location of his shop, Rafael was the first being contacted and accepted the business challenge and dedicated a small unused side shop for this activity.

Through Otumiha (AGMARK) intervention, Rafael benefited from applied training in save use of agro-chemicals, product knowledge, business management including record keeping and basic accounting. After that he applied and benefited from a matching grant for the acquisition of stock amounting to USD 350 (about 21,000 MZN). As his contribution for the matching grant he not only allocated the shopping space, but also a new counter, shelves, and the stock of farm tools.

With the project support, he introduced stock, and well as purchase and sales control systems.

An important activity as an Agrodealer is the establishment of Demonstration Plots to promote the materials he sells. In 2018/19 after contacts with K2-Klein Karoo Seed Company and Yara Fertilizers, Rafael made is farm available and demonstration plots of maize, soybean and balanced blended fertilizers were established. Among the improved varieties demonstrated maize hybrids appeared to be very promising.

As a result from all his investments and the good quality of his work, in January 2019, Rafael received an in-kind credit of agricultural inputs from the cotton company to the value of 255.000 MZN (USD 4,000) to benefit mainly cotton farmers.

Rafael also negotiated an agreement with Casa do Agricultor which enables him to benefit from the 10% discount given to established (enrolled) Agrodealers and to place orders via telephone to a shop about 250 km away (in Nampula) and get it delivered within a week after the order.

Presently Rafael serves more than 1000 clients in the village of Lúrio and neighboring Mutuali who buy agricultural inputs and other products.

Message by Dr. Agnes Kalibata, AGRA President

[bctt tweet=”As an institution that works to improve the wellbeing of millions of Africa’s smallholder farmers, we are deeply concerned about COVID-19, the global pandemic that threatens so many of us.”] We continue to keep those that are affected in our thoughts and prayers and urge the rest of us to practice prevention measures as guided by governments and public health experts.

Each of the 14 countries that AGRA partners with, has imposed some degree of restrictions to protect the populations from the spread of the virus. This is clearly an important protective step, but we also need to consider the very real danger that the COVID-19 pandemic will leave in its wake, a food security crisis that could affect the political, social and economic health of African countries. Already over 250 million people in Africa are without food. These vulnerable populations will suffer more from both the short- and long-term effects of the pandemic. [bctt tweet=”According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Africa’s GDP growth is expected to drop from 3.2% to 1.8% which will likely increase the number of people without food. “]

As health workers battle to slow down the spread of the disease, all measures must be taken to ensure that people have food now, in the recovery period and beyond. If this is not done, COVID-19 will result in a food crisis that will affect poor people the most, in both rural and urban areas. It is obvious that we can protect the interests and well-being of the most vulnerable among us by ensuring farmers continue to do their work.  [bctt tweet=”Africa’s smallholders produce 80% of the food we eat. It, therefore, goes without saying that if they can’t farm because of COVID- 19, Africa will inevitably face a food crisis.”]

[bctt tweet=”At AGRA, we are committed to supporting governments and other partners in the countries where we work to support farmers to continue working on their farms”]There are very good lessons coming from across Africa and beyond and we will bring these to our countries as we go.  For example, the Indian Government has exempted agriculture and allied activities from the ongoing lockdown. Closer home, we commend efforts by the governments of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana and Ethiopia that are developing or already have guidelines to keep agricultural value chains alive even as they abide by public health guidelines. The Government of Ethiopia, for example, is finding ways to get inputs to farmers at lower prices than usual to ensure that all farmers have access to the right inputs. In Ghana, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has secured inputs, seed and fertilizer, for farmers through the government flagship Planting for Food and Jobs program. The government is also supporting rice millers with working capital so they can continue purchasing rice from farmers. In Kenya, the government will stock up cereals and pulses for use to mitigate the COVID-19 food security challenges. Additionally, the Village Based Advisors (VBAs) in the country have come up with creative ways of delivering government subsided inputs to farmers while educating them on COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Our collective duty now is to ensure that efforts like these are scaled up across the continent. At AGRA, we are committed to working with our partners and governments to support farmers, most of whom are women and youth; to plant, harvest, transport, and sell food without endangering their safety and that of others.  We will do this by working with governments to ensure that village-based agrodealers shops stay open to enable farmers access inputs at affordable prices. [bctt tweet=”We will also expand the role of the Village-based Advisors (VBAs) to continue providing extension services to farmers. To this end, we will equip the agrodealers and VBAs with safety equipment and information as well as step up the use of digital tools, mobile phones and radio to enable the VBAs reach farmers easily and safely.”] We are not being prescriptive but believe that we all have to do what it takes to support the farmers; doing nothing and wishing this pandemic away is not an option.  

In addition to our partner governments, we recognize the hundreds of implementing partners, we work with. We want to assure them that we remain fully committed to our partnership and are prepared to be as flexible and supportive as possible in how they organise their operations to deal with the pandemic while continuing to deliver. [bctt tweet=”My team and I are available to support them in all ways possible. Let us communicate openly about the challenges we are facing and work together to find ways of overcoming them.”]

In the long-term, this pandemic underscores the need for Africa to focus on agriculture transformation as its surest path to inclusive economic growth to build the resilience of its population. Our fragility with regards to food access is exacerbated by the fact that we import significant amounts of food, we depend on smallholder-led and rain-fed agriculture and we are in the midst of already existing shocks from climate change and locust invasions.  [bctt tweet=”As countries grapple with COVID-19, African countries must maintain laser focus the sufficiency of their food production. Together with our partners, we will carry on rolling out innovative ways and building partnerships to transform smallholder farming from a solitary struggle to survive to farming as a business that thrives. “]

In all these, leadership and coordinated action are required at global, national and local levels to find solutions for food systems that are responsive to and supportive of public health measures. 

Keep an eye on our website and social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube for more information on our responses that we will continue reviewing in line with updated guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the governments of the countries we operate in and public health experts.  

See our position paper on COVID-19 for more information on our response and recommendations to enable African governments, smallholders farmers and agri-SMEs cope with the pandemic: Link to the position paper

In whatever you do, whether working from home or office or out tending to your field, make sure to take measures that are critical to keeping you, your colleagues, family and the world safe. 

Stay safe, stay calm and God bless you all.

Apr 1, 2020 THANAWAT TIENSIN , AGNES KALIBATA, MARTIN COLE

Experts say the pandemic will unleash a food security crisis not seen since the Great Recession. As we learned during the 2008-09 Great Recession, governments – with the support of financial institutions, the United Nations, and others – can mitigate the risk of global food shortages and high prices.

ROME – COVID-19 has been slowly creeping into our communities. As we seek to ensure our families’ health and safety, to many people, food has never seemed so important, both as a source of nutrition and, for many, of comfort. The question is whether, as economic disruption continues, we can stave off a pandemic-related food crisis.

What and how we eat affects our health and wellbeing. We depend on farmers to continue working their fields, on supermarket cashiers to show up at their jobs, and on drivers to deliver our food to markets or front doors. But there are strains. In some places, nutritious food is becoming scarce. Among other concerns, food is being hoarded, leaving little on shelves for consumers.

All of us must act. We must work together to save lives, meet immediate needs through emergency responses, and plan for longer-term solutions to support recovery and build resilience. Governments and responsible leaders need to promote and protect reliable, safe, and affordable food supplies, especially for the world’s most vulnerable.

Read the full OpEd here

Ward Agriculture Officers in Kiambu County are currently working with 439 community-appointed Village-Based Advisors (VBAs) to improve agricultural Extension Service Delivery to 125,000 farmers. 

Kiambu County, a potentially productive part of Central Kenya, has been producing agricultural products for local and export consumption. Most of the residents of the County are also farmers, and farming is their primary source of income. However, crop productivity has reduced as the climate has changed, soil fertility has declined, and extension services are not available. Lacking up-to-date information regarding improved crop varieties can endanger their lives, food security, and source of income. 

Naomi Njoroge is the Ward Agriculture Officer (WAO) of Githiga Ward in Kiambu County. “The primary role of a WAO is to disseminate information to the farmers regarding good agronomic practices. In essence, the WAO is responsible for most of the crops in the area that he/she serves,” she says. 

Despite exercising their mandate and even with good intentions of the WAO, fulfilling this role is unachievable because, for example, Naomi has over 7,000 farmers that she has to teach.

“Even if I’d want to get to those 7,000 farmers in one year, it is next to impossible. However much I would try, it would be impossible to attend to all the farmers. I actually would like to pass on information about the good agronomic practices. A farmer calls me here, another one calls to another place and the other one somewhere else,” she adds with visible frustration. 

“Some need me to measure the trenches, others want me to analyse their soil; another wants me to diagnose what kind of crop diseases are in their farm; another one wants me to show them how to plant…how can I do it all alone?” she ponders the dilemma she has as a WAO.

This hectic and unattainable job is, however, now a thing of the past. This is after the County adopted a private sector-led Extension Approach involving self-employed Village-Based Advisors. The approach involves the WAO identifying and training up to 10 VBAs to disseminate knowledge about improved maize varieties and the best agronomic practices to farmers in their Villages. 

“The VBAs and the WAO undergo the same training and collaborate in supporting the farmers. I am now able to reach my 7,000 farmers through my VBAs,” she adds. 

The result of this much need support is that farmers can access information on good agronomic practices. Moreover, the farmer-extension service ratio is now acceptable to ensure no farmer is left behind. This makes farming a productive venture whereby farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor. This has also brought about a transformation in agriculture. It is no longer a struggling income-generating activity but a sure investment that the farmers can rely on. 

With the improved harvests, farmers have now become food secure and now can sell their surplus produce to access income to cater to education, health care, and other necessities that bring life in all its fullness. 

“With this new Extension Approach, I am very happy. As a Ward Agricultural Officer I feel I have not disappointed the farmers that I am not able to reach because the VBAs who are there helping me to do my work. It is a move that is most welcome, and our farmers are now celebrating,” she concludes.

Old age for some people tends to bring fond memories of good old days when they were younger; days of bloom and shine. Such is the story of Hannah Mberere who lives in Kiambu County in Kenya.

In fact she has seen when an average family had many acres of land for their subsistence and use. She has seen the population grow. Families have had to build more rooms or houses per homestead to accommodate them. She has also witnessed the land being subdivided amongst household members. 

Not only has average farm size decreased but productivity has also reduced.

“I have grown up in a farming community. I have seen the value of agriculture. It is the proceeds from agriculture that helped me raise all my children even after my husband passed away,” says Hannah. 

“We always had enough to eat with food to spare when I was young. This gradually changed, and the smaller harvest we got was never enough. We had to go and buy food from the market. It was a shift to our ways of doing things in my family. It became apparent that buying food was becoming a norm, and we even forgot what it is to have a bumper harvest,” she adds. 

“The 1980’s and 1990’s saw a great change in agricultural production, as climate changed and soil fertility declined. The varieties that we have always grown mature too late and they are often affected by drought. Agriculture became a struggle and we were not rewarded for our hard work,” she continues. 

Despite Hannah’s age, she still has a story to tell of great progress and change. This is after she was taught by her Village-Based Advisor (VBAs) in 2019. “It was an eye-opener. I was always a failing farmer because there were no professionals teaching me,” says Hannah amazingly. 

VBAs in Kiambu County are selected by the Kiambu County Government staff, and trained by staff from the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI), and  private sector Seed and Fertilizer Companies; to implement a private sector-led Extension Approach funded by AGRA which also provides technical advice.

“Since I was trained by my VBA, I have learned a lot, and I have been able to harvest good maize. The information from the training is useful because I have never before witnessed such a big yield. I was taught which was the best maize variety to grow on my farm, how correctly space seeds, and place manure and fertilizer. And the increased harvest is a testimony of that training,” Hannah adds. 

Now Hannah has adopted a new maize variety and better planting techniques and she has enough to eat and she also sells some of her harvests.  She no longer goes to the market every day to buy food. Her story is not unique because most farmers in her Village now have adopted the good agronomic practices. The result has transformed lives through a rediscovery of a neglected but now productive venture, agriculture. 

Matuguta Village of Kiambu County in Kenya has a rural appeal that is matched by the friendliness and pleasantness of its hardworking people. Farmers in this village have forged togetherness that is also motivated by discovery. Like a fire that spreads across a dry grassland, breakthrough news of new farming methods has spread all over the village, making it strange to hear of a farmer who has not adopted the new methods. Matuguta Village is 1 of more than 400 Villages where Village-Based Advisors (VBA) has made improved seeds and information on good agronomic practices more accessible.

Before, farmers were used to living by guesswork or erred misconceptions on what good maize production entails. This was because there were too many farmers compared to the few County Government Extension Officers (EO) available. Some farmers had not seen an EO for over two decades. 

Village-based Advisors, who are selected and trained by County EOs have helped farmers access extension services for the first time in many years. This has been done together with the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI), technical advice from AGRA, and private sector Seed Companies who provide improved seeds and fertilizers to VBAs for demonstrations.

It is in Matuguta village that a youthful farmer, Emily Wambui, is defying the odds to forge a future for herself. The 25-year-old graduate says she was inspired to study Applied Biology at University because she needed the knowledge of how to save lives using both health and nutrition, and agriculture. When she graduated in 2019, she heard about the work of her VBA and quickly became part of the new revolution that is transforming the lives of farmers in her County. 

“When growing up, I always wanted to be a doctor. In our villages, you see that children are suffering a lot due to poor health. Poor health comes from food insecurity and a lack of income to access proper medical care and nutrition,” Emily says, explaining her motivation for practicing agriculture.

Emily, who is committed to contributing to Kenya’s Vision 2030, says, “After I graduated from the university, I decided to venture into small-scale agriculture because food security is one of my country’s visions. I saw the value of the rural areas. That is the source of the food for the cities. I wondered, where will the food in the city come from if all youths run to the city to look for jobs? Certainly, someone must fill the gap and feed the masses. That is where farming comes in, and that is what I needed to do.”

Equipped with a childhood dream for healthy communities and an income generation desire, Emily decided to start farming. At first, it was not easy because traditionally, in her community, women don’t access land. She asked her father to provide her with a small piece of land where she used the small samples pack of seed of improved maize varieties that she got from her VBA after a training session in her village. To her surprise and awe, the few seeds she planted yielded a massive harvest. 

“The VBA was giving small sample packs of seeds of new varieties for the farmers to experiment with. So I took a small pack of seeds, it was around 50 seeds. When growing up, what I used to see was one maize cob per plant. But when my maize matured, I could see two to three cobs per stem. Not only were they more, but they were also healthier and took less time to grow.” She adds. 

With her harvest, Emily has been able to add to the family food basket as well as visit orphanages and donated some maize.

“I managed to convince my dad that good agronomic practices together with a new improved variety can give us more. Next planting season, he too will adopt the seeds of the variety I have used,” she says. 

With the results she has got, Emily has decided to entirely focus on agriculture as her full-time job. “I don’t need to go and look for a job in an office. I think I will be fully satisfied with agriculture.” She says with satisfaction.