Africa’s population is growing and Agnes Kalibata makes sure that African farmers have what they need to grow enough food, like modern technology and improved seeds.
Effective extension services to accelerate agricultural development
Tamale (N/R), Jan. 23 – Mr Theophilus Osei Owusu, Acting Director, Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services (DAES), has said an effective extension system is vital for an effective and efficient use of agricultural technologies to accelerate agricultural development.
He said to ensure a successful agricultural transformation in the country, extension systems would play a significant role in the disseminations and adoption of agriculture technologies by smallholder farmers to increase production.
Mr Owusu was speaking at a stakeholders’ workshop in Tamale to launch the Ghana Extension Systems Strengthening Project (GESSiP) – aimed at increasing productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers.
He said “we cannot do without effective and efficient extension services if we want to accelerate our agricultural development”.
Mr Robert P. Ankobiah, Chief Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), said government’s flagship programme of Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) is established on the principle of providing dedicated agriculture extension services to farmers for increased production.
He said agriculture extension services in the country has gone through transformational changes over the years from Training and Visit System (TVS) to the concept of Transfer of Knowledge by Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) to reaching farmers with information.
He said the sector is faced with challenges, which MoFA intends to adapt to strategies that would ensure the effectiveness of agricultural extension system in the country to offer support to farmers to increase production.
Mrs Carolyn Edlebeck, Head of Programmes, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), said the project is aligned with CRS new agency strategy of ensuring that farmers achieve a dignified and resilient livelihood in a sustainable landscape of creating ‘pathways out of poverty’.
She said the GESSiP project would alter traditional behavioral practices of farmers as well as establish a new standard for extension delivery systems to support farmers to realize their full potential to increase yield.
Dr. Rafaro Madakadze, Senior Progamme Officer, Extension and Capacity Building at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said the project would offer farmers a unique opportunity to learn on improved agricultural technologies through demonstration by self-employed Village Based Advisors (VBA).
She said the project would complement Government’s flagship programme of PFJ by providing effective extension services to smallholder farmers to strengthen their capacity in good agronomy practices, improved technologies of seeds, fertilizers, and financial literacy services.
Dr. Madakadze said a consortium of implementing partners of the project would partner key private sector players within the agriculture Diaspora for a collective and effective implementation of the projects to address challenges of smallholder farmers for increased yield.
The GESSiP is a three-year project implemented by CRS, MoFA, DAES, The Hunger Project (THP) and Farmerline aimed at increasing productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers within 28 targeted districts.
The projects target 672,000 smallholder farmers as well as 2,240 trained and certified VBA to be implemented by THP in the Brong Ahafo and CRS in the Northern Region with improved technologies of seeds, fertilizers, good agronomy practices and financial literacy services.
The project funded by AGRA aims to catalyse and sustain inclusive agricultural transformation to increase incomes and improve food security by promoting and strengthening extension services delivery in the country.
Partnering for Africa’s Century: Innovation and Leadership as Drivers of Growth and Productivity in Rural Areas
There is no doubt that Africa is already on an upward trajectory. Per-capita income in sub-Saharan Africa grew by 35% between 2000 and 2014 and poverty rates are falling, with the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day declining from 54% in 1990 to 41% in 2013.
Most of this growth has come in countries that have prioritized agriculture. For example, 25 years of steady growth in Ethiopia’s farm sector cut rural poverty rates in half and in Rwanda, poverty has reduced by 25 percent over the same period powered by a growing agricultural sector. The result of this progress is jobs and improved livelihoods for millions of African families.
Of course, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Despite the progress we are seeing, the agriculture sector is still largely underdeveloped. Productivity remains below potential due to inadequate use of yield improving technologies like high-quality seeds, limited access to finance, inefficient markets, limited rural infrastructure and gaps – notably in women access to resources such as inputs, land, labour, and extension services.
These challenges are compounded by a sub-optimal policy environment and an inability to prepare for and respond to shocks and stresses. As a result, the continent’s annual food import bill – now at 40 billion US-Dollar – not only remains high and continues to grow.
Evidence that Africa can grow its agriculture and improve rural livelihoods abound.
For the continent to develop, we must unleash the potential of millions of Africans, most of them small scale, that earn their livelihoods from agriculture and agribusinesses, and provide about 80 percent of the food and agricultural products consumed across the continent.
Evidence that Africa can grow its agriculture and improve rural livelihoods abound; as seen in other regions that built modern economies by first strengthening their agricultural sector for inclusive economic growth and jobs creation. Take China for example. Agriculture transformation there kickstarted a rapid decline in rural poverty, from 53 percent in 1981 to 8 percent in 2001. Vietnam, the other example, cut poverty from 56 percent in 1986 to 3 percent in 2018 through dedicated investments in its agricultural sector.
Africa in charge of its own future
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) – a farmer-centred, African-led institution – is committed to transforming the continent’s agriculture as the surest path to inclusive economic growth. We see innovation-driven and sustainable productivity increases, and access to innovative finance and markets, as the key. In our strategy for 2017-2021, we are working with our partners to support 11 African countries and 30 million smallholder farmers households to increase their incomes and improve their food security.
We do not seek to replicate food production strategies from Asia, Latin America, or anywhere else. We are pursuing a uniquely African green revolution tailored to the needs and aspirations of our people, the diversity of our continent and the challenges faced by African farmers, a majority of whom are smallholders.
Has this worked? Let’s look at the evidence.
Since our founding in 2006, we have worked with governments and partners in 18 countries to give farmers access to yield increasing technologies like locally adapted seeds, targeted and judicial fertilizer use and access to markets. Through this work, over 15 million farm families now have access to inputs, training, financing, and markets, enabling them to utilize their farms to generate better lives for their families.
We have invested in the training and capacity building of about 700 scientists in crop breeding, soil fertility management and policy formulation in African universities at the MSc and PhD levels. Research by these scientists, combined with that of their colleagues in the national research institutes and in the African universities has, in the last ten years, generated over 650 new crop varieties with traits specifically selected for local growing conditions and that address local farmers needs including drought and pest resistance, increased yields and higher nutrient content.
Having grown up in the local conditions, these scientists know best what crops farmers need. One such scientist from Uganda, for example, developed a bean variety that is more nutritious and that, importantly, cooks faster. This was based on her experience growing up and having to walk long distance looking for firewood as well as spending a lot of time keeping watch over her mum’s pot as the beans cooked thereby missing school.
Having grown up in the local conditions, these scientists know best what crops farmers need.
Work to improve soil health have reached almost 6 million smallholder farmers and revived 1.6 million hectares of badly depleted croplands through our integrated soil health improvement program.
To deliver these technologies to farming communities, we have supported the establishment of thousands of local African agriculture businesses, including nurturing 112 African seed companies that have significantly increased local seed production from 2000 tons in 2007 to close to 800.000 tons in 2017 for about 15 crops that are important to African farmers. These seed companies and other input business work with agro dealers – small shops in rural areas – that make the last mile contact with farmers. AGRA has helped set up over 35,000 such shops in the countries where it works. Combined with investments by our partners, this work has reduced the distance the farmer walks to the shop from over 50 km to an average of 11 km in the last ten years.
Partnerships with farmers’ associations, financial institutions and small- and medium-sized African-owned agribusinesses have helped African farmers sell some 750.000 tons of produce at a 10 to 50 percent price premium.
Government-led transformation
Based on the lessons we have learned from our first decade of existence, we believe that governments are critical in driving national and regional agriculture transformation. Africa’s future will depend on committed and innovative leadership and regular and rigorous measurement to drive the growth required for agricultural transformation. As the Chair of my organization’s Board of Directors, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa recently said a at high-level event at the German Ministry of Development with the German thought leadership in both public and private sector in Berlin- no amount of money or foreign assistance will transform Africa. The continent’s development will be led and delivered by Africans albeit with a little help from friends and partners.
With this understanding, we have decided to work with governments and other key players to identify and articulate capacity gaps, propose evidence-based interventions and make investments to strengthen countries’ state capability to deliver for their citizens.
It is now beyond doubt that Africa’s development sits with African leaders.
It is now beyond doubt that Africa’s development sits with African leaders. In instances where governments take charge, progress follows. Ghana, a key focus country for AGRA, is an examples of countries that have advanced. Its signature Planting for Food and Jobs program raked in GH¢1.2bn (US$ 270,276,000) in crop value and created 745,000 jobs in its first year alone.
Therefore, AGRA advocates for an approach where all interventions – by us, our partners and anybody else involved in the industry – should be guided by and aligned with government’s priorities and vision for the agricultural sector. The evidence we are seeing is that countries are committed to doing what is right for their citizens. The only constrain they face is capacity inadequacy in an area where science and evidence are critical to driving progress.
Set up AGRA as an African institution with one of the largest collection of African agricultural experts mostly from the continent who understand the challenges their countries face and are committed to work with others from around the world to bring solutions Africa’s most pressing challenges and to helping governments address their capacity gaps.
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Partnerships
Achieving the ambitious goal of a food secure Africa, buttressed by a thriving agribusiness sector, requires working with strong and committed partners across governments and the private sector.
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is one such partner. Through its ONE WORLD – No Hunger initiative, it invests around EUR 1.5 billion annually in food security and rural development. This includes EUR 10 million to co-finance AGRA’s five-year strategy to increase productivity, combat hunger, create jobs and raise the incomes of 1.2 million smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso and Ghana.
This partnership with BMZ along with their investments in GIZ and KfW is helping strengthen the adoption of sustainable productivity-enhancing technologies, reducing post-harvest losses, connecting farmers to stable markets and strengthening the enabling environment – including by working with financial institutions to increase farmers access to financing.
BMZ’s investment through this partnership is supporting the strengthening of African governments, and is growing SMEs and public institutions that deliver better services to farmers for increased productivity, economic growth and jobs creation.
Conclusion
There is no reason why this should not be Africa’s century. Committed governments, an enabling environment for private sector engagement and strong partnerships will be crucial to seizing this moment to drive inclusive economic growth and to create jobs and opportunities in the rural areas.
We welcome and appreciate BMZ’s leadership and particularly the work done through the ONE WORLD – No Hunger initiative as well as the Compact with Africa both of which have fostered a relationship with Africa based on a mutual partnership as opposed to the traditional, project-related cooperation. Overall, we recognize the significant leadership role the German Government, private sector, implementing organizations, and civil society have played in supporting Africa’s agricultural and rural development in recent years.
AGRA Chair, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, Tops Global Facebook Engagement List 2018
Buzzsumo, the powerful tool that assess the popularity of online content, has listed Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, CEO of Econet Wireless and AGRA Board Chair as the world’s leader in Facebook engagement for 2018.
The tool looked at 777 Million Facebook posts to find the most engaging pages, brands, and videos for 2018 with Mr. Masiyiwa emerging top with 34 posts in the top 500. The total engagements across all his posts were a whopping 63,142,841 which is a major feat considering that the top 500 posts analysed by Buzzsumo represent nearly 1 Billion total engagements. Engagement, in Facebook terms, are the interactions on your posts on Facebook including likes and the rest of reactions, shares, comments – both positive or negative, and even the clicks made by users. In other words, an interaction would be any action that the user performs in relation to your brand or content.
“Other than being the most engaging posts on Facebook, Mr. Masiyiwa’s content which was mainly mini-blogs was an exception to the 2018 trend where videos were generally more engaging” Stated Buzzsumo.
His posts seem to focus on Masiyiwa’s vision for Africa reflecting one of the five reasons people share content on Facebook according to a New York Times study cited by Buzzsumo: Sharing content to raise awareness about an issue.
Mr. Masiyiwa has been holding a series of town halls with African youth that are live streamed on his Facebook page. He has used these town halls that have become very popular to inspire young African leaders to get involved in driving inclusive economic growth on the continent as well as to explore opportunities for the young leaders’ engagement in the development of the continent.
PRESS RELEASE: Nominations Open for 2019 Africa Food Prize
Nairobi, January 15, 2019: Nominations open today for the 2019 Africa Food Prize, an award that recognizes individuals and institutions that are leading the effort to change the reality of farming in Africa—from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.
The US $100,000 prize celebrates Africans who are taking control of the continent’s agricultural agenda. It puts a spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to create a new era of food security and economic opportunity for all Africans.
Agriculture is Africa’s largest economic sector, representing 15 percent of the continent’s total GDP. The industry employs about 70 percent of the continent’s population with smallholder farmers contributing up to 80 percent of the food consumed in the continent.
This is not withstanding the perennial under-utilisation of the vast resources in the continent, including over 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land – 60 percent of the global total. A direct consequence of this under-exploitation of resources is the inability of Africa to produce enough to feed its ballooning populations leading to a constant reliance on international aid.
The Africa Food Prize recognizes the efforts of all those that are converting these challenges into opportunities to create wealth and jobs for the continent, its economy and people.
Winners are selected by the Africa Food Prize Committee, an independent body of preeminent leaders that is chaired by the former Nigerian President, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo. The other committee members are Mr. Birama Sidibe, Dr. Eleni Z. Gabre-Madhin, Prof. Joachim von Braun, Amb. Sheila Sisulu, Prof. Sheryl Hendriks, Dr. Vera Songwe, and Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg.
“The past years’ prize winners show that the continent has strong agricultural leaders that are transforming the sector to create wealth and jobs for the youth . We are grateful to the public for helping us to identify and recognise the best among us once again through the Africa Food Prize.”
Last year, the 2018 Africa Food Prize was awarded to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for its leadership in generating agricultural research and technologies that have improved food security, nutrition, and incomes for millions of people across Africa; and for its consistent innovation to find new solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges of youth unemployment, climate change, and pests and diseases.
Kenyan professor Ruth Oniang’o and Malian Mme Maïmouna Sidibe Coulibaly were jointly recognized in 2017 for their exemplary efforts in driving Africa’s agriculture transformation. Prof. Oniang’o was recognized for her pioneering leadership in academia, research, and policy to improve food security and nutrition for millions in Africa; and for her groundbreaking work, with farmers’ groups and rural communities, that connects agriculture and nutrition both in research and practice.
Mrs. Coulibaly, an entrepreneur and agro industrialist from Mali, was feted for for her illustrative business success in producing, packaging, and distributing improved and high-yielding seeds that have significantly improved the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers throughout Mali and West Africa; and for her inspiring combination of world-class business practices and sound technical skills exemplifying the best of Africa’s agri-business sector.
In its inaugural year, 2016, the Africa Food Prize award was given to Nigerian Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, the former President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Dr. Nwanze was recognized for his outstanding leadership in putting Africa´s smallholder farmers at the center of the global agricultural agenda.
Deadline for nominations is Tuesday, May 14, 2019 and the winner will be announced at a high-profile award ceremony at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) this September in Accra, Ghana.
Contacts
For media inquiries, please contact Waiganjo Njoroge, AGRA Interim Head of Communications at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270
Notes to Editors
All media materials related to the opening of the Africa Food Prize nominations can be found at www.africafoodprize.org. Follow the conversation at @AfriFoodPrize and share content using #AfricaFoodPrize.
About the Africa Food Prize
The Africa Food Prize began as the Yara Prize, and was established in 2005 by Yara International ASA in Norway to honor achievements in African agriculture. The Yara Prize recognized individuals from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mozambique for their success in making African farms more productive, profitable and resilient. Past winners include Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the former Nigerian Agriculture Minister who now heads the African Development Bank (AfDB); Dr. Agnes Kalibata, the former Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda who now serves as AGRA’s President; and Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Moving the Yara Prize to Africa in 2016 and rechristening it the Africa Food Prize gave the award a distinctive African home, African identity and African ownership.More at africafoodprize.org.
Savings but no title deed? Loans help Kenyan women turn idle land into gold
TULUROBA, Kenya, Jan 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For the women of Tuluroba village’s self-help group, the goal was simple: use their combined savings to buy cattle, fatten them and sell them to the beef industry for slaughter.
But there was a problem.
“We had no land to graze the cattle. Nor could we obtain a loan from a bank to buy land, because as women we do not own title deeds,” said Fatuma Wario, who chairs the 13-strong group.
That is common. Few women in Kenya have land title documents, and few are getting them: since 2013, less than 2 percent of issued titles have gone to women, the Kenya Land Alliance, a non-profit, said in March 2018.
And because getting a loan from a mainstream bank requires collateral – typically in the form of a land title document – most women are locked out of the chance to start a business.
In the end, the women of the HoriJabesa group borrowed money from an institution that loans money to women’s groups without requiring land title. Instead, the cash from their savings underwrites the loan.
In Wario’s case, that meant switching their savings account to the bank that was prepared to extend a $1,000 loan. Using that money and some of their savings, “we bought cattle and hired land to graze our stock”.
That was in 2017. Doing so meant the group could rent 10 acres (4 hectares) of pasture at a cost of 30,000 Kenyan shillings ($300) annually.
Interest on the loan is 12 percent per year. In their first year they earned $10,000 from their investment – with each fattened head of cattle bringing in a $30 profit.
THOUSANDS BENEFIT
The first step for Wario’s group was to become a partner with the Program for Rural Outreach of Financial Innovations and Technologies (PROFIT), which is funded by the U.N International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
David Kanda, an adviser at the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation who has seen the impact PROFIT has had on women like Wario, said about 60 women’s groups in eastern Kenya alone were benefiting from the PROFIT program.
“Apart from livestock enterprises, the programme also supports women to do poultry and bee-keeping on hired land.”
The programme began in December 2010 and is scheduled to run until June this year. After that, it will be evaluated with an eye to continuing it, an official from AGRA said.
Getting a loan requires that the person be an active member of an agribusiness network. She can then apply to a farmer-lending institution for a loan as an individual – in which case her share in the agribusiness network is her collateral – or with her group, as Wario’s collective did.
The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), a government agency, is one such lending institution.
To date, said Millicent Omukaga, AFC’s head of operations, more than 40,000 women in Kenya have benefited from non-collaterised loans. None of those loans has gone bad.
“Our aim is to double the number … of women beneficiaries. But the overall aim is to see them financially empowered so that they can fight for their land rights.”
GRASS BOUNTY
That has proven the case for Mabel Katindi, a widow who lives in Kathiani village in Machakos county, 195 kilometres south of Wario’s village.
The 42-year-old lost her husband a decade ago. Since then she has had to fight off relatives trying to chase her and her three children from the one-acre plot she inherited.
The problem is that her late husband did not have a title deed. As it is ancestral land, it fell under one title deed held by the eldest member of his family, she said.
And without title, Katindi could not get a loan to finance money-earning ventures on her acre.
“Our land is not very good for growing food crops because the rains are not enough. Feeding my children alone has been the most difficult task,” she said.
But after joining the local women’s organisation in 2017, Katindi learned that, as an active member of the agribusiness group, she could use her share to apply for a loan.
In March of that year she borrowed 50,000 shillings from a savings and credit cooperative, and used that to plant drought-resistant brachiaria grass on half an acre of her land.
The grass has thrived, she said.
“Demand for the grass is very high because it makes cattle produce a lot of milk. It also does not require a lot of rain to grow,” said Katindi.
Each bale of grass earns up to 300 shillings, with the half-acre generating 100 bales each year. She uses the other half-acre to grow staple foods for the family.
“My children are all in school. I do not have to worry about feeding them,” Katindi said, adding that the financial returns from the loan had also helped to mend relations with her late husband’s family.
“I even use some of my money to support the relatives who wanted to chase me away from the land.”
(CREDIT: Reporting by Kagondu Njagi, Editing by Robert Carmichae, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Irrigation doubles African food production
Food production in Africa still relies almost exclusively on rain-fed agriculture, leaving farmers and rural communities vulnerable to increasingly erratic rainfall patterns and extreme climate conditions.
Yet there is vast potential to scale up irrigation, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa, to increase crop yields and improve resilience to climate shocks, the report finds.
Although irrigation in Africa has the potential to boost agricultural productivities by at least 50 percent, food production on the continent is almost entirely rainfed. The area equipped for irrigation, currently slightly more than 13 million hectares, makes up just 6 percent of the total cultivated area.
Water-Wise: Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa, launched at the Malabo Montpellier Panel Forum, highlights success stories from six African countries where greater levels of irrigation have led to better and longer harvests, higher incomes and better prospects for farmers.s.
Analysing best practices from Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Niger and South Africa, the report authors find yields from irrigated crops can be double or more of comparable rain-fed yields on the continent. Moreover, the economic benefits of expanding areas under irrigation are estimated to be double the costs under climate change.
“This report shows the great potential for irrigation to improve agricultural output across Africa,” said the Right Honorable Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima, Vice President of Malawi and co-chair of the Malabo Montpellier Forum, which is presenting the report at its meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
“The analysis shows that there are lessons we can learn from our neighbours within the continent itself. Malawi is committed to expanding the area of arable land under irrigation and has already seen incomes rise by up to 65% where farmers participate in irrigation schemes.”
Just six per cent of cultivated land is currently irrigated in Africa, compared to 14% in Latin America and 37% in Asia.
The report authors found several common features among the countries that have made significant progress in expanding irrigation, and offered nine recommendations to help others meet food security and nutrition targets under the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Malabo Declaration.
“Dedicated, effective government institutions and significant increase in public investment for irrigation programs are critical,” said Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Malabo Montpellier Panel co-chair and Africa director for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
“In addition, interventions aimed at easing access to finance and building skills for operation, repair and maintenance of equipments are some of the key factors that have enabled countries to make considerable progress.
“Partnership with the private sector and farming communities and improved regulations for safe and sustainable use of water, are other driving factors.”
The report highlights the business case for irrigation development, pointing out that in the most vulnerable parts of Africa, irrigated agriculture also means farmers can extend the growing season, increase productivity and incomes, and improve their livelihoods.
In Niger, one of the countries with the fastest pace of irrigation expansion, up to 20 per cent of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) is generated through irrigated agriculture.
“Two things need to come together in smart irrigation: first, robust technology that saves water and energy and can be sustained locally, and second, sound and fair local organizations with women and men farmers in the lead of their irrigation,” said Professor Joachim von Braun, Malabo Montpellier Panel co-chair and director of the Center for Development Research at Bonn University, Germany.
“Assuring both of these conditions call for wise policy design, not just top down directives, and the income opportunities will be attractive for rural youth.”
But report authors reiterated that expansion must be planned carefully to avoid adverse impacts on the environment and human health.
“We must elevate irrigation to a top policy priority to bring it to scale as a key ingredient to ensure the continent’s food security in the face of more extreme weather conditions,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, former agriculture minister for Rwanda and a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel. “We need to scale new models that put emphasis on farmer-led irrigation to scale household level resilience to shocks.
“Whether small-scale and farmer-led or large-scale, it is crucial that any irrigation systems and technologies supported by governments or the private sector will need to be designed to fit local environments and meet the needs of smallholder farmers.”
The Malabo Montpellier Panel convenes 17 leading experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition and food security to guide policy choices by African governments to accelerate progress towards food security and improved nutrition in Africa.
The Panel identifies areas of progress and positive change across the continent and assesses what successful countries have done differently. It then identifies the most important institutional innovations and policy and program interventions that can be replicated and scaled up by other countries.
It is hosted by the West and Central African Office of the International Food Policy Research Institute, the University of Bonn and Imperial College London and is headquartered in Dakar Senegal. It is co-chaired by Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director at IFPRI and Professor Joachim von Braun, Director, Center for Development Research, University of Bonn.
The Malabo Montpellier Forum provides a platform to promote policy innovation by using the evidence produced by the Panel to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African agriculture, nutrition and food security.
Meetings of the Forum are guided by the technical reports prepared by the members of the Malabo Montpellier Panel. It is co-chaired by the Right Honourable Saulos Klaus Chilima, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi and His Excellency Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, Minister of State for Planning and Development of the Republic of Benin.
Green Agriculture: Moroccan Agriculture Minister Mr. Akhannouch receives Dr. Kalibata
Mr. Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture of Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests received December 17 at the headquarters of the Ministry in Rabat; Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa).
During this exchange, the two officials discussed several issues related to the sustainability of agriculture in Africa. The discussions concerned the AAA initiative, an initiative for the Adaptation of African Agriculture, promoted by Morocco and presented at COP22. This meeting was also an opportunity for both parties to share their vision of the operationalization of this initiative whose objective is to put African agriculture at the heart of climate negotiations and to promote the implementation of solutions.
Dr. Kalibata congratulated Morocco for its commitments to the development of sustainable agriculture in Africa, particularly through this initiative that gives shape to action in this area. In this regard, it recalled that Morocco serves as a model for several African countries, given its recognized experience and its permanent commitment to the sustainable management of a vital sector, such as agriculture.
For his part, Mr. Akhannouch reiterated Morocco’s support for various efforts in this direction, and stressed the important role of AGRA, as a key player in the transformation of the agricultural sector and the system. in Africa, in a manner that is consistent with local conditions while paying particular attention to the protection of the environment.
Livestock business helps Isiolo women pay fees, medical bills
Women in Isiolo county are taking up the male-dominated business of livestock keeping. One of the groups, Horrijabesa Self-Help Group, buys emaciated animals from other livestock keepers for less than Sh40,000.
Fatuma Wario, the chairperson, says the animals are fattened for two to three months. Then they are sold at Sh43-45,000 to the local market every Friday.
“We lease land and keep the animals to fatten. We deworm and vaccinate the animals and ensure they have enough pasture to feed for two to three months before we sell them,” she says.
Fatuma says they make a profit of Sh2-3,000 from one animal, and the profit is shared among members. In a good month, they make Sh50-70,000 from the sale of animals.
The group was registered in 2004. The 16 members have been trained on savings, record keeping, developing business plans and starting other businesses. This is thanks to the Programme for Rural Outreach of Financial Innovation and Technologies (PROFIT) supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and IFAD.
“We share the profits among ourselves, and members can also access loans to meet their needs, such as paying schools fees or hospital bills,” Fatuma says.
“I got an emergency loan of Sh50,000 to take my husband to India for treatment. This is something I could not have afforded on my own.”
She was speaking to the media during a field visit to Isiolo last Friday but one.
In 2014, her husband was diagnosed with a heart problem, and he needed nearly Sh1 million to have an operation in India.
The members save Sh20 every Sunday, enabling them to support their children instead of relying on their husbands. Fatuma has bought about 10 sheep from her savings.
THEFTS AND DROUGHTS
Group member Mohammed Wario says the name Horrijabesa was derived form the Borana language. Horri means wealth in Boranna and jabesa means safeguarding wealth.
Wario is among three men who were incorporated into the group to help take care of the animals in case they travel far in search of pasture.
His work is mainly on technology. He takes pictures of the animals and sends them to clients on WhatsApp or developing business plans for the group.
He counts among their problems climate change and insecurity. Five of their animals were stolen in February.
“We reported to the authorities but no action has been taken,” Wario says.
“Due to drought, we are forced to take our animals far to look for pasture. Last year, we had about 28 animals and only nine remained. We sold the animals to the Kenya Meat Commission at Sh15,000 each, but we are yet to be paid.
Early this year, the group improved its savings in the bank from Sh26,000 to Sh160,000.
“We have taught them power of saving. We have taught them saving from as low as Sh10 to Sh100 per day can improve your life tremendously,” Wario says.
The women have also started other income-generating ventures, such as growing kitchen gardens, where they sell vegetables to members and residents at a small fee.
CAMEL MILK PRODUCTION
Women from Galesa Self-Help Group are making a killing from the sale of camel milk. Sadia Mohammed, the secretary, says the group has 25 camels from different villages and wards in Isiolo.
Prior to the group’s formation, members used to buy and sell camel milk in Isiolo town.
“Most of the milk would get spoiled and the group members would make losses, sometimes earning little income, which was used for household expenses. The group was recruited in a VSF (veterinarian sans frontier Swiss) programme in 2014 and given 25 young camels,” she says.
The group’s leadership was dominated by men, and women could not make any significant contribution.
“The male officials later embezzled their contributions and left, and the group fell apart. The women were frustrated and almost gave up. SNV team showed up in June 2017 at a crucial time, when the group was focused on rejuvenating and reorganising itself strategically to move forward after a major downfall,” he says.
Chala Said, a member of Galesa Women’s Group, says when she attended PROFIT training, she was buying and selling milk, but most of it was getting spoiled and she was not earning much. But after the training, she decided to save and do something profitable.
“I bought a sheep at Sh1,500 with my savings, and within a short time, the flock started expanding. In September, my son was sent home due to lack of school fees, and my husband did not have any money. He was so worried because this was the last term and the students are expecting their exams soon,” Chala says.
“I knew I could provide a solution. I took one sheep and one lamb to the market, negotiated for a good price, and sold both for Sh5,800. Then I sent my son back to school. Since then, my husband is so proud of me.”
The group sells milk to a camel milk cooperative in Isiolo at Sh100, and currently they are producing 10 litres of milk per day.
“We also buy milk from other camel keepers at Sh70 per litre. From the proceeds, we pay the person that takes care of the camels then we share the rest,” Sadia says.
They would want to have a facility with a refrigerator and milk cooler to store their milk.
“We want to one day package the camel milk and sell to supermarkets in Isiolo and even Nairobi. This will keep off traders who buy the camel milk at Sh100 and sell in Nairobi at Sh150-Sh180,” she says.
CAPACITY BUILDING
Group member Fatuma Guyo says the 10-litre plastic containers they sell milk with is becoming problematic as it cannot store milk for long.
“Even health officers are against the plastic containers. If we had the resources, we would buy copper coated milk containers, which are more hygienic and can store milk for longer,” Guyo says.
David Kosgei, a capacity development adviser from Netherlands NGO SNV, says the group started as an initiative of poor and vulnerable women. It had a membership of 25 members, with seven men and 18 women.
SNV is based in Meru and Isiolo counties and was consulted by Agra in 2017.
Kosgei says they provided capacity building on agribusiness module, budgeting, saving and governance for the members.
“We also trained them on financial linkage as a result of bringing in various stakeholders in finance, suppliers and also markets. We are working closely with the county government, which is supporting the livestock keepers in pasture management,” he says.
Kosgei says they have linked the group with a financial bank that is Sharia-compliant and friendly to the women, many of whom are from the Muslim community.
“The power of saving is very important. They have been able to increase savings and start other small business,” he says.
Infographic data
Camel is a more reliable milk provider than other classes of livestock as provides milk when other livestock are not in milk and there lactation period is long.
The milk contributes about a half of the nutrients intake of most gabras and Rendilles. Camel milk is a major economy for communities in North Eastern region and over 3,000 litres of camel milk in Nairobi at a cost of Sh150 per litre.
Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti has 84 percent of the world camel population which stands at 17 million. In 2009 census Kenya had 2,971,11.
Isiolo County has a population of over 45,000 camels and Marsabit County has over 200,000 camels.
Camels in Kenya are mainly kept for milk, meat and transport. Other uses which are untapped are eco- tourism, draught power and value addition of its products.
Judith Chemuliti, the director of the Kenya’s Biotechnology Research Institute (BioRI) said the triquin drug currently being used to treat camels has been in the market for over 20 years and has developed resistance.
Triquin’s ineffectiveness is blamed for the spread of surra, a camel trypanosomiasis disease that is a constraint to camel production for communities in northeastern.
The African Union has funded a three-year study project that will support the development of a new drug at a cost of Sh70 million in North Eastern Kenya and North Western Somalia.
Kenyan dairy farmers ‘defy the norm’
For many years, dairy farming has been synonymous with Central and Rift Valley, where farmers form cooperatives to supply milk and its byproducts.
But farmers from Kaiti Dairy Cooperative Society in Makueni county have joined the bandwagon.
The cooperative was founded by 59 members and was then known as Mukuyuni Dairy Value Self Help Group. It was registered in 2017 as a cooperative society and the membership increased to 144.
The group comprises 50 women, 10 youths and 84 men. It has two milk coolers, with 500-litre capacity each. This helps them store milk in hygienic conditions before they sell to customers
The group buys a litre of milk at Sh40 and sells it at Sh50.
Treasurer Raphael Mbuyu said the aim was to increase production and improve dairy farming in Ukia ward in Mukuyuni.
Things only got better for the group after they received Sh1 million loan, thanks to the Programme for the Rural Outreach of Financial Innovations and Technologies.
The programme was funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with the government and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). “We wanted to unite, increase production and exchange ideas. This is what we did and went to Universal Traders Sacco (UTS) for a loan of Sh1 million a year ago,” Jonah Malika Mueke, the chairman of the Mukuyuni market-based group in Makueni county, said.
The farmers were also trained on financial, group governance and business management by AGRA, Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and UTS.
“They trained us on how to manage funds and gave us the loan at 10 per cent interest rate per year to set up a dairy business,” Mueke said.
After the group repays the loan by early next year, members intend to take another loan to instal more selling centres across the county and access interior areas to buy more milk.
“From our survey, we have realised that we get only 25 per cent of the milk produced by farmers in this region. We want to buy motorcycles so that we can get 100 per cent of the milk from farmers who find it hard to reach here,” Mueke said.
Mbuyu said society members recommend and co-guarantee fellow members to be able to access loans.
He said this helps women members who have previously been denied loans by mainstream financial institutions that require them to have collateral such as title deeds and vehicle log books.
Secretary Paul Ndambuki has benefited from a loan and has invested in dairy farming. “I was recommended by a fellow member and when I walked to the UTS, the process was seamless. I got a loan in less than a week. I have bought five in-calf heifers,” he said.
Apart from the loans, members can also get farm inputs from UTS and pay using the milk they deliver to the dairy centre. “We liaise with the sacco to make sure they get their money from us and we pay the balance to the farmers,” Mbuyu said.
James Kaluma, the cooling and pasteurising centre’s manager, said they process 500-700 litres per day but with a storage capacity of 1,000, the members intend to invest more so they can reap optimal benefits.
“If we can acquire more milk coolers, we can produce more milk to earn us more money. Currently, we buy a litre at Sh40 and sell it at Sh50. With more production, we can pay more to the farmers,” Kaluma said.
The group also grows Brachiaria grass, which they sell to people from as far as Thika, Naivasha and Nyeri.