AGRA

What started as a merry go round, with each of the 15 members of Cheptarit Star Women group in Mosoriot, Mosop Division contributing Sh2000 monthly for one of them to invest in smallholder production of beans in Nandi County has transformed into a real enterprise with an operating capital of Sh40 million.

Today, the group has grown from just pulling resources together for cultivation of beans as alternative source of revenue to the regional market, where they now buy tons of maize and beans from cooperatives in Kenya and Uganda to feed thousands of school going children in Kenya.

“Our journey started in 2009, through which one member of our group would get a total of Sh30,000 for investment in any small business,” said Josephine Bungei, the group secretary. “By the year 2014, we had covered all the 15 households and the entire team has decided to invest in bean farming, apart from three members who dropped off along the way,” she said.

It was at this point that they decided to register the group as a self help women group under the ministry of culture and social services. Through advice from the East Africa Grain Council, they started aggregating their produce every season for collective marketing.

This was the game changer for the team, because by the year 2016, they met Mary’s Meals Kenya (MMK), a charity organisation that operates a primary school feeding and early childhood development programme in Kenya.

“We signed a contract with MMK, to supply two schools with maize and beans every month for a start,” said Bungei. “Each school would receive 20 (50Kg) bags of beans and 40 bags of maize,” she said.

The first batch was easy because at their aggregation centre in Mosoriot, they had sufficient stock. But after payment, they would go to the market especially in Trans Nzoia and Mt Elgon regions to buy beans, and maize from local farmers every month.

After a few months of steady supply, MMK added them six more schools, and by the end of 2016, they had a total of 10 schools in Uasain Gishu with a capital base of Sh600,000. Through the year 2017, they had increased their supply to 22 schools, and in 2018, they were added three more schools in Nyamira and Kisii Counties.

There was more growth to their enterprise in 2019, when MMK gave them another contract to supply maize and beans to 392 schools in Turkana County. “This was almost like a toll order. But since we had links with another organisation known as Kilimo Trust, they linked us to cooperatives in parts of the country, and in Uganda from where we were able to source sufficient quantities,” said the Secretary.

The organisation (Kilimo Trust) has been implementing a project known as Regional East African Community Trade in Staples Phase (REACTS), which supports smallholder farming households and value chain actors in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya to take advantage of structured national, regional and opportunistic international markets for agricultural produce. The initiative is supported by AGRA..

“Through these linkages, we have been able to import so much tons of beans particularly from Uganda to meet our demand, which today stands at 415 schools,” said Bungei.

However, the expanded market presented a new challenge – finance. “It is unfortunate that no commercial bank is willing to give us a loan because we are not a limited company, and maybe we are all women,” said the secretary.

“We have had to rely on shylocks for financing, with some of them asking as much as 30 percent interest per month, to be able to raise enough money,” she said.

So far, it is only their banking partner that has extended to them an overdraft facility, which enables them collect an extra Sh4 million. “We believe that one day we will get rid of the shylocks and become fully independent,” said Bungei.

“The biggest problem has always been the border barriers, which sometimes delays clearance of our cereals,” said Irene Samoei, the group’s chairlady.

To cut down on operational costs, the group has embraced on-line business where they place orders in such operatives like in Uganda and the commodity is delivered without necessarily being present at the site.

“Last month alone, we imported 300 tonnes of beans from Uganda worth Sh2.1 million and paid Sh1.2 million for hired trucks to transport the commodity to schools in Turkana,” said Ms Bungei.

According to Kilimo Trust Country team leader Antony Mugambi, partnership with the women group has empowered them expanded their investment in terms of quality and quantity.

“We have negotiated businesses links with 30 cooperatives in Uganda to enable the group attain steady supply of beans,” said Mr Mugambi adding that doing business online has helped the group to expand their market scope.

A group that started with six employees in 2016 when they started supplying to schools has now advanced to 43 employees, 22 men and 21 women.

According to East Africa Cross border trade bulletin, 59,000 metric tonnes were traded in the second quarter of 2021.

Kenya is usually a structural deficit to dry bean with Uganda and Tanzania accounting for 82 and 14 percent of the exports respectively.

Reports by Eastern Africa Grains Markets and Trade-Ratin, dry beans prices are expected to trend seasonally but will remain above 5 year averages due to increased domestic and regional demand coupled with reduced production due to heavy rainfalls last year that reduced carryover stocks.

Komboka rice to put in check cheap imports that thrive on the name of pishori variety Kenya imports hundreds of thousands tons of cheap rice particularly from Asian countries, and according to rice business experts, most of it find its way to cereal shops where it is sold at premium prices in the name of ‘Pure’ Mwea Pishori. “Many people buy rice from different stores, and some of them get it from Mwea, thinking that they are buying pure Mwea Pishori,” said Antony Waweru, the CEO, Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Co-operative Society, which brings together over 700 rice farmers in the area. “The truth is that a very small population consumes pure pishori, while most of Kenyans are fed on cheaply imported rice, but blended with small portions of Mwea pishori just to give it the desired aroma,” he said. Pishori is a rice variety officially known as basmati, and whose origin is pakistan. In Kenya, it grows well in Mwea, Kirinyaga County.

Rice lovers say that Mwea pishori rice is the best quality ever in the country based on its natural sweet taste and the unique delicate aroma. It’s long grains and a fact that the grains do not stick together after cooking makes it a recipe for the royals, many times served on the high table while the lower cadres are fed on other varieties. “It is the most sought after rice variety, making it more expensive than other varieties,” said Waweru. “It is due to the high prices that unscrupulous traders blend it with cheaper imports so as to introduce the aroma, thereby deceiving unsuspecting customers,” he told the Seeds of Gold. However, despite the high demand, pishori is a late maturing rice variety and yields far less than other varieties, hence increasing the gap for the demand.

To fill this gap, the Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Co-operative Society in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), the County Government of Kirinyaga, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Kilimo Trust have joined hands to introduce a new variety known as komboka, which has most of the characteristics of pishori, but mature 15 days earlier than pishori, and with higher yields.

The organisations came together deliberately through a project known as Competitive African Rice Initiative in East Africa (CARI-EA) with financial support from AGRA, whose aim is to enable locally produced rice in East Africa to competitively substitute the current over Sh30 billion worth of rice imports to the East Africa Common Market. “Komboka is the game changer,” said Gabriel Ochieng from Kilimo Trust. “The variety which was locally developed by KALRO plant breeders has higher number of tillers, uniform crop stand, even in maturity, aromatic almost like pishori, higher yields, easy to thresh, longer panicles, less affected by diseases such as Blast, appealing grain type, early-maturing, good plant height and no lodged hills.

According to James Waweru Ngure, a smallholder farmer from Wamumu section in Mwea Scheme, the variety yields twice as much as pishori. “Komboka matures with the pinnacles facing down, thus protecting itself from attack by pests like quelea-quelea birds, which are a big problem in this area,” said the farmer. With its long grains, Ngure says that it competes effectively with imported rice. “It comes with its original aroma, and therefore you do not need to mix it with pishori,” said the farmer. According to Waweru, komboka yields four to five tons per acre, which is far higher than pishori, which yields between two and 2.5 tons with good agronomic practices.

According to a report by AfricaRice, rice has now become the fastest growing food staple across the continent. “Since the early 1970s rice is the number one source of calories intake in many parts of Africa and comes third after maize and cassava on the continent,” reads part of the report. However, most countries in the Sub Saharan Africa region still import rice from Thailand, India, and Pakistan among other Asian countries. “It is unacceptable that 80 percent of Kenya’s rice is imported, when we have all the potential to produce it here,” said Dr Florence Wambugu, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Harvest during a past event in Nairobi. The Komboka variety has already been introduced in other schemes within Nyanza region and Bunyala in Weastern Kenya. “Since it is high yielding and fast maturing, its price is far lesser than Pishori, which makes it an effective competitor with cheap imports,” said Ochieng’ of Kilimo Trust.

On the slopes of Mukuuri hilly terrain in Embu County, opposite the ancient Kirimiri forest, Doris Mwende Mugendi reaches out for her mobile phone to find out when it is likely going to rain specifically in this village, what kind of seeds and farm inputs are recommended for this short rainy season, and also to know if there are any predicted pests and crop diseases that are likely going to strike any time soon.

“This village based agricultural information is now available on our mobile phones free of charge,” said the 28 year old farmer who grows different types of crops on a one acre piece of land.

The platform known as AgriBot is a digital agricultural extension service developed by Microsoft and rolled out by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) through collaboration with county governments of Kiambu and Embu.

“When this technology was developed and introduced for the first time in Kiambu County, the main aim was to enable smallholder farmers who use feature phones also known as kabambe access the important information in a language they understand,” said Angela Njoki, a Content Developer working for Microsoft.

“However, with time, the AgriBot has been improved so that farmers with smart phones can access it through whatsapp and telegram, where they can watch and download videos that demonstrate good agronomic practices in a local language,” she said.

At the point of registration, the farmer dials a common code ‘40139’ on feature phone, and if they have a smart phone, then they can save the number ‘0758 318 589’. The farmer then sends the word ‘MENU’ to the code in case of the feature phones, or the same to the whatsapp number.

“These services come without any cost particularly for feature phone users. But for smart phones, the farmer may incur the cost of normal bundles used to access whatsapp in case they are not in a WiFi hotspot,” said Njoki.

The farmer is then prompted with a message to select the suitable language, followed by another message asking for personal information such the name, the age and gender. This is followed by further prompts seeking for the location from the county level to the village of interest to the farmer.

According to Njoki, Microsoft has already collaborated with AGRA, county governments and other implementing partners to collect basic information specific to different villages across the two counties.

Messages related to something like weather forecast are updated every day, while others such as particular seed varieties to be planted in those villages or the recommended farm inputs are updated every season.

In Mukuuri Village for example, the bot has specific crop information about maize, climbing beans, pigeon peas, bush beans, and soybeans because these are the most thriving crops in this village, which is different from other neigbouring villages.

Beyond the identified crops, the bot provides information on how to make and use manure and other good agronomic practices, about fall army worms, weather forecast, locust reporting, contacts to nearest certified agrodealers in the area, and also about crop insurance.

On this day for example, Mugendi in Mukuuri village was interested in climbing beans. After a few steps, she prompted the bot about land preparation and spacing. “Prepare rows at a spacing of 60 cm and dig planting holes within the rows at a spacing of 10 cm,” read the message that appeared after the prompt.

She further went on to find the best recommended varieties and the respond was “Here is a list of certified climbing bean seed varieties suitable for your area; MAC 64-Mavuno, MAC 34-Tamu, MAC 13-Safi.”

She went on to find about the weather and she was asked by the bot to pick the timeline, being today, tomorrow, next three days and next five days.

After choosing the fourth option of five days, she learned that there were only going to be light rains, not suitable for planting.

The bot has an option for a farmer to send feedback to the management team.

Through the AgriBot, Village Based Advisors (VBAs) are now using it to send important messages to hundreds of farmers just by a click of a button at no cost.  

The VBAs is a concept developed by AGRA, and it has been implemented in many counties across the country. Typically, a VBA is an elite smallholder farmer in a particular village who has been trained to train villagers on good agronomic practices, identification of the right farm inputs and seeds, and they are lead sellers of the certified seeds and farm inputs to village farmers where they earn a commission.

VBAs are also linked to county government agricultural officers so that they can report any new paste of disease in their respective villages, and also report back to the villagers any new development in the agricultural sector.

“Before we got this tool, it was difficult to reach out to several farmers because it could mean that I buy airtime, and start calling or sending messages to each one of them,” said Elizabeth Ng’endo, a VBA who mans a number of villages in Gatundu North. “Thanks to the AgriBot, I can even advertise other products I need to sell, or do the same for any farmer with just a click of a button,” said the farmer who is also practicing poultry keeping and dairy farming.

According to Nixon Mageka Gecheo, AGRA’s ICT expert, the tool has come to fill the gap of the ratio of extension officers, which stands at one officer to 5000 farmers, which has been far higher than the recommended ratio of one officer serving 400 farmers.

“With the bot in place, farmers have been able to make critical decisions on what seed variety to plant and how to do it in a good agronomic way. This has seen yields improve in the trial phase,” said Gecheo.

According to Patric Njeru, the Head of Crop Development in Embu County, the impact is so huge because it is now easy to reach out to thousands of farmers in the shortest time possible.

“We hope to keep improving it so that it has market information and if possible, VBAs are asking if we can make it possible to communicate with a target group so that the same message is not sent to everyone, including those who do not need it,” said Njoki. 

So far, over 50,000 farmers from Kiambu and Embu Counties are already accessing the services on daily basis, according to the Microsoft database.

President Samia Suluhu’s reaffirmation at COP26 that Tanzania is fully committed to mitigating the effects of adverse climate change across all key sectors (including agriculture) is very commendable. President Samia addressed the 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), at  Glasgow, Scotland, in the UK. 

It is great news for over 22,407,487 smallholder crop growers, over  4.5 million pastoralists households, and thousands of fisherfolks and foresters in Tanzania. 

She called for global powers, who have the largest culpability in climate change, to do their part in climate change financing for low-income nations, including Tanzania, to meet mitigation goals across all key sectors. 

At Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Tanzania, we greatly appreciate the President’s commitment. Implementing global, regional, and national climate change mitigation goals is vital for driving sustainable food systems critical for our nation’s well-being in terms of food security and agriculture exports.

Tanzania’s people are its greatest asset, followed by its natural resources, which need conservation and protection from climate change hazards. We have the agriculture and water sectors at the centre stage, vital for most of the populace’s food security and income generations.  

Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries make up about  30% of gross domestic product.  Unfortunately, according to President Samia, unless global and local climate change mitigations are implemented, the 30% contribution to GDP may not be sustainable. Yet our dear motherland has dedicated over 48 million hectares to forest conservation, and at times we still experience unpredictable floods and droughts. 

At AGRA, we know that a drop in rainfall leads to drought; it does not take long to tip millions into poverty who depend on rain-fed agriculture. We are aware of the growing population that puts pressure on the available natural resources. 

The effects include climate change.  Since 2006 when AGRA started supporting agriculture development activities in Tanzania, it has always been our priority to ensure climate change mitigation for the benefit of smallholder farmers.

One of the approaches we have used has been promoting appropriate agriculture technologies for increased crop productivity for smallholder farmers as a mitigating  measure against climate change 

Low productivity often means farmers need vast pieces of land to make ends meet, often extending cultivation to fragile ecosystems, which increases risks of climate change.  At AGRA, we have worked with the government, private sector, and development partners to promote appropriate agriculture practices that increase crop yield.  

Between 2017 and 2020, collaborative investments by AGRA and its implementing partners in select Regions of Western Tanzania have seen increased productivity in maize (230%), beans (100%), and rice (67%), all-important staple crops in Tanzania. Thanks to improved seeds, fertilizers, and general education on best farming practices, including climate mitigation, it has been possible.

Another approach we have been using is advocating and promoting availability of technology for smallholder farmers to adopt best agriculture practices. 

AGRA has supported the development and commercialization of improved seed varieties, some of the drought-tolerant, in collaboration with public and private organisations.  Working with business services providers, AGRA has provided training to smallholder farmers on soil health, planting, use of fertilizers, and post-harvest management of crops. We introduced novel postharvest storage technology, which has been adopted by over a million farmers in Tanzania and directly helps to mitigate climate change.   

The storage technology is designed to store produce for a long time and dramatically reduces post-harvest losses, naturally, without using chemicals.

At AGRA, we see agricultural development as the most critical driver for poverty reduction in Africa. There is evidence that GDP growth originating in agriculture often is between 2 to 4 times more effective in raising incomes of the poor than GDP growth created outside the sector.  As we continue supporting the industry, climate change will continue to be a priority area.

The author is Vianey Rweyendela, the Tanzania Country Manager, AGRA – Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

The 2021 Climate Convention in Glasgow came at a critical time, with the world recovering from the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic — and a threatening rise in global warming.

As the summit started at the end of October, global temperatures were already ranging between 1.1 and 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This means we’re dangerously close to the 2-degree Celsius threshold identified by scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In such a scenario, heat extremes will reach critical tolerance thresholds for both agriculture and health.

For example, longer dry spells mean reduced agriculture yields and increased incidents of pests and diseases that not only harm plants, but humans as well. Other consequences include more prevalent droughts and floods, as well as increased sea level rises and cyclones, as recently seen in Mozambique.

COP 26 presented a crucial opportunity for world leaders to make the urgent resolutions needed to contain global warming temperatures under the 1.5 degrees C established by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

As the summit came to a close, many of us in low- and middle-income countries have been digging through the Glasgow Climate Pact to understand what the commitments made actually mean for us — individually and as a collective.

In addition to the pact, the climate summit included critical pledges and promises around halting deforestation and increasing financial flows to help us, as a collective, get going on our adaptation agendas.

This year, unlike previously, agriculture and food systems were discussed in the negotiations. Even though these issues did not make it into the final, agreed text, it’s an important step in future negotiations and actions for a just transition of our food systems.

Increasing financing for adaptation

Adaptation and resilience remain high on the list of priorities for Africa’s climate and development agenda. As in previous COPs, finance for adaptation continued to be a key discussion point for African countries.

At the 2009 COP in Copenhagen, high-income countries promised to channel $100 billion a year to less wealthy nations by 2020 to help them adapt to climate change. Yet, these pledges have yet to be met — reaching only $80 billion in 2019.

In this regard, the Glasgow Pact made significant inroads in resolving this shortfall with an unprecedented target to double the funding to be provided to LMICs for adaptation by 2025. Even though this represents a huge boost for adaptation, it still falls short of the $100 billion target.

For Africa, this means we need to continue to mobilize financing from domestic resources and create innovative financing vehicles that will attract private money for adaptation. One example is the issuance of green bonds that can help mobilize funding for adaptation and resilience.

The continent has the human and natural resources needed to slow-down and reverse climate warming. All it takes now is for the continent’s leaders to seize the moment and lead the way.

We have seen that such innovative financing mechanisms can work if we de-risk our financial and economic systems to attract private investments. Other financing possibilities lie in innovations such as carbon trading taxes and the creation of a “loss and damage” fund for high-income countries to “compensate” less wealthy countries for being the main historical drivers of climate change.

Africa, and other LMICs, need to keep these discussions alive to ensure a better deal in future negotiations. This means keeping this agenda alive in individual countries, and at regional and continental levels.

Restoration key for meeting climate goals

Even though COP 26 did not lead to a global goal on adaptation, some progress was made with the launch of the two-year Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheik work programme on adaptation. Delegates also recognized the critical role that the restoration of nature plays in the adaptation agenda.

For Africa, agricultural activities take center stage in operationalizing key agreements in the pact. A deliberate focus on nature stewardship and restoration is crucial for meeting the continent’s development aspirations, and its ability to cope with and survive the climate crisis.

Through these renewed and increased commitments to adaptation, there is a great opportunity for sustained recovery and growth through nature, and particularly for soil, restoration, and conservation.

Africa recognizes that the transformation to sustainable and regenerative agriculture requires integrated and cross-sectoral investments in agriculture and others such as public education, new technologies, and health. The Glasgow Pact and other commitments are an indication of a positive trend that we need to capitalize on to maintain the momentum we have created.

Africa leading the way

To us, the cost of inaction has far reaching and unforgiving consequences. We need to seize this moment in history, and use the increased commitments to adaptation to drive and attract further investments for building a resilient and people-centered food system that will drive development across the continent. We need bold leadership that demands inclusiveness, the effective implementation of policies and programs, as well as transparency and accountability.

Africa can no longer remain a bystander in the fight against climate change. The continent must lead in developing its own capacities to cope with climate change, and invest in its ecological assets by utilizing the scientific knowledge that is now available.

As the common saying goes, “never let a good crisis go to waste” — and this is indeed the perfect time for Africa to show leadership. The continent has the human and natural resources needed to slow-down and reverse climate warming. All it takes now is for the continent’s leaders to seize the moment and lead the way.

About the author

Assan Ng’ombe is a resilience officer at AGRA – Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, serving as the technical lead on integrating resilience into agriculture development and a resident expert on environmental and social risk management. He also specializes in climate change, poverty reduction, rural livelihood development and protection, and environmental management.

Originally published on Devex.com

What started as a merry-go-round to tackle socio-economic challenges among a group of women in Nandi has turned into a giant enterprise which has transformed livelihoods.

When members of the Cheptarit Star Women group in Mosoriot pulled resources together, contributing Sh2,000 monthly to invest in the cultivation of beans and trade in the produce as an alternative source of income to maize, little did they know that their determination would see them conquer the regional market.

Five years down the line, the investment is proving a life-changer to the 15 members of the group after they tapped emerging business opportunities to expand to the East Africa Community (EAC) markets.

“Land and other properties like livestock are owned by men as the heads of the house, limiting women on how to succeed as entrepreneurs. Under such circumstances, we had to plot how to eliminate restrictions on women’s participation to start their own enterprises to attain economic growth,” said Irene Samoei, the group leader.

Initially, the women contributed Sh2,000 each totaling Sh30,000 which they used as start-up capital to cultivate beans alongside other food crops for subsistence and commercial purposes.

“The idea was to create a platform to mobilise women and provide opportunities to start their own businesses and access the market at competitive rates,” explained Ms Samoei adding that after two harvest seasons they had enough maize and beans stocks to seek tender to supply the produce to learning institutions.

“We won our first tender to supply grains to two schools in Nandi which comprised 40 bags of maize and 20 bags of beans,” disclosed Ms Samoei.

The deal boosted their working capital to Sh600,000, more than enough to enable them to secure another tender to supply the cereals to 10 schools in Uasin Gishu in 2016 under a school feeding programme. They later expanded their supplies to Kisii and Nyamira counties in 2018 under a similar scheme.

The group’s major turning point was when the East Africa Grains Council offered to train members on market information and the value of operating as a company under one shop.

“We had to hire experts who guided us on how to register as a company to facilitate the expansion of our market share but finances to meet increased orders from our clients remained the main challenge,” disclosed Ms Josephine Bungei, the group secretary.

They turned to shylocks who offered them a ‘soft’ loan at 30 percent interest.

“Apart from supplying schools that we had won tenders, we continued trading in cereals at the local markets after securing rental stores at the strategic Mosoriot market along Kapsabet-Eldoret highway,” explained Ms Bungei.

The group made a breakthrough in 2020 when they won a two-year renewable tender with Mary’s Meals, a charity that sets up school feeding programmes in poor communities, to supply beans and maize to 392 schools in Turkana.

“The tender came with its challenges in terms of financial capacity and marshalling sufficient quantity of beans and maize to supply a total of 415 schools. But operating as a company enabled us to access an overdraft of up to Sh4 million with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB),” explained Ms Bungei.

The group has gained recognition among humanitarian agencies and businesses in the region for its role in promoting cross-border business opportunities access to women entrepreneurs.

Major boost

The group recently received a major boost after Kilimo Trust offered to create market linkages with 30 cooperatives in Uganda.

“We have established business networks with cooperatives in Uganda and Tanzania. This enables us to access market information and expand our business ties,” disclosed Ms Bungei.

To cut down on operational costs, the group has embraced e-commerce.

“Last month alone, we imported 300 tonnes of beans from Uganda worth Sh2.1 million and paid Sh1.2 million for hired trucks to transport the commodity to schools in Turkana,” said Ms Bungei.

On a monthly basis, 10 trucks loaded with beans valued at Sh20 million, orders placed by the group cross over to the country from Uganda while others full of maize cross from Tanzania, promoting cross border trade.

They also source beans locally, mainly from Bungoma, Elgeyo Marakwet and Mt Elgon, spending an average of Sh210,000 on the produce.

“Doing business online has enabled us to cut down on costs and concentrate on creating more market linkages and efficiency in serving our clients,” added Ms Bungei.

According to Kilimo Trust Country team leader Antony Mugambi, partnership with the women group has expanded their investment in terms of quality and quantity.

“We have negotiated businesses links with 30 co-operatives in Uganda to enable the group to attain a steady supply of beans,” said Mr Mugambi adding that doing business online has helped the group to expand its market scope.

“The group that started with six employees in 2016 has advanced over times and it now has 43 employees-22 men and 21 women while trading capacity has increased from 100 tonnes of beans to 300 tonnes while the quantity of maize has increased from 100 to 500 tonnes monthly,” disclosed Mr Cheboi.

bbiii@ke.nationmedia.com, onyangooluoch85@gmail.com

Armed with rainwater harvesting technologies, farmers in southeastern Kenya are bouncing back with fruit orchards after years of declining crop harvests due to erratic weather.

Working with development organizations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and World Agroforestry, farmers are tapping stormwater runoff from roads flanking their plots and then directing it into basins and ponds that they have created.

From these storage methods, they are able to have a year-round supply of water, even as climate change continues to trigger prolonged droughts in Kenya, according to George Mabuka, a program manager at a local social enterprise called the Cereal Growers Association.

“It is an innovation that is locally known as regenerative agriculture. Farmers can use this stored water to nurse their fruit orchards and even the food crops they have grown in between the trees,” Mabuka said.

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 40% of the world’s population is living in water-scarce regions. In Kenya — which has an annual supply of renewable freshwater below 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) per capita — many farmers live in arid or semiarid regions. Water-stressed farmers typically wait for a rainy season, with two cycles per year for growing food crops such as maize, beans, and sorghum, Mabuka said.

In recent years, Kenya has experienced a drought, leading to food insecurity domestically. But conditions are now improving for a growing number of farmers who have adopted water harvesting and storage technologies.

Justus Kimeu, a farmer in southeastern Kenya, said the innovations help store rainwater instead of allowing it to drain away into rivers that empty as far as the Indian Ocean.

“The rains here are very minimal and sometimes inadequate. But through water harvesting and storage, I am able to have a produce harvest, even if it is not the maximum I expected,” he said.

Kimeu grows citrus fruits alongside pulse crops and maize, among others. He has carved inlets to direct water runoff from the roadside into his garden.

The runoff is stored in basins that he has dug all over the garden. These are filled with mulch that absorbs and stores the water throughout the year. His citrus fruits continue to naturally draw water from these basins for months after the rainy season has passed.

Kimeu is among the thousands of farmers in southeastern Kenya included in a 15-month project funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

Front-line and behind-the-scenes reporting on global healthSubscribe now

It has supported farmers to transition from staple crop farming to agribusiness, with mango and citrus farms fetching families as much as 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($900) per year — a previously unattainable figure.

Benedict Manyi, another farmer from the region, has a pond with harvested water to grow fast-maturing trees such as Melia volkensii. Between these, he grows a variety of pulses, pumpkin, and sorghum in what he calls his agroforestry project.

“I also serve the water to my thirsty livestock and use it to manage a section of the farm where I have a kitchen garden for my family,” he said.

Manyi, along with thousands of other farmers, is receiving support from World Agroforestry through the Drylands Development Programme, funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and World Vision Australia.

The effect that water harvesting is having on farmers battling the pressures of climate change has caught the interest of other farmers who are not taking part in such programs.

Bendetta Mumbua, a mango farmer from Makueni — one of the driest regions in southeastern Kenya — said she would also like to invest in water harvesting at her 8-acre farm but has been impeded by the cost. Setting up the required infrastructure costs around $2,500.

“I feel bad when there is a lot of water on the road when it rains only for it to wash away. Then we are left waiting for the next rainy season. I would really like to be supported to have my own water harvesting system,” Mumbua said.

She said she could use the water to increase yields with mango tree projects between seasons. Mumbua added that switching to year-round harvests would also help her battle an invasive fruit fly that has led to significant losses for farmers. The pest attacks during the peak season when mangoes are typically ripening, but off-season harvests could catch them off guard, she said.

Bagamoyo, the historic seaport of eastern Tanzania is the home of Joydons (T) Limited, a state of the art cereal milling factory with the capacity to produce aflatoxin-free flours.

Ms. Joyce Donati Kimaro, co-founder and managing director of Joydons (T) Limited pursued a deep-belly passion, a dream and a vision with determination to change the world in her ‘little’ way despite the challenges. Looking up in the blue azure skies of Bagamoyo, Ms. Joyce describes herself as an ordinary Tanzanian, but for those who have seen her dream become a reality, she is an extraordinary entrepreneur.

Joyce and her elder sister Joyce (they call themselves Joyce and Joyce or Kimaro sisters) started the company in 2012 with a micro-scale mill in Dar es Salaam, which grew over time into a small scale milling plant. In 2017, the operations expanded to Bagamoyo where they set up a small plant in a make-shift building with a milling capacity of 10 MT per day.

“Bagamoyo” means “lay down your heart” in Swahili. The place was a trade route in the 18th Century where slaves “left” behind their “hearts” or “spirits” before being forcefully shipped to faraway foreign lands.

Joyce Donati says she has laid down her heart at Bagamoyo to influence the eating habits of over 50 million Tanzanians.  The youthful industrialist has steered Joydons (T) Limited to be among the top ten grain millers in Tanzania.

 “I belong to the world of possibilities, where the future is even brighter,” she says, having experienced a remarkable transformation over time. She previously worked as a primary school teacher and quickly discovered that the teacher’s success is about the pupils and not the teacher. This philosophy continues to influence her in placing “humanity at the heart of my entrepreneurship”, she adds.

“My mission is to ensure the population consumes healthy maize meal (ugali in Swahili), free from aflatoxins and other harmful agents,” she says.  Capturing a significant market segment is not an easy task, but she is determined. “We have made some remarkable strides,” she says.

Her company’s flagship products – Unga wa SEMBE (polished maize flour), Unga wa DONA (whole grain maize flour), and Unga MUHOGO (Cassava flour) – are rapidly gaining traction in the Tanzanian market. Distributed under the brand, ” UFUKWE,” the products are packaged in 5-, 10- and 25-kilogram bags for wholesale and retail outlets.

Retailers often repackage the products to sell to consumers in ¼ kg, ½ kg, 1kg or 2kg measures. Concerned that flours may be contaminated with toxins in the repackaging process, Joydons aims to popularize the smaller 1kg and 2kg packages, a new practice in Tanzania grain market.

Hardly four years after Joydons was formed, the dynamic duo has beaten many odds to grow their operating capital base from US$2,156 to US$1.3 million. The new plant employs 250 workers directly and indirectly and supports over 3,500 smallholder farmers in Tanzania.

Joyce envisions the factory significantly transforming the industrial skyline of Bagamoyo. “We are making Bagamoyo a centre of grains trade and branded flours, a land of hope, dreams and optimism. Bagamoyo is becoming a part of “glorious Tanzania in the making”, she says.

Her ambition to capture a sizable share of the domestic market and ultimately the African export market is fueled by the growing domestic demand for maize flour.

Joyce attributes Joydons gradual growth to support from development partners, including Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) (through the AGRA YieldWise project) and Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB).

The partners financed the company to the tune of TZS 1.3 billion (about USD564, 726) thus facilitating the procurement of the state of the art plant, whose features include 90 – 120 MT per day maize milling capacity, grain sorting machine, colour sorting machine, a packing machine and a weighbridge scale. The financing kit also enabled the construction of two (2) foundation bottom silos with 1,000 MTs storage capacity.

Joydons (T) Limited has many other businesses globally and similarly it was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic causing delays in the shipment of equipment needed to complete the plant, resulting in cost overrun and underproduction. To resolve this challenge, the firm required an additional US$53,000 financing.

Joyce is also a proprietor of a microfinance firm and an insurance brokerage company, she shares some nuggets of counsel for success in her inspiring autobiography, “I Had to Lose My Virginity: How I Used My Inner Self to Achieve Success.”

What others say about Joydons:  H.E. Desalegn, H.E. Dr Kikwete, Dr Michael, Mr. Rweyendela

When the retired President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Board Member of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),  H.E. Dr Jakaya Kikwete, visited the factory, he described Jordon as an extraordinary enterprise.

He noted that entrepreneurs such as the Kimaro sisters “represent the future of homemade agro-industrial drive in Tanzania.”

 H.E. Dr Kikwete had accompanied H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, the AGRA Board Chair and former Ethiopian Prime Minister, for a visit to the factory.

H.E. Desalegn candidly noted that Tanzania’s hope to feed itself and Africa lies in entrepreneurs who support thousands of small-scale farmers and make the food system safe, reliable and secure while improving livelihoods.

H.E. Desalegn noted that firms driven by the young generation such as Joydons, were the best suited to transform the face of agriculture.

“The increasing agricultural productivity in Tanzania will be more meaningful if we have increased processing,” he observed. “Joydons has shown the way, and we need such companies to grow further to support more smallholder farmers. Small Micro Enterprises (SMEs) should be empowered to play a greater role in agro industrialization.”

 Dr Isaack Michael, a monitoring and evaluation expert who visited the factory representing CSDI Consulting Limited, says Joydons’ story is inspirational and should be replicated to uplift agri-SMEs to new levels.

“Ms Joyce Kimaro, the owner of Joydons, is among fifty female entrepreneurs identified by the YieldWise project implemented by CSDI,” he noted. The program connected her to the financial institution TADB. This notable achievement symbolizes project impact and sustainability of the excellent work of the YieldWise project.”

Mr Vianney Rweyendela, AGRA Country Manager for Tanzania, characterizes the Joydons story as remarkable and relevant. “It is a perfect case study in developing reliable food systems,” he says, noting that the activation of the growth of agri-based SMEs, such as Joydons, holds the future of millions of smallholder farmers in Tanzania and Africa.

Hungry eyes are on Africa’s resources. The world sees Africa and its large tracts of unexploited land as an important resource to feed the planet. But, Africa’s most abundant and most valuable resource is not our finite arable land, or the mineral wealth hidden beneath the surface. It is the youth of our continent. 

From a labour-force perspective, 11 million young people enter the job market every year, but only 3.7 million jobs are created to accommodate them. In Sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment fuels a myriad of additional social problems, including rebel movements and persistent gender inequality, according to the Cities Alliance.  

What the youth of Africa crave, more than anything, is opportunity. 

And with food systems change on the forefront of the global sustainability agenda, agribusiness is that opportunity. Agribusiness has evolved into an industry of choice where individual aspirations and interests are readily accommodated.

Why youth cannot see the opportunities in the agrifood industry

Unfortunately, first-hand experience of outdated legacy farming practices and the uncertain toil of subsistence farming means the youth are not interested in agriculture as a career. The biggest block is that young people, especially rural youth, have ingrained social prejudices, with farming conjuring images of back-breaking labour in the unrelenting sun. 

As long as the prejudice remains, the agrifood industry will miss out on the transformative energy, imagination and creativity of Africa’s youth. Food insecurity and malnutrition will persist. Poverty and gender inequality will remain. And communities will struggle with resilience to climate shocks and vulnerabilities.   

How do we change the youth’s perceptions? 

Generation Africa was created to connect the youth to agribusiness opportunities, to create awareness, and to enable their success by strengthening the ecosystem supporting young agripreneurs. 

As the brainchild of billionaire philanthropist and Econet Chairman Strive Masiyiwa and his long-time friend, CEO and President of Yara International Svein Tore Holsether, Generation Africa has grown rapidly in the few short years since its inception. The other founder, who joined the two principals on this noble initiative, is Dr Agnes Kalibata, the President of the continent’s preeminent institution working for agricultural transformation, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), who are also the host of the Generation Africa secretariat. With continued support from AGRA, Generation Africa has expanded to include the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Corteva Agriscience, USAID, SACAU, NORAD and Heifer International. 

From their deep experience and active participation in agriculture, information and communication technology, policy advancement, and grassroots development, these influential founders and partners unanimously agree that a thriving, climate-smart and youth-led agrifood industry is the best chance Africa has to shed the yoke of poverty.

Generation Africa is leveraging the experience and resources of its founders to design youth focussed incentives, entrepreneurial communities, and support programmes like the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition and Pitch AgriHack.

To achieve the mandate of youth empowerment and inspire food systems change on the continent, the youth must be heard. Generation Africa has identified three areas where we must amplify the voices of the youth to succeed. If any one area is ignored, the chances of a successful outcome become tenuous.   

1. YOUTH INSPIRING YOUTH: Amplifying stories of success to generate awareness of opportunities in agripreneurship.

The young agripreneurs of Africa are doing amazing things. Dynamic problem-solvers across the continent are building successful agribusinesses around the needs they see in their communities.

Their stories are powerful. They have the potential to inspire other entrepreneurial youth to stake their claim in a burgeoning African agrifood industry and demonstrate that there are viable futures in the agriculture and food value chains. 

Unfortunately, while many of these agripreneurs gain local renown, their stories remain shrouded in obscurity.

Generation Africa uses the annual GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition and Pitch AgriHack to identify these stories and elevate innovative agribusinesses and their young founders to a pan-African stage. By amplifying the voices of young agripreneurs, they become role models and mentors to their peers.

The Gogettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is focussed on businesses across the entire agrifood value chain while Pitch AgriHack looks, specifically, at agritech. Both competitions showcase and support a vast variety of agriculture businesses beyond the “hard-labour in the burning sun”. 

Youth see that they can help Africa achieve food security and that “farm work” encompasses attractive, modern opportunities in home delivery logistics, web design, data analytics, mechanical engineering, financial services, education and training, environmental resource management, and even robotics.

In the end, even the dreaded primary production part becomes interesting. The youth realise they do not have to do the work themselves when they discover an array of other existing service providers along the value chain. By collaborating with other providers, all the services they require to run an agribusiness is on hand, some even provided by fellow youth agripreneurs. Land leasing brokerage, land tilling and planting services, soil fertility management services, drone crop protection, harvesting and off-taking services, and more, are all available to take the brunt of the physical work off the table, so an agripreneur can concern themselves with running their business.

2. YOUTH ENGAGING POLICYMAKERS: Amplifying youth voices in multi-generational policy discussions to influence future-looking government policies.

When Generation Africa was first designed, our landscape research study was quite clear. Good intentions and pretty wishes cannot change the food system. Public-Private sector collaboration and significant revisions of policies governing the agriculture and food industries are crucial. 

Many government policies, legal frameworks, and tax guidelines have not kept up with the fast-paced responses needed to tackle food system sustainability, climate uncertainties, and food insecurity on the continent. 

Ensuring that the youth are part of critical discussions with governments was built into the DNA of Generation Africa.

Youth Town Halls with both government stakeholders and young entrepreneurs at the table allow the youth to discuss their challenges and evolving needs directly with presidents and ministers. During the 2021 AGRF, one such Youth Town Hall session was organized by the Gender and Inclusivity Team at AGRA with support from Generation Africa. The session allowed the youth to pose questions to H.E. HON Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya; Hon. Rosemary Mbabazi, Minister for Youth in Rwanda; and Hon. Yaw Frimpong-Addo, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture in Ghana. 

Through yearly surveys, Generation Africa gathers information from agripreneurs across Africa regarding their challenges, physical and psychological strains, and the roadblocks that are keeping them from successful participation in the food system.

Every year, the Generation Africa Ambassadors, comprised of industry leaders, young agribusiness owners, and influencers in the agriculture and food industries, use the annual surveys to create a call-to-action to guide and influence policymakers and industry players to prioritise and support youth endeavours. 

Another incredibly exciting policy-shaping programme currently being rolled out is the Youth in Agriculture Ecosystem Development Framework (Y-EDF). With a successful case study completed in Senegal, Generation Africa will soon implement the Y-EDF in Rwanda. AGRA is ready to start championing reforms of policy that shall be specifically highlighted in the Y-EDF Country Youth Opportunity Reports and Mapping Report. From the Y-EDF an Investment Plan, also viewed as a Flagship Report, shall also be realised. The Government of Rwanda shall then use these recommendations to bring stakeholders together to channel resources to critical technical gaps. At the end, the framework approach will ensure a collaborative and well-coordinated approach towards youth support. The right structure, where all important value chain actors are talking to each other, will be the foundation to create sustainable youth opportunities and jobs at the country level. 

3. YOUTH INFORMING SUPPORT PROGRAMMES: Amplifying youth voices in the design of holistic support programmes to facilitate their success in agribusiness.

A crucial component in enabling the youth to take advantage of the opportunities in the African food system is support structures dedicated to their success. Furthermore, input from young agripreneurs during the design of incubators, accelerators, and hubs is essential to meet their actual real-world needs.

Already our research and youth engagement indicates that young entrepreneurs need more holistic support for business incubation. Largely driven by the volatile economic climate and widespread closure of businesses during the pandemic, young entrepreneurs fear being exploited because of a lack of experience. 

Vetted and trusted providers along the entire value chain make a big difference, and holistic business support models have been proven to work. By offering entrepreneurs access and exposure to much needed services within their business value chains, it makes it easier for them to do business.

As example, One Acre Fund fights rural poverty in eastern Africa by training farmers, financing seeds and fertilizers, delivering inputs, and by facilitating market access for farmers to sell their produce at fair prices. This extraordinary programme considers the cycles of poverty and takes a long-term approach to develop farmers to sustainability.

The EIT Food Accelerator Network, funded by the European Union, is another comprehensive, free accelerator programme that strives to take agrifood startups to market with intensive programmes running from June to October every year. With non-repayable grants, expert mentors, office space, prototyping facilities, laboratories, and the opportunities to partner with world-leading corporates and research institutions in the agrifood space, EITFAN is geared to put food businesses into the European market.  

These are excellent models, and Generation Africa is working toward creating the Generation Africa Fellowship Programme (GAFP) to evolve the holistic incubator and accelerator model even further. Our goal is to incorporate feedback from youth-led businesses to create an ecosystem where they are connected to everything they need to thrive.

Amongst others, service providers include educational and research institutions to bring knowledge and skills, mentors to bring coaching in business services, financiers to bring flexible tailored investment services, off-takers to provide forward contracts for their produce and governments to champion reforms of policies that shall favour these youth-led businesses.

The Country Mapping Reports and Country Youth Opportunity Reports that will be generated during the implementation the Youth in Agriculture Ecosystem Development Framework (Y-EDF) will play an important role in refining the GAFP. 

Generation Africa plans to work with, and support, existing incubators and accelerators who are willing to incorporate youth feedback and adopt this holistic “one-stop-shop” model to create an African agrifood ecosystem conducive to success.

How does it end?

Without empowering the youth of Africa to take advantage of the opportunities in the food system, the continent is doomed. There is a lot at stake. 333 million people don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Almost a billion people in Africa are under the age of 35. The choices they make and the opportunities they embrace will determine whether hundreds of millions of human beings will have food to eat as climate uncertainties increase. 

The youth of Africa represent the creativity and energy that is sorely needed to end hunger, poverty, and inequality.

By amplifying youth voices, they can inspire each other. By allowing youth input at the policy table we can build a resilient policy environment for agribusinesses to thrive into the future.  And by designing holistic support programmes with youth in mind, we can ensure that they have all the tools they need to succeed.

By Dickson Naftali – Head of Generation Africa

With operations in every corner of the world, they produce as much as $1.5 trillion worth of food, fuel and timber every year.

But it is not Unilever, Kraft or Danone. Instead, the largest private-sector food and agribusiness player is the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers, who are responsible for around a third of global food supplies.

And these producers, who often depend on rain-fed agriculture and forests to make a living, face an uphill struggle to cope with the increasingly severe impacts of climate change.

As world leaders gather in Glasgow, it is imperative they recognise that there is no fair and just climate action without action on food systems to enable millions of families worldwide to adapt to new and extreme conditions.

The recent UN Food Systems Summit inspired the launch of national pathways and global coalitions to champion the rights and needs of grassroots producers, and this should be reflected in every country’s climate targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

In the first instance, national climate plans should include efforts to adapt food systems that work with the changing natural environment, rather than against it.

East Africa, for example, is facing a higher risk of drought across 65 per cent of its landscape, including Djibouti, Eritrea, parts of Ethiopia and Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

Land degradation already affects 65 per cent of Africa’s land area, and every year the continent loses about four million hectares of forest.

African smallholders need tools and techniques to continue to produce food amid increasingly scarce natural resources, and several African countries have joined the Coalition for the Transformation of Food Systems Through Agroecology mostly to do their part- adopt policies guided by agroecological principles that might hold promise to reduce emissions of Agricultural systems.

But advanced economies can support this transition by channelling climate finance for developing countries to deal with loss and damage, advancing agroecology research and Regenerative practices, and facilitating local innovation.

Second, governments should harness the benefits of knowledge from among Indigenous Peoples, who manage a quarter of the Earth’s surface, including rainforests, but preserve 80 per cent of the remaining biodiversity. They are the best stewards of our environment and make the rest of us pale in comparison.

Organisations from across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia united at the Food Systems Summit behind the creation of Indigenous Knowledge Research Infrastructure (IKRI).

Commitments to support a hub for indigenous knowledge would provide a new resource to help countries identify ways to conserve agricultural biodiversity and develop more sustainable food production practices.

Finally, officials at COP26 must also acknowledge and uphold the importance of climate adaptation to the lives and livelihoods of smallholder families.

At present, price incentives and subsidies in low- to middle-income countries can penalise farmers to protect poor consumers, disincentivising them to innovate and diversify production.

Meanwhile, climate-related disasters and risks could push 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 and 720 million people by 2050, many of whom are family farmers who are already struggling.

Yet by directing climate finance towards helping smallholders adapt to the effects of increased temperatures, it is possible to build their resilience enough to transition towards healthy and sustainable food production.

Several countries backed a new Coalition for Family Farming but it is in everyone’s interests to support the UN’s Decade of Family Farming, given the importance of smallholder farmers to global food security.

Smallholders are the unsung heroes of global food systems, yet less than two per cent of climate finance is invested in supporting them as they face increasingly challenging conditions.

The Food Systems Summit recognised climate change as both a threat to and a consequence of food systems. Now, climate negotiators must recognise food systems transformation as an opportunity to survive climate change and thrive.

The time is now and these farmers and other low-income communities are betting on our leaders demonstrating urgency and ambition at COP26.

Written by Dr. Agnes Kalibata – President of AGRA (the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and the UN Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit.