StorieS of change Transforming lives through agricultural and rural development Stories of change Transforming lives through agricultural and rural development www.cta.int Stories of change Preface This book provides a snapshot of CTA’s Some of the stories focus on activities that are directly achievements during the last decade. It is a helping to improve the productivity and incomes of celebration, rather than a conventional impact small-scale farmers and fishers. Some describe the assessment, and it provides an insight into support we have provided to academic institutions the broad range of activities that CTA has supported and researchers. Others give a flavour of the many through partnerships across Africa, Caribbean and policy processes in which CTA is playing an active the Pacific (ACP). role. All are contributing, in one way or another, to our goal of improving food security and reducing poverty. Established under the Lomé Convention between the ACP Group of States and the European Union A development institution like CTA must ensure that its 30 years ago, CTA initially focused on the dissemi- work makes a difference to its ultimate beneficiaries nation of information as its main activity. Although – smallholder farmers in ACP countries. However, as this remains an important part of our work, we a small institution with a large mandate, we need to subsequently developed programmes on policies, build smart partnerships with farmers’ organisations, agricultural value chains and information and government agencies, research networks, youth and communication technologies (ICTs). women’s groups and the private sector to add value and bring about sustainable transformation in the Our main purpose has always been to make a agricultural sector. Indeed, our partners are the real difference on the ground, and in particular to improve heroes of many of the stories told in this book. food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in ACP countries. It is often difficult to attribute We are fortunate that governments, development impact and determine exactly why changes occur partners, NGOs and private investors are now paying in farmers’ fields and to their livelihoods. Frequently, more attention than ever before to agriculture as an several factors – the introduction of new technologies, engine for socio-economic growth in ACP countries. It exposure to information, favourable trading regimes is time to redouble our efforts and play an active role – combine to help farming communities shift from in the process of transforming agriculture to achieve subsistence to market economies. However, I believe its true potential for food and nutritional security and the stories told here provide compelling evidence that the prosperity of millions of ACP citizens. CTA has made a real difference through its various interventions. Michael Hailu CTA Director 5 Stories of change TAbLE OF CONTENTS 08 18 26 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 STrEngThEning prompTing promoTing produCEr poliCy aCTion informaTion & organiSaTionS CommuniCaTion TEChnologiES 10 Creating a better future 20 leading the debates 28 The life changing impact of for farmers in the social media Caribbean 21 Shaping rural policies 31 Supporting rwanda’s 13 Knowledge means 24 it’s time to talk about telecentre revolution success for Kenya’s policy farmers 34 giving young people a voice 15 Empowering fishing communities in the 37 a little goes a long way Caribbean 6 © Cafan © European union 2012 - European parliament © damian prestidge/CTa 38 48 60 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 SupporTing gETTing maKing ThE moST rESEarCh for informaTion and of marKETS dEvElopmEnT Know-how To farmErS 40 The power of a strong idea 50 Catching up with the future 62 Standing out from the crowd 41 Strengthening agricultural 51 a new way of reaching 64 making trade work for africa research farmers 66 Breaking the barriers to trade 44 linking researchers and 54 listening to farmers entrepreneurs 68 unravelling burning trade 55 on practical matters issues 45 improving access to science and research 57 modelling a brighter future 7 © damian prestidge/CTa © Sven Torfinn/panos/hollandse hoogte © mikkel ostergaard/panos/holland se hoogte Stories of change 8 © fao/olivier asselin > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 1 STREngTHEning PRoDuCER oRgAniSATionS CTA has provided support to dozens of organisations representing small-scale farmers and fishing communities in ACP countries. The Caribbean farmers network (Cafan) and the Kenya national federation of agricultural producers, whose stories are told here, are two of the many organisations that have become increasingly effective and businesslike, thanks to CTa’s support. in some cases, CTa has helped to establish new organisations, such as the Caribbean network of fisherfolk organisations (Cnfo). greater cooperation among small-scale farmers and fishers has led to increases in productivity and higher incomes. They have also become more influential in national and regional policy processes. 9 Stories of change Creating a better future for farmers in the Caribbean “C Ta has been like a godfather to EMPowERing SMAll-SCAlE fARMERS us,” says Jethro greene, director “at the outset, we decided to focus on of the Caribbean farmers network small-scale farmers – 90% of farmers in the (Cafan). “it has funded many of our Caribbean have less than 5 acres – and pay activities since the early days, and we would particular attention to the needs of women never have achieved what we have without and young people,” says Jethro. “and we CTa’s support.” indeed, the idea of creating a initially chose to work on non-contentious network was first raised at a workshop orga- issues which would bring people together; nised by CTa and the Caribbean agricultural unite not divide.” This was particularly impor- research and development institute (Cardi) tant as old enmities between islands in the in Trinidad in 2002. Caribbean often hindered regional coopera- tion. Cafan now provides a voice for over 20 Caribbean agriculture was then in a state farmers’ organisations in 15 countries, which of crisis. its contribution to gdp was steadily between them represent some 500,000 indi- declining, and would fall from 4.8% of gdp in viduals. 2000 to just over 3% in 2006. The Caribbean imported 90% of its food requirements, and Cafan’s main programmes involve sha- many of the region’s smallholder farmers, ring information and knowledge; promoting who constitute around a fifth of the labour food and nutritional security; encouraging force, suffered from low productivity, poor the involvement of young people in agricul- marketing and high levels of poverty. al- ture; influencing national policy making; and though many islands had their own national helping farmers to improve their incomes farmers’ organisation, there was little or no through greater involvement in value chains. cooperation between them. “improving marketing is now a key thrust Shortly after the Trinidad workshop, the of our work,” says Jethro. he is particular- executive director of Cardi got in touch ly proud of the success which ECTad and with Jethro. he said: ‘Since you initiated Cafan have had in improving farmers’ this idea, why don’t you take it over?’ Jethro profits from various root crops. a decade replied that he didn’t have the resources to or so ago, farmers were getting as little as establish a new organisation; but these – uS$0.25 a pound for their dasheen (Coloca- thanks to CTa and Cardi – were soon made sia esculenta). This barely covered the costs available. The Eastern Caribbean Trading of production. ECTad linked farmers to new agriculture and development organization markets and ran a series of training sessions (ECTad), managed by Jethro from an office on post-harvest handling and packaging. in Kingstown, St vincent, took on the role of Before long, farmers were getting uS$0.70 secretariat. a pound, and at times almost double that. (See Box page 12: dasheen delivers) 10 > Strengthening producer organisations TRAining MATTERS The dasheen trainings were among many supported by CTa. “CTa has been particularly important when it comes to the training of trainers,” says Cleve Scott, who works part- time for Cafan as a project manager. The first major CTa-funded training work- shop, on the management of farmers’ as- sociations, was held in Barbados in 2007. Twenty-three participants from 11 countries attended the workshop. Since then, CTa has supported many other training events cove- ring a wide range of topics, from disaster management and risk assessment to post- Training in the use of information and communication technologies (iCTs) is harvest handling, marketing and the use of helping to increase productivity and incomes. iCTs. many farmers’ leaders have also bene- fited from web 2.0 trainings (see page 28). The impact is clear to see. farmers’ orga- the music business. Cafan’s country direc- nisations are now more efficiently managed tors – there are two for each country – also and better led, and many farmers have impro- have other business interests. one is a doc- ved their productivity and incomes. “i recently tor; one is a teacher; one a full-time farmer; attended CTa training workshops on the use another a consultant. of iCTs and web 2.0,” says audrey walters, a farmer from Sans Souci in St vincent. “i found “Bureaucratically, we are very lean,” ex- them extremely helpful, and i now have a plains Cleve. “until now, there have been no much better idea about how i can use the long-term, salaried positions, although people internet and mobile phone for business activi- have been paid on short-term contracts to un- ties.” Since the training sessions, she has been dertake the specific projects for which they’ve sharing her new-found knowledge with other raised funds.” This is about to change, as farmers who belong to the 30-strong women Cafan has recently received a large grant in agriculture for rural development (ward) from the Canadian international development group she helped to found. agency (Cida), and this will involve taking on some permanent staff. however, Cleve belie- THE SPiRiT of PARTnERSHiP ves that the network’s basic philosophy will Talk to anyone who works for Cafan remain much the same. and you will be struck by their passion and commitment. “we can’t afford a civil-ser- Cafan hopes to continue its relationship vice type mentality, with people sitting in an with CTa, not least because it appreciates office and thinking of this as a permanent the way CTa has provided support and ad- job,” says Jethro. instead, the organisation vice. “we like CTa’s partnership approach to places a strong emphasis on volunteerism. development,” says Jethro. “CTa believes in most staff are part-time and make their living consultation, not dictation, and i think that’s elsewhere. Cleve Scott, for example, lectures one of the things that sets it apart from many at the university of west indies and works in donor organisations.” n 11 © damian prestidge/CTa Stories of change Dasheen delivers Carlton ottley has two small farms in richland park, high up in the picturesque mesopotamia valley, an hour’s winding drive from St vincent’s capital. at one he rears poultry; at the other he grows dasheen and bananas. “when i first began growing dasheen, about eight years ago, i used to get 30 sacks off a piece of land like this,” he says as he walks us across his fields. “now, on the same area, i get 40 or more sacks.” he attributes his higher yields to the CTa-funded technical training he received from the Eastern Caribbean Trading agriculture and development organisation (ECTad). Just as significantly, ECTad has helped to transform the fortunes of dasheen farmers by finding new markets. in the days when ottley began growing dasheen, he and his neighbours had to accept whatever the buyers or traders – mostly women who take produce to neighbouring islands by schooner – offered, which wasn’t much more than the cost of production. Since ECTad identified new markets in the uK and elsewhere, the price farmers get for their dasheen has more than doubled. “i don’t necessarily sell my dasheen to ECTad,” says Boston maloney, who farms the land adjacent to Carlton’s. “i sell to whoever pays me most, but i appreciate the fact that ECTad has forced traders to offer more than they did in the past.” although ECTad has been the driving force behind the improvement in the dasheen market in St vincent and the grenadines, Cafan has also played an important role. “if a buyer in the uK orders a container of dasheen and the farmers here don’t have enough, then we get in touch with Cafan members in guyana, grenada and elsewhere,” explains audrey walters, whose farmers’ group, women in agriculture for rural development (ward), is a member of ECTad, which in turn is a member of Cafan. “That way, we can fill the container and we all benefit.” as a result, hundreds of farmers have seen an improvement in their living standards. 12 > Strengthening producer organisations Knowledge means success for Kenya’s farmers A nnah Kinya Kiambati is the natio- farmers’ voice, train farmers how to use the nal women’s representative for the internet, improve the skills of its staff, and Kenya national federation of agri- attend agricultural shows. cultural producers (KEnfap). She is also chair of the local KEnfap branch in meru “our role is to represent farmers, sensi- County. She believes the organisation has tise farmers to the services available to them, made a profound difference to the welfare and push for changes in policy which will help of small-scale farmers in this hilly district to farmers in Kenya,” explains KEnfap’s chief the north-east of mt Kenya. like annah most executive officer, Kanywithia mutunga. CTa’s of the farmers here, grow a variety of crops, support has played a significant role in the such as beans, maize and bananas, and development of KEnfap’s communication many have one or two dairy cows, several policy. “we always had a good relationship chickens and a few goats. with CTa,” says dr mutunga, “and it comple- mented the support we’ve received from other “we are farming much more efficiently organisations such as agriterra” than we did in the past, because we have access to better information,” she says. THE RolE of REgionAl “we have become more efficient and busi- infoRMATion CEnTRES nesslike, and this has led to better crop and The first thing that strikes you when you milk yields.” not long ago, her two dairy enter one of the regional information centres cows used to yield just 4 litres of milk a is the sense of industry. These are places that day between them; now, she gets 12 litres are meant to be used. Every year, around from each cow, thanks to better feeding 2400 farmers visit the centre in meru, and practices and the use of improved breeds. around 10,000 in nyeri. Some come to browse none of this could have happened, she in the library, or borrow books. in meru, the says, without the help of KEnfap’s regio- centre has 32 books or booklets which it des- nal information Centre, which occupies a cribes as “farmer-friendly”; and 112 of interest cramped office off one of the busiest streets to researchers and extension agents. visitors in meru. can also read farmers’ voice, CTa’s Spore ma- gazine, and dozens of leaflets about specific The meru information centre is one of 10 aspects of farming, many published by CTa. centres established by KEnfap with support from CTa under the project “Strengthening farmers will often come with specific pro- and improving rural communities’ access blems related to pests and diseases, or the to agricultural information in Kenya.” The feeding and care of livestock, for example. project enabled KEnfap not only to establish “if i know the answer, then i’ll help them, but and equip a network of regional information more often i link them to advisers within the centres, but to revive its bimonthly magazine local branch of the ministry of agriculture, 13 Stories of change livestock and fisheries,” says lucy nyam- teams – involving farmers, KEnfap county bura, KEnfap’s county coordinator in nyeri. coordinators, government offices and resear- She always follows up to make sure that the chers – frequently meet in the centres. far- farmers have received the help they need. mers who are members of ‘common interest groups’ also use these centres as a source of The regional information Centres also information and the place to contact research have computers, provided with support from institutions, extension agencies and others CTa. in nyeri, KEnfap invited the 80 farmers who can help them. groups which are members of the branch to send youth representatives for training. They one of the disadvantages of the centres were taught how to set up email accounts, is that they are based in towns, and difficult browse the internet and search for informa- to get to for farmers who live in remote areas tion. as a result, says lucy, many farmers with poor infrastructure. however, the centres have improved their productivity and some have established training programmes which have even established new enterprises as a are held in the countryside, and these often result of what they have learned. one of the get information to farmers who wouldn’t re- most striking examples – described more fully ceive it otherwise. “we’ve held a whole series on pages 50 and 51 – involved a group of of training programmes on subjects such as retired civil servants who established a quail bananas, sweet potato and maize produc- farming business in nyeri. They first got the tion, on entrepreneurship, and on developing idea from reading about these birds in Spore; livestock enterprises,” says Judith nkatha, they then used the internet to gather more KEnfap coordinator for meru County. information and contact breeders in nairobi. now they have a thriving business. These training sessions have helped far- mers improve their productivity. after holding TRAining MAKES THE DiffEREnCE discussions with annah Kiambati and a group regional information centres are an impor- of women farmers in rwanyange, near meru tant resource for a wide range of groups and – she was gathering information for a CTa organisations. for example, district extension impact assessment – mercy rewe, KEnfap’s manager in charge of information, commu- nication and knowledge management, sum- med up some of the benefits of training. “The women cited plenty of examples of how training sessions have helped them,” “ said mercy. “for example, they now know how to choose the best varieties of banana REGIONAL INFORmATION CENTRES and what they have to do to increase yields.” many are now getting bigger bunches of HAvE ESTAbLISHEd TRAINING bananas, worth five times more than the PROGRAmmES WHICH ARE HELd IN meagre bunches they used to produce. likewise, training sessions on chicken farming THE COUNTRySIdE, ANd THESE OFTEN has led to the introduction of new breeds and GET INFORmATION TO FARmERS WHO better feeding regimes, which in turn has led to a doubling in the price they get for each WOULdN’T RECEIvE IT OTHERWISE.” bird as their chickens are now much larger. 14 > Strengthening producer organisations CTa is now focusing on supporting regio- extension agents with up-to-date informa- nal, rather than national, farmers’ organi- tion. however, it’s not just CTa which deserves sations. But its influence endures. KEnfap’s praise. “CTa support has been extremely regional information centres continue to important, but so has the support we’ve re- operate successfully, serving an ever ex- ceived from a range of other organisations,” panding number of farmers; farmers voice says mercy rewe. “They have complemented and various e-bulletins provide farmers and each other very well.” n Empowering fishing communities in the Caribbean m easured purely in economic ted houses, have relatively low levels of terms, Caribbean fisheries are education, and suffer from poor access to not considered to be particularly schools, health care and credit. important. Their contribution to the nations’ gross domestic product being one organisation that is doing its best to less than that of agriculture. however, the improve their welfare, and ensure the sustai- fisheries – an estimated 680 species are nability of the region’s fisheries, is the Carib- harvested in Caribbean waters – are vitally bean regional fisheries mechanism (Crfm), important for two reasons. an inter-governmental body established by the Caribbean Community (CariCom) in first, they provide a source of protein in 2002. Empowering small-scale fishers has countries where agricultural production is been at the heart of its work. “we recognised frequently erratic and threatened by natu- that fisheries in the region would be better ral disasters and, more recently, climate managed if small-scale fishers were more change. Second, the fisheries sector employs involved,” says Terrence phillips, who joined 182,000 people either full-time – for example, Crfm as programme manager in 2003. “up as fishers – or indirectly in activities such as until then, fisheries had always been ma- processing, marketing, boat building and naged in a very top-down way, with govern- net making. fisheries-related employment ments making the laws without adequately is particularly important in rural areas where consulting small-scale fishers.” alternative income-earning opportunities are limited or non-existent. a recent survey This made for poor fisheries manage- revealed that in some countries significant ment, and high enforcement costs. “The numbers of fisherfolk live in poorly construc- hope was that if fishers were more engaged 15 Stories of change STREngTHEning fiSHERfolK oRgAniSATionS The survey and subsequent discussions led to a major three-year Crfm/CTa tech- nical assistance project, with Crfm acting as the implementing agency. its objective was to improve the standards of living and income of small-scale fishers and promote the sustainable management of fishery resources. “we began by identifying six countries which had no national fisherfolk organisa- tions,” recalls Terrence. national consulta- tions led to the launch of new organisations representing small-scale fishers in dominica, guyana, St lucia, and St vincent and the grenadines; and to the creation of steering committees to form national fisheries organi- net-making in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. fisheries provide many full-time jobs and sations in St Kitts and St nevis, and grenada. support employment in other sectors. at the same time, the Crfm/CTa project pro- vided training for leaders of existing national fisherfolk organisations to help them improve their management and advocacy skills. Before the project began, the only orga- nisations representing fisherfolk in St vincent and the grenadines were three cooperatives, which acted independently of each other in the policy processes, they would buy into and whose main business was marketing the measures needed for sustainable deve- the fish catch. By 2013, a national fisherfolk’s lopment, and the costs of enforcement would organisation had been established. accor- be reduced,” says Terrence. But if that was to ding to its chairman, Eocen victory, this has happen, the fishers themselves would need been a significant institutional reform. ”we to be better organised. can now speak with one voice, and that will make a big difference in future,” he says. Soon after it was established, Crfm – “when we were speaking as a single coope- with the help of CTa – carried out a survey of rative – rather than three cooperatives acting national fisherfolk organisations. This survey together – it didn’t carry so much weight.” identified weaknesses in terms of leadership, management and capability. The findings The Caribbean network of fisherfolk or- were reviewed at a meeting of fisherfolk ganisations (Cnfo) was officially launched leaders in Belize in 2004. They agreed on in 2007, and it is now playing an impor- the need to establish a regional network of tant role in regional policy-making. “over national fisherfolk organisations to promote the years, Cnfo has made an increasingly the interests of small-scale fisheries. significant contribution to fishery discussions 16 © rEuTErS/Eduardo munoz > Strengthening producer organisations and policymaking,” says Susan Singh-ren- involved in the development of the global ton, deputy executive director of Crfm. “its small-scale fisheries guidelines, a process members have developed a better unders- led by the un food and agricultural organi- tanding of fisheries management and Cnfo zation (fao). it is now contributing to a new now makes an important contribution to Crfm/Cnfo/CTa project which focuses on our forum meetings and scientific working the implementation of the Caribbean Com- groups.” The working groups focus on spe- munity Common fisheries policy and other cific fisheries, such as queen conch and lobs- regional fisheries policies. ters, reef and slope fish, and large pelagic fish such as tuna. Terrence phillips views Crfm’s rela- tionship with CTa, which have been repre- woRKing wiTH govERnMEnT sented by José fonseca, as a partnership Crfm and Cnfo have both established between equals. “it’s about a lot more than a good working relationship with govern- CTa providing us with financial support,” he ment fisheries departments. “we’ve gained says. “José and i communicate a lot. he has a great deal from the work that Crfm has helped us with the development of our pro- done since it was created,” says Jennifer jects and he has been very flexible. i think Cruikshank-howard, chief fisheries officer for we’ve benefited from one another’s expe- St vincent and the grenadines. She and her rience.” n staff have benefited from frequent training sessions, some funded by CTa, and from the knowledge they have gained at the annual scientific meetings organised by Crfm. She has been particularly impressed by Crfm’s forum meetings, which are attended by all the chief fisheries officers in the region and benefit from the presence of Cnfo. “in the past, i used to feel as though we were working in isolation, but now we have a much better understanding of how fisher- folk see things, thanks to the contribution made by Cnfo.” She believes that closer co-operation between government officers and fisherfolks, and steady improvements in the capacity of national fisheries organi- “CLOSER CO-OPERATION bETWEEN sations and the Cnfo, are leading to better GOvERNmENT OFFICERS ANd management. FISHERFOLkS, ANd STEAdy There is no doubt that Cnfo’s reputation ImPROvEmENTS IN THE CAPACITy OF and influence has steadily grown. in 2009, it contributed to Crfm’s special forum to deve- NATIONAL FISHERIES ORGANISATIONS lop a Common fisheries policy for CariCom ANd THE CARIbbEAN NETWORk OF member states. later that year it attended a meeting of the gulf and Caribbean fisheries FISHERFOLk ORGANISATIONS, ARE institute in venezuela. in 2012–13, Cnfo was LEAdING TO bETTER mANAGEmENT.” 17 Stories of change 18 © CTa > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 2 PRoMPTing PoliCy ACTion Since 2007, CTA has co-organised up to six Brussels Policy Briefings a year. These have played a major role in sensitising policymakers to the importance of agriculture. in 2010, the first regional briefing was launched in africa, and in 2013 haiti asked CTa to support a series of national briefings. These were extremely successful. CTa has also provided financial and technical support to regional policy networks in africa, the Caribbean and the pacific. These have fostered dialogue between policymakers, farmers, processors and others involved in food production and marketing. CTa’s annual conferences have become major events in the development calendar, putting specific issues – such as smallholder value chains and agricultural extension services – onto the policy agenda. 19 Stories of change leading “CTa’s annual conferences help to raise the profile of specific issues and get them onto the the debates policy agenda in aCp countries,” says Judith ann francis, one of the organisers of the nai- robi extension conference. “Sometimes, we are ahead of the game, and we have helped to mainstream issues of importance.” C“ Ta’s annual conferences have nowadays, the annual conferences are become major events in the de- held in africa. as 90% of the population of the velopment calendar, attracting a aCp regions live in africa, this makes sense. large range of interests, including however, there is also a logistic imperative. farmers, scientists, politicians, policymakers it is much easier for non-africans to gain and representatives of development agen- visas for african countries than it is for afri- cies. Each year, CTa picks a specific theme cans to gain visas to visit Europe, where CTa of topical interest. in 2013, the annual confe- held some of its early annual seminars, the rence, held in Kigali, rwanda, focused on forerunners of today’s conferences. in those information and communication technologies: days, the seminars used to attract between ‘iCT4ag – The digital springboard for inclusive 100 and 150 people. The annual conferences agriculture’. The year before, the ‘making the are much larger events. for example, the ad- Connections’ conference in addis ababa, dis conference on value chains attracted over Ethiopia, focused on smallholder farmer value 500 participants, representing 69 nationalities chain development. in 2011, the theme of the and more than 250 different organisations. annual conference, which was held in nai- approximately the same number attended robi, Kenya, was ‘innovations in Extension and the iCT4ag conference in Kigali in 2013. advisory Services’ (see also page 54). although CTa is the lead organiser of the annual conferences, it relies heavily on the support and cooperation of many other organisations. for example, the addis confe- rence was organised by CTa and hosted by the united nations Economic Commission for africa (unECa), with significant contribu- tions from around 20 other organisations. a similar story of collaboration can be told for the nairobi conference in 2011 and the Kigali conference in 2013. The conferences today are a far cry from the conventional meetings of the past, at which experts talked to one another while everyone else listened politely. There are plenary ses- sions, attended by all delegates, but much time is devoted to more intimate thematic discus- CTA’s international conferences receive wide coverage in the media. There were over 340 articles and news reports about the iCT4Ag conference, held in sions. CTa’s conferences also included panel Rwanda in 2013. discussions, group discussions, field visits and 20 © CTa > prompting policy action prize-giving ceremonies for the journalists who and international journalists. This is africa, participate in pre-conference competitions. in a financial Times magazine, for example, Kigali, the main conference was preceded by a produced a special issue on value chains, ‘plug & play’ day, where young entrepreneurs drawing heavily on the discussions that took from aCp countries showcased a broad range place at the addis conference. This helped of innovations and apps designed to provide to raise the profile of value chains on the information for smallholder farmers. aCp policy agenda. The previous year, the findings of the extension conference were “Conferences this size are nearly always enshrined in the ‘nairobi declaration’, which powerpoint-led,” said CTa’s giacomo rambal- was printed in full in a CTa policy pointer, di during the closing ceremony of the iCT4ag agricultural Extension – a Time for Change. conference. “But right from the outset, we more than 60 journalists, representing natio- decided that this one would be different – that nal, regional and international media, repor- interaction would be at the core of the confe- ted on the Kigali conference. rence.” and that’s exactly how it turned out. in short, CTa’s annual conferences are The amount of preparation required befo- asking – and answering – some of the big rehand is considerable. for example, prior to questions about the future of agriculture the extension conference, the international in aCp countries. This is why they have Steering Committee’s call for papers elicited become so popular, and why they attract some 400 abstracts. of these, around 100 such a broad range of interests and key were chosen for presentation during the policy-making organisations and indivi- thematic discussions. in the months leading duals. To give just one example, seven up the conference, over 70 people actively ministers of state attended the opening participated in e-discussions. plenary session of iCT4ag, and rwan- da’s minister of agriculture and animal CTa encourages a strong media presence resources, hon agnes Kalibata, attended at its conferences, which attract both local every day of the conference. n Shaping rural policies “I n 2007, when we held the first Brussels during discussions with staff of the briefing, agriculture wasn’t seen as a European Commission, isolina suggested high priority by the vast majority of aCp that there was an urgent need to sensi- countries,” says isolina Boto, head of tise policymakers in Brussels about the CTa’s Brussels office. “at the time, just four importance of agriculture, and push it or five of the 79 aCp countries had identified higher up the policy agenda. “many of the agriculture and rural development as their ambassadors and their staff thought of main priority for receiving European Com- agricultural as something that concerned mission support in their national indicative technical people, such as agronomists, ra- programmes (nips).” ther than policymakers,” she says. This is 21 Stories of change ngos, 13.5% from international organisa- tions and 17% from the European Commis- sion. The briefings also attract researchers, journalists and representatives of the pri- vate sector. They have received consistently strong support from the aCp embassies, with around 35% of the embassies sending representatives to virtually every meeting. “we frequently receive calls from am- bassadors who can’t come, asking for documents,” says isolina. These include the Jethro greene of the Caribbean farmers network (CafAn) addressing one of comprehensive ‘readers’, providing back- the Brussels Briefings. These are helping to push agriculture higher up the ground information for each topic, resear- policy agenda. ched and written by isolina and her young staff. The briefings are also videoed live on the web, and in recent years CTa has pro- duced a series of policy briefs following the what inspired CTa, the aCp group and the briefings. The briefings have promoted stra- Commission to launch a series of policy tegic partnerships with key aCp, European briefings. Commission and international organisations involved in rural development, and they The first Brussels rural development Brie- have attracted the interest of new partners fing was held in July 2007. Since then, there for CTa, such as agribusiness companies have been six briefings a year, amounting and multinational corporations. They have to 33 by october 2013. Jointly organised by also helped, along with many other factors, CTa, the European Commission, the Euro- to push agriculture and rural development pean presidency, the aCp group of States higher up the policy agenda. indeed, over and Concord – the European ngo federation 30 aCp countries identified agriculture and for relief and development - the briefings are rural development as a key priority for sup- both popular and influential. Each consists port in the latest round of national indicative of half a day of presentations and discus- programmes. sions, focusing on a specific topic of interest related to agriculture and rural development. in 2011, CTa co-organised a briefing with “This isn’t just about food production,” says the international food policy research ins- isolina. “we’ve explored a whole range of titute (ifpri) on nutritional security in aCp topical subjects, such as sustainable inten- countries. Since then, ifpri and CTa have co- sification, fair trade, climate-smart agricul- organised two more briefings on food price ture, financing agriculture, the geopolitics volatility and agricultural resilience. ifpri of food and youth employment. we want to considered these such a success that it has understand the various drivers of agricultural offered to co-organise and part-finance one transformation in aCp countries.” briefing a year, as have the nEpad planning and Coordinating agency and the african The briefings are attended by up to 150 union Commission. following the briefing people. a recent survey found that 21% come on agricultural resilience, ifpri staff asked from aCp embassies in Brussels, 18% from its Board of Trustees to include resilience as 22 © CTa > prompting policy action part of its strategic programme for the next it says a great deal about the influence five years. agricultural resilience will also be the policy briefings can have that haiti, one the subject of a major 2020 conference to be of the poorest countries in the world, should held by ifpri – thanks to the influence of the approach CTa with a view to setting up its Brussels Briefing. following the briefing on own national policy briefings. “They told us food price volatility in november 2011, CTa they’d been following the Brussels Briefing facilitated the input of farmers’ organisations online, and they wanted to use the materials to the g20 meeting held in mexico in 2012. we produce for these as background for their The key recommendations of this meeting own briefings, looking at the same topics were accepted by the g20 ministers of agri- through a national lens,” explains isolina. culture. national Briefings in haiti were launched in 2012, CTa published a dvd containing in march 2013. organised by promotion for information on all the Brussels briefings. This development (promodEv), the ministry of will be updated every year. agriculture and other development partners, with financial and technical support from BEyonD BRuSSElS CTa, the first briefing focused on ‘Building in 2010, the aCp Committee of ambassa- resilience in the face of crisis and shocks,’ dors and african regional farmers’ organisa- which had been the subject of Brussels Brie- tions asked CTa and its partners to launch fing no 30. The next two meetings, which at- a series of regional briefings. The first of tracted over 200 people, focused on adding these, focusing on land access and acqui- value to local food products and aquaculture sition, was held in yaoundé, Cameroon, in and fisheries development. Each meeting September 2010. By october 2013, a further was tailored to the local context and made 11 regional briefings had been held in africa, use of the materials used in the Brussels brie- the Caribbean and the pacific. Their objective fings. “we are very proud that the briefings has been to raise awareness about key rural are owned at regional and national level and development issues, especially food security, driven by the partners,” says isolina. n and increase the exchange of information and expertise on selected issues. These one- to two-day regional briefings consist of three or four panel discussions with up to six speakers. Each speaker provides a different perspective on the topic in question. The discussions are followed by interactive debates, and the briefings conclude with a press conference. many have received good coverage in national and international media. “THE CTA bRUSSELS bRIEFINGS HAvE wherever possible, the briefings are held PROmOTEd STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS back-to-back with high-level regional policy events. in terms of feedback, over 95% of WITH kEy ACP, EUROPEAN those who have attended have expressed COmmISSION ANd INTERNATIONAL themselves to be very satisfied with the sha- ring of knowledge, the plurality of experiences ORGANISATIONS INvOLvEd IN RURAL exchanged and the openness of the debates. dEvELOPmENT.” 23 Stories of change it’s time to talk was formally established in 2003, following a workshop organised by CTa and the uni- about policy versity of the west indies in Suriname. Since then, Carapn has played a leading role in policy formulation in the Caribbean. it has commissioned research on a wide range of topics and provided guidance and input to the Caribbean Community’s food and nutri- C Ta helped us to create a new form tion and common agricultural policies. of dialogue in the Caribbean,” says diana francis, a policy and trade here, as in africa, CTa has provided consi- specialist in the inter-american ins- derable support for activities related to com- titute for Cooperation on agriculture (iiCa) munications and dissemination. during the Caribbean region. “not long ago, agricultu- course of the past decade, Carapn has pro- ral ministers would just talk among them- duced workshop reports, technical studies, selves, or to the heads of organisations like policy briefs and popular books. “Thanks Cardi (the Caribbean agricultural research to CTa, we now have a much larger pool of and development institute). now, they talk to information products than we had 10 years farmers, farmers’ organisations and others ago,” says diana. Besides providing finan- involved in food production.” with the sup- cial support, CTa has been closely involved in port of CTa, the Caribbean regional agricul- developing projects and improving the qua- tural policy network (Carapn) has played an lity of products. Typical of the more popular important role in fostering dialogue between publications is Choices – Caribbean agriCul- all the different parties. ture our way. published in 2012, this provides compelling stories about small-scale farmers in 2000, CTa invited organisations and in- and entrepreneurs who have increased pro- dividuals from the Caribbean and the pacific ductivity and created wealth through sustai- to attend a workshop in Entebbe, uganda. nable farming practices. highlighting what The purpose was to introduce people from is going right, rather than just focusing on these regions to the work being done by what’s going wrong, has become a trade- policy networks in africa, and especially the mark of Carapn’s work. food, agriculture and natural resources network (fanrpan), which had been set The network has also managed agri- up in 1997 in response to a call from afri- cultural round Tables, first held during the can ministers for an organisation that would Caribbean week of agriculture in 2008. gather evidence to inform regional policy- apart from putting agricultural ministers and making. policymakers in touch with people working at the business end of farming, tilling the “our message at the workshop to people soil and producing crops and livestock, the who came from the Caribbean and pacific CTa-supported round tables have attracted was: if you think setting up regional policy entrepreneurs and farmers whose activities networks is a good idea, we’ll provide you have been highlighted in publications like with support,” recalls CTa’s José fonseca. Choices. “They have brought policy to life by This led, before long, to the setting up of highlighting the links between policy and all the pacific agriculture and forestry policy the good things that are happening on the network (pafpnet) and Carapn. The latter ground,” says diana. 24 > prompting policy action involving young PEoPlE in of influence across the continent,” he says. PoliCy MAKing This was confirmed by a recent impact study, it is easy to be gloomy about the state of which explored the development and impact agriculture in sub-Saharan africa. for one of nine organisations that have received thing, cereal yields remain depressingly low, long-term support from CTa. little more than they were 30 years ago. for another, many countries are suffering from a according to the report on fanrpan, CTa lack of involvement of young people. farmers support has enabled the organisation to raise are getting older, and the young increasingly its profile, increase awareness of its activities head to the cities in search of work. howe- among a wide audience and improve the ver, if young people are healthy, skilled and frequency and quality of its communication motivated, they can do much to stimulate products. The study found that CTa’s funding economic growth, especially in the agricul- had indirectly supported the organisation’s tural sector; which is why it is so important development and growth and helped to instil to get them involved. confidence among other potential donors. as a result, fanrpan had improved its website, fanrpan has identified this as a key topic undertaken case studies, launched a new for investigation, and with support from CTa media strategy, introduced new communi- it commissioned six young researchers to cation tools and participated in regional and examine policies in malawi, mauritius, South international policy meetings, all of which had africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. helped to increase its influence. much the Their findings were presented at fanrpan’s same could be said for the policy networks regional dialogue in Tanzania in September that CTa has supported in the Caribbean and 2012. “The researchers found that there are the pacific. n many policies related to agriculture, and many related to youth, but hardly any which are concerned with helping young people to make a living within the agricultural sector,” says oluyede ajayi, a policy expert at CTa. The studies revealed that young people tend to have a negative perception about agriculture, and are unaware of the op- portunities that exist in the sector. young people working in agriculture also say that they do not get enough support. The authors concluded that governments need to develop incentives to encourage young entrepreneurs to get involved in the agricul- tural sector. They should also be included in policy-making processes. But do events such as these have any real impact? José fonseca believes they do. “fanrpan is now one of the most vibrant think tanks on agriculture in africa, with a lot 25 Stories of change 26 © damian prestidge/CTa > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 3 PRoMoTing infoRMATion & CoMMuniCATion TECHnologiES CTA has been in the vanguard of the communications revolution which is transforming the lives of small-scale producers in ACP countries. The experience of the rwanda Telecentre network provides an insight into the effect of CTa-supported trainings on information and communication technologies (iCTs). Since 2008, over 2500 people have benefited from CTa’s web 2.0 training programmes. The agriculture, rural development and youth in the information Society (ardyiS) project has contributed to raising young people’s awareness of the challenges facing agriculture and the potential of iCTs. 27 Stories of change The life-changing impact of social media “I n 2013, CTa’s ‘web 2.0 and Social media “one of the most revealing findings was learning opportunities’ was the winner that the highest adopters, and the people who of the world Summit on the information take greatest advantage of the trainings, are Society prize in the ‘iCT applications: e- English-speaking women under the age of 35,” agriculture’ category. This was in recogni- says giacomo. Between 2008 and 2010, 32% tion of the remarkable success of its web of trainees were women and 40% were the 2.0 training programmes, which began in under the age of 35. The corresponding ratios 2008. over the years, CTa has received a for 2012 were 40% and 64% respectively. “we continuous stream of positive feedback. made a specific effort to achieve this,” explains “many people have told us that the training giacomo. “This fits well with CTa’s new strategy, sessions have not only changed their wor- which places a strong emphasis on working king behaviour, but their whole lives,” says with women and young people in general.” giacomo rambaldi. during the first two years of the pro- Since 2008, around 2000 people from gramme over half the participants were aCp countries have benefited from CTa’s involved in research and education. By 2012, web 2.0 training programmes. ranging from the figure had shrunk to 18%, with CTa put- one-day introductions to intensive five-day ting a much greater emphasis on the groups courses, their aim has been to familiarise and individuals who make the most of web participants with the use of advanced web 2.0’s potential, such as those working for tools, such as publishing blogs and tweets government, non-governmental organisa- and calling for free over the internet, as well tions, the private sector and the media. as other collaborative and social media tools. when CTa first began its web 2.0 training, it covered most of the costs, which included in 2012, CTa commissioned a study from flights and accommodation. Since 2010, it has Euforic Services ltd. “we had plenty of anec- adopted a cost-sharing approach. To give just dotal evidence about the benefits of our trai- one example, trainings in uganda were held in ning sessions, but we wanted to get a clearer Kampala, Entebbe and gulu in 2010 and 2011, idea about their impact,” says giacomo. The and participants were encouraged to make results were revealing. The majority of trai- their own way to the workshops and stay with nees who responded to the survey said the friends or family. This has reduced CTa’s per trainings had improved their ability to access capita investment and as a result, it can now and share information. over half the survey offer more training sessions to more people. participants said they had improved their information management; a third have used The testimonies below provide a brief – and their newly acquired skills to run and facili- highly selective – insight into the impact of tate web 2.0 training sessions themselves. the web 2.0 trainings. 28 > promoting information and communication technologies PRoMoTing E-ExTEnSion in KEnyA in Kenya, the ministry of agriculture is now using iCTs – mobile phones, text messages and social media – as a way of communica- ting with farmers. “we have approximately one extension staff for every thousand far- ming households, so that makes it very dif- ficult for us to reach more than a fraction of farmers,” explains richard githaiga, head of extension management at the ministry. “This, and the high costs involved in visiting farmers, encouraged us to establish an e-extension project.” in Kenya and many other developing countries, mobile phones provide richard and his colleagues have developed farmers with a direct link to extension workers and access to information via text messages. an e-extension curriculum and manual, incor- porating the web 2.0 concepts they become familiar with at CTa training sessions. in 2013, MAuREEn’S SToRy the manual was used in training workshops in 2009, maureen agena, a young ugan- attended by 67 ministry extension officers. “a dan woman, applied to attend a CTa seminar key selling point of web 2.0 is that it’s a tech- in Brussels on the role of ‘The media in agricul- nique that anyone can embrace,” says Steve tural and rural development in aCp Countries’. rono at the ministry’s agriculture information She submitted an abstract on the use of web resource Centre (airC). “within five days, you 2.0 tools for sustainable agriculture, and she learn all you need to know about how to share was accepted. “That was my first experience information and use social media, and the with CTa,” she recalls. “i got to learn all about skills you need to train others.” social media and began to realise its potential for improving people’s lives.” Extension staff who benefited from the web 2.0 training sessions are now sharing a few months later, she applied for a long their skills with other field officers. in mid-2013, distance internship at CTa, under the super- the ministry issued over 600 of its 4700 exten- vision of giacomo rambaldi. again, she was sion staff with shock-proof mecer laptops and accepted. She learned about moderating smart phones, and these will be used as a exchanges related to web 2.0, and how to way of communicating with farmers, using the disseminate online products and use various skills provided through web 2.0 training. online publishing tools. all of this, she says, helped her professional life. at the time, she The majority of farmers in Kenya now have was enrolled for her second degree and mobile phones, which means that the e-ex- working for the women of uganda network tension project can provide them with informa- (wougnET) as its information officer. tion using text messages and – for those with smart phones – information on the internet. in 2010, she was the only ugandan to “This is going to make it much easier for us to attend the CTa-supported web 2.0 learning reach large numbers of farmers,” says richard. opportunity event at Baraka agricultural Col- “it is also going to make it easier for farmers to lege in Kenya. “i knew about 80% of what i communicate directly with our staff.” was taught there, but i was still able to expand 29 © neil palmer/CiaT Stories of change my knowledge,” she says. when she returned in Zambia, rodney Katongo has been to uganda, she shared her new-found skills putting the skills he learned during a web 2.0 – for example in using advanced searches, training session to good use. among other rSS wikis, google docs and Skype – to train things, the training helped him to create the wougnET members in rural uganda. project ‘participation in Zambia’s Constitu- tion making process’, which is hosted by the “Before, i used to blog mostly about iCTs, forum for youth organizations in Zambia gender and health,” says maureen. “But the (fyoZ). in September 2012, fyoZ launch an trainings broadened my vision of how iCTs internet blog to provide a platform for sha- could be used, particularly to help people ring information and submissions made by involved in agriculture.” in 2012, CTa paid civil society to the technical committee draf- for her to attend a meeting organised by ting the Zambian constitution. the food, agriculture and natural resources policy analysis network (fanrpan) on the “perhaps most excitingly it allows live role young people could play in formula- blogging from events – so when the techni- ting agricultural policies. She subsequently cal committee are visiting a district to secure worked as an intern at CTa’s headquarters in feedback and input, it is possible for people wageningen with the policies, markets and at the event to link live to the fyoZ blog and iCT programme. input people’s comments and perspectives as they are made,” says rodney. The web “in a period of just two years,” she wrote 2.0 capacities acquired by fyoZ played an in a message to CTa, “i must say that i am so important part in attracting funding from the grateful and thankful for CTa for the invest- Zambia governance foundation. ment, experience, exposure. i would never have wished for something better than this.” in June 2013, anna radavisa, the elected maureen completed her internship at CTa in mayor of a small community in madagascar, 2013 and has since been working on social wrote a blog which reflected on the web 2.0 media with the communications team at the training she had received in the capital, anta- world Bank group in Kenya. nanarivo, the previous november. at first, she said she was confused by all the jargon about AnD MuCH MoRE BESiDES... facebook, youTube, google and so forth. Sean rogers decided to go straight into however, she soon became an enthusiastic business after he left school, eager to get a feel convert, and this has proved to be of enor- of the real world. in 2006, he set up a small iT mous benefit in her non-mayoral work for two company in port-of-Spain, Trinidad, convinced private companies. furthermore, she has also that small companies could give better perso- been able to use linkedin and her wordpress nal service than large corporations. in 2012, blog to get back in touch with old friends, and he attended a CTa-supported web 2.0 training meet people in her professional and social session in port-of-Spain. This provided him with sphere. “my greatest wish is that the women a new set of skills, access to online libraries and young people in my country obtain these and new contacts. “once you join these sorts tools quickly in order to have more possibili- of e-forums, business opportunities become as ties to open up on the rest of the world,” she wide as an ocean,” he says. he now intends wrote in her blog. “my dream is that the 1549 to set up web-based programmes that will communities in madagascar become moder- help small-scale farmers in the Caribbean to nised with the help of these tools… This way, become more business oriented. madagascar would develop much faster.” n 30 > promoting information and communication technologies Supporting Rwanda’s telecentre revolution I t is market day in the village of gakenke, viSion foR THE fuTuRE in rwanda’s north province, and by in 2000, the rwandan government outli- mid-morning the Business development ned its development pathway. ‘vision 2020’ Centre is doing brisk business. “more than proposed a shift away from a low-income, 50 people will come to use the computers agriculture-based economy towards a and the internet today,” says manager alice ‘knowledge-based economy.’ among other nadine Kaneza. during the rest of the week, things, this would involve the creation of even on quiet days, at least 20 people – inclu- a large number of iCT access centres – or ding students, farmers and local entrepre- telecentres – in rural areas. here, farmers neurs – make use of the centre’s facilities. and entrepreneurs would be able to use the internet and benefit from the acquisition of managed by the rwanda Telecentre new skills. network (rTn) on behalf of the rwanda de- velopment Board, the centre offers a range “it was an excellent idea, but progress of services besides the internet. alice and her was initially slow,” explains paul Barera, rTn’s colleagues provide secretarial assistance, executive director. “The government began advice on tax affairs and link the commu- setting up its first telecentres in 2006, but nity to government e-services. during the first only 30 were fully operational by 2010.” The six months of 2013, rTn also ran five-day financial outlay was considerable, with each training courses on basic accounting and centre costing around uS$100,000 to build strategic planning that attracted over 100 and equip. people. paul was already developing his own among those who benefited were 10 ideas about how to improve access to infor- members of the Cooperative des produc- mation and communication technologies in teurs de fruits de gakenke (Coapga). “The training has made a tremendous difference to us,” explains Titus nijobigira, president of the 173-member fruit-growers cooperative. “as a result of what we’ve learned, we’ve gained access to new markets and deve- loped a new business plan. we’re now sel- ling dried pineapples as well as fresh, and “EvIdENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE CREATION OF AN EvER-ExPANdING we’ve negotiated better prices for our pro- NETWORk OF TELECENTRES IN duce.” members’ incomes have increased, RWANdA WILL bRING AbOUT FURTHER and many have been able to open savings accounts and pay for health insurance for ImPROvEmENTS IN RURAL SERvICES the first time. ANd INCOmES.” 31 Stories of change the countryside. “i had always had an entre- the future,” says paul. “it also provided me preneurial spirit, and dreamed of creating with the evidence i needed to convince poli- jobs for myself and others,” he recalls. for his cymakers here that they should change their university thesis he focused on the concept approach.” They didn’t need much persua- of improving access to iCTs in rural areas. in ding, once they had seen the figures, and 2006, soon after he left university, a small grant paul’s advice led to significant changes in from the united States agency for international the government’s iCT policy. development (uSaid) enabled him to set up a telecentre in his home village of nyamata. The first 30 telecentres – including ga- kenke – are now managed by private orga- here he provided basic computer training nisations such as rTn, although they remain for local people – a novelty in this area – as under the supervision of the rwanda deve- well as internet and secretarial services. later, lopment Board. The government is currently he added other services. he acted as a repre- in the process of establishing another 60 sentative for several companies and set up telecentres, adopting the indian model of a mobile phone service for paying electricity fitting out existing buildings at relatively low bills. he also provided advice, free of charge, cost. to the government. But it was his partnership with CTa that really changed his life and, just as rTn’s mission, developed in the wake of the importantly, rwanda’s approach to developing indian workshop, is to help the government telecentres. and the private sector create a network of 1000 telecentres. These will provide local com- BuilDing on THE inDiAn MoDEl munities with the skills they need to develop in 2008, paul was invited by CTa to attend their businesses, improve the employability of a workshop in Zambia which focused on the young people, create jobs – each telecentre sustainability of telecentres. “it was an impor- will employ at least three people – and link tant subject, and the workshop helped me to rural communities to government services. develop my own ideas about how to ensure a long-term future for my own telecentre,” he involving THE PRivATE SECToR says. “But it was my experience in india two in 2010, with support from CTa, rTn years later that really opened my eyes.” conducted a baseline study of existing ‘iCT access points’ in rural rwanda. it subse- during the course of an indian study tour, quently invited the 140 entrepreneurs – cy- organised by CTa in 2009, his group met a wide bercafé owners, telecentre managers and range of people from government, academia, mobile phone providers – who managed the private sector and rural communities, and them to a workshop. Since then rTn has held visited telecentres in five different states. ra- regular training sessions and workshops to ther than constructing expensive purpose-built improve their business skills. facilities, like the government of rwanda, the indians were fitting out existing public buildings The benefits have been considerable. Take, with computers and internet connections at a for example, the experience of aneclet namba- fraction of the cost, often as little as uS$1000. jé, who lives in the northern town of musanze. he set up his first telecentre in 2007, and offe- “The indian study tour was incredibly red basic training in the use of computers, as important in terms of my personal develop- well as access to the internet and secretarial ment, and it helped me develop a vision for services. Before long, he set up another three 32 > promoting information and communication technologies centres, but his business only really took off rwanda has made remarkable progress after the 2010 workshop. Since then he has when it comes to reducing poverty and impro- benefited from four training sessions on sub- ving the welfare of rural communities. although jects ranging from business management to some 45% of rwandans still live below the accounting and strategic planning. poverty line, over one million people – out of a population of 10 million – have been lifted “i now have a much better understanding out of poverty during the past decade. all the about how to manage the telecentres effi- evidence suggests that the creation of an ever- ciently and provide the services people need,” expanding network of telecentres will bring he says. he currently employs 14 people and about further improvements in rural services he expects to take on more staff soon. By the and incomes. n end of 2015 he hopes to have established another six telecentres. Transforming lives in rural Rwanda Jean de dieu niyibizi, president of the Twihangire imirimo Cooperative, unfurls a 3-metre long roll of laminated paper, revealing three stylised sketches depicting the dramatic changes that have taken place in the surrounding villages and farmland since 2006. “in 2006, we were getting just 600 kg of maize per hectare,” says Jean. “By 2011 we were getting 4 T, and we’re hoping to get 5 T by next year.” The picture of progress depicts numerous other changes, mostly for the better. The leaking thatch on their homes has been replaced by tin roofs. dirt roads have been improved and in some places paved. The village now has drying sheds for maize and many farmers get around by motorbike, rather than on foot or by cart. according to cooperative members, the training they have received from rTn and other agencies at the gakenke Business development Centre has played a major role in raising living standards. “we have discovered new markets, developed new crops and improved our incomes,” says Jean. “and because we’ve been able to develop business plans, the banks are more willing to provide us with credit.” paul Barera is particularly encouraged by the way the cooperative uses the internet. “They’re doing their own research and development and using iCTs in a very entrepreneurial way,” he says. not long ago, the main crops were maize and beans. now, making use of information on the web, they are growing tomatoes and developing a small-scale pig industry. They have also learned about new techniques in storage and disease and pest control. 33 Stories of change giving young have the skills needed – especially in the use of information and communication techno- logies (iCTs) – to ensure that the agricultural people a voice sector thrives.” launched in 2010, the ardyiS project seeks to raise the awareness of young people to the challenges facing agricul- I n sub-Saharan africa, 65% of the labour ture and the potential of iCTs. The project is force is involved in agriculture, which managed by CTa, in collaboration with an generates around a third of the gross advisory committee comprising many of its domestic product. yet despite its impor- regional partners. tance, young people tend to think of agricul- ture as an unattractive career option. at the its first activity was an essay-writing same time, the age profile of farmers in aCp contest on the subject of youth finding solu- countries is becoming progressively older. tions to the challenges facing agriculture and rural development using iCTs. publicised “The loss of young people in the agricultu- through CTa’s flagship magazine, Spore, and ral sector is a major problem, so we need to by word-of-mouth, the competition attracted encourage them to stay in the sector,” says entries from 174 young people between the Ken lohento, who is in charge of CTa’s agri- age of 18 and 35 from 33 aCp countries. a culture, rural development and youth in the panel of judges selected the 12 best essays, information Society (ardyiS) project. “Just as two for each of the six aCp regions. The au- importantly, we believe that young people thors were invited to attend CTa’s 2010 annual seminar, held in Johannesburg, to give an oral presentation, and the winners received a trophy, cash prizes and CTa publications following the success of the essay writing competition, CTa and its partners launched a competition designed to stimulate blogs that encourage young people to get involved in agriculture. The youth in agriculture Blog Competition (yoBloCo) targeted two separate constituencies: young men and women from aCp countries; and aCp institutions or orga- nisations with their own agriculture-related blogs. The first yoBloCo competition attracted 90 entries and considerable public enthu- siasm. around 3000 people commented on the blogs or voted on their preferences online. The best entrants attended a prize-gi- ving ceremony which was held during the young people often see agriculture as an undesirable career path. However, 3rd international association of agricultu- the use of iCTs is encouraging many farmers’ children to remain in the sector. ral information Specialists conference in 34 © Sven Torfinn/panos/hollandse hoogte > promoting information and communication technologies Johannesburg, South africa, in may 2012. region. its members, who had established They received cash prizes, became part of the a blog with the support of farming and project’s network and benefited from various Technology for agriculture (fTa) – http://jeu- other opportunities. following the success of neagrimadagascar.org/ – used the €3000 the first edition, a second one was launched prize to support two ventures. They organized in 2013 and included more partners. awareness-raising activities for sensitising young people to the importance of agricul- during 2013, over 100 young people were ture, and the role they could play in agricul- trained under the ardyiS project on how to ture; and they developed e-market rural, a use iCTs, with a particular focus on writing mobile and web-based application designed blogs to strengthen the involvement of young to provide farmers with information about people in the agricultural sector. Training market prices. workshops were held in Central africa, the pacific and the Caribbean. “we were par- The e-market rural app was launched ticularly proud of the Congo workshop, as in June 2013 at a one-day public meeting Central africa has tended to be neglected,” attended by representatives of agricultural says Ken. CTa received over 300 responses cooperatives, the ministry of agriculture, the to its call for participation in a workshop that ministry of Commerce, several development could take a maximum of 25 people. agencies and internet providers. “This has been a remarkable achievement, and i think Besides the competitions and workshops, it’s a reflection of the way in which ardyiS has the project has disseminated information encouraged young people to develop inno- on iCTs and agricultural opportunities via vations which can improve farmers’ welfare its website, mailing lists and by using social and productivity,” says Ken lohento. networking sites such as Twitter and face- book. By the end of 2013, ardyiS had about nAwSHEEn’S SToRy 900 followers on Twitter and 2200 on face- nawsheen hosenally was studying agri- book. culture at the university in mauritius when she first heard about the ardyiS essay wri- reflecting on the influence of the ardyiS ting competition. although she wasn’t one project, Ken highlights two main achieve- of the winners, she was among the top 30, ments. on the one hand, he believes that which meant she was invited to participate the competitions and training sessions in the web 2.0 training workshop in accra, have proved to be a powerful instrument ghana, in 2011. “i already had a blog, and i for rebranding agriculture, and promoting was using web 2.0 tools,” she recalls, “but the use of iCTs in agriculture, especially by i wasn’t using the blog to cover agricultural young people. Just as importantly, the acti- issues.” instead, she had used ‘nawsheen vities have opened up new opportunities world’ –http://nawsheenh.blogspot.com – for for many of those who participated, as the networking and keeping in touch with friends. stories below illustrate. That all changed after the workshop. from then on, she took a more serious interest in MAKing wAvES in MADAgASCAR blogging about agricultural issues. in 2012, the group Jeunes et agriculture à madagascar ( youth and agriculture in in 2012, nawsheen won first prize (€1500) madagascar) – won second prize in yoBlo- in the first edition of yoBloCo. Since then, her Co’s institutional category for the East african career has gone from strength to strength. 35 Stories of change Soon after she won the competition, CTa put and even make friends, with other young her in touch with the food, agriculture and people working in the same field. natural resources network (fanrpan), and she was one of six young people commis- in 2012, Solomon’s company was the sioned to undertake studies – in her case winner of the institutional prize in the first focusing on mauritius – examining the status edition of yoBloCo. “although we already of young people in agricultural policymaking. had our own business website, i’d never blogged before,” says Solomon. “it was the in november 2012, CTa offered nawsheen yoBloCo competition that encouraged me a one-year internship at its headquarters in to start blogging.” Take a look at the blog wageningen. “i’ve been invited by many or- – http://agricinghana.com/ – and you will ganisations to conferences, representing CTa, see how sophisticated it has become. on and given presentations on youth, iCTs and average, it attracted 80 unique visitors per agriculture,” she says. She has also worked day, and many more to Solomon’s blogs on with Ken lohento, her supervisor, on deve- particular newsworthy issues. loping the ardyiS project and planning CTa’s 2013 Kigali conference, ‘iCT4ag: the digital Solomon used the €3000 prize money springboard for inclusive agriculture’. and of to provide stipends for his team and to buy course, she’s continued to develop her blog. new equipment and software for his com- pany. all of this has helped the company to SoloMon’S SToRy expand its operations, much to the benefit Solomon Elorm allavi was familiar with of local farmers. Just to give one example, CTa when he entered the second ardyiS Syecomp is currently providing accurate geo- essay writing competition in 2011, which referenced data on some 280 smallholder was organized in partnership with nEpad. pineapple farms in ghana. This is part of a a geographic information Systems (giS) process which will enable growers to meet expert, Solomon had already established the gloBalg.a.p standards which are requi- his own small company, Syecomp Business red for exporting produce to the European Services, in accra, ghana. The company was union. n set up to provide giS services to smallholder farmers, and this was the focus of Solomon’s essay, which won first prize in the west africa category. “The essay competition helped me to explore how iCT opportunities could be used to help smallholders, and it encou- raged me to explore practical solutions which my company could use in its work,” says Solomon. he used the prize money to purchase tender documents and a tax clea- rance certificate, thus enabling Syecomp to participate in competitive tenders for govern- ment contracts. he also joined the ardyiS d- group, a networking platform where he has been able to share ideas and information, 36 > promoting information and communication technologies A little goes a long way I n 2002, a meeting at CTa’s headquarters information about agricultural issues, and in wageningen explored how women in they have been able to purchase better seeds rural communities could gain better access from neighbouring countries. to information and communication techno- logies (iCTs). The participants drafted a plan Thanks to a genardiS grant, villagers in which led to the creation of a small-grants Tanzania who were tired of having to walk scheme known as genardiS (gender, agri- many hours to market have been able to pur- culture and rural development in the infor- chase mobile phones. They now use these mation Society.) Since then, genardiS has to get market information and communicate provided support to 34 organisations in 21 with buyers, and they recently established countries. The results have been impressive. their own market, saving themselves both «genardiS has shown that it’s possible to time and money. These are just three of many create initiatives of real value with relatively success stories. small amounts of seed money,» says CTa’s oumy ndiaye, citing just a fraction of the The last group of grantees, who received success stories. €7000 each, were actively encouraged to think beyond genardiS, and were given in Benin, rural women learned new fish tools and training to take their research one conservation techniques, and improved their step further. Some have used the results of access to markets, following training in the their research for policy advocacy; others use of video, television and mobile phones. have learning about new monitoring and in the democratic republic of Congo, a grant evaluation tools. n enabled an ngo to establish a network of rural women, who have been trained in the use of iCTs. The women can now exchange “IN bENIN, RURAL WOmEN LEARNEd NEW FISH CONSERvATION TECHNIqUES, ANd ImPROvEd THEIR ACCESS TO mARkETS, FOLLOWING TRAINING IN THE USE OF vIdEO, TELEvISION ANd mObILE PHONES. IN THE dEmOCRATIC REPUbLIC OF CONGO, A GRANT ENAbLEd AN NGO TO ESTAbLISH A NETWORk OF RURAL WOmEN, WHO HAvE bEEN TRAINEd IN THE USE OF ICTS.” 37 Stories of change © damian prestidge/CTa > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 4 SuPPoRTing RESEARCH foR DEvEloPMEnT Science has a major role to play in the development of a productive agricultural industry and in tackling food insecurity. The agricultural Science, Technology and innovation (aSTi) approach to research, supported by CTa, has done much to foster innovation and encourage scientists to work more closely with policymakers and farmers. as a result of CTa’s support, scientists and students in 200 aCp universities and research centres now have The Essential Electronic agricultural library (TEEal), which gives them access to over 275 scientific journals. 39 Stories of change The power analysing the performance of the key func- tions at system level; and mapping the links between the actors. of a strong idea “The aSTi systems approach provides an excellent framework for gathering informa- tion and analysing all the different factors that influence the way a sector operates,” I n 2007, dr. irene Egyir, head of the de- says irene. “it has changed the way i look at partment of agricultural Economics and agricultural development and been of enor- agribusiness at the university of ghana, mous benefit for my work.” attended a training-of-trainers’ works- hop organised by CTa in collaboration following the accra workshop, irene col- with the Council for Scientific and industrial laborated with CSir on an analysis of the research (CSir) in accra. The workshop was plantain sub-sector in ghana, using the aSTi designed to introduce scientists and others system methodology. in addition to the desk to the innovation systems concept and its research, this involved gathering data from relevance to understanding, analysing and 358 people involved in the value chain, from strengthening the agricultural Science, growers to traders and processors. The study Technology and innovation (aSTi) system revealed that there are strong links between for enhanced agricultural performance in farmers and traders, but relatively weak links aCp countries. between researchers and policymakers. “for me, this was a eureka! moment,” Based on their findings, irene and her col- recalls irene. “Everything i heard during the leagues made a number of recommendations. workshop about the aSTi system resonated among other things, they called on the govern- with the work i’d been doing on subjects ment to increase the budgetary allocation to such as the use of agrochemicals by plantain research and development agencies, and farmers and urban agriculture.” strengthen policy dialogue. The authors also recommended that ngos and the private sec- The aSTi system’s methodological fra- tor should intervene more strongly in the pro- mework was developed and piloted in vision of credit to farmer-based organisations. 2004/2005 by CTa and the united nations Their findings were also shared in national and university institute for new Technologies international forums and published in scientific (unu-inTECh) in partnership with aCp publications. organisations. it was further modified in 2006 in consultation with Eu and aCp “one of the strengths of using the aSTi universities, research organisations and system approach was that it brought to- development partners, and it has been gether farmers, traders, transporters, input widely used to analyse the performance of dealers and everyone else involved in the specific sub-sectors and commodities. The value chain to discuss the problems and framework consists of six steps: reviewing search for solutions,” says irene. the policy environment and the histori- cal performance of the sub-sector under Since then, irene has been involved in a study; identifying the key actors; assessing number of other projects that have used the their competencies, habits and practices; aSTi systems framework, including a major 40 > Supporting research for development study of ghana’s marine and freshwater focuses on the rural economy; the other fisheries. Commissioned by CTa, this was explores the subject of climate-smart agri- one of several commodity-based case stu- culture. irene has also been invited by CTa dies led by aCp researchers. Some of the to share her knowledge and experience at other studies looked at cut flowers in Kenya, training-of-trainers’ workshops in Ethiopia, the dairy industry in Zambia, nutmeg in gre- ghana and nigeria. nada, bananas in St vincent and the grena- dines, and rice in Senegal and papua new like irene, other aCp experts who were guinea. trained by CTa have also gone on to train others and incorporated the framework in irene regularly makes use of the aSTi their research work. other university lectu- systems framework in her university work. rers and networks have included modules “it is now a part of my toolbox on two of the of the CTa training-of-trainers’ programme courses i teach,” she says. one of these, in their academic training and research pro- which attracts up to 30 students a year, grammes. n Strenthening agricultural research F or many years the Caribbean agricultu- concentrating on programmes which can ral research and development institute contribute to the sustainability and profita- (Cardi) hosted CTa’s regional branch bility of the agricultural sector, and greater office – there was another branch office food and nutritional security. Support from in the pacific – and was responsible for ma- CTa is currently enabling Cardi to conduct naging its activities in the Caribbean. in 2008, research and lead science and policy dialo- CTa and Cardi agreed that it was time to gues on science, technology and innovation change this arrangement. This has in no way systems, climate change, iCTs and value diminished its relationship with Cardi. “we chains. are now working together on programmes consistent with our medium-term plan and CliMATE CHAngE in THE CARiBBEAn CTa’s strategic plan,” explains Cardi’s exe- agricultural development is likely to be cutive director, arlington Chesney. significantly affected by climate change in the Caribbean. already, there has been Established in 1975, Cardi is a leading an increase in the severity of hurricanes agricultural research agency operating in 12 and changes in the patterns of rainfall, Caribbean countries. There is a strong focus with extensive floods and droughts. hel- on research for development, with Cardi ping Caribbean farmers adapt to climate 41 Stories of change change is now seen as a priority, and since the Technical managerial advisory Commit- 2010 Cardi and CTa have collaborated on tee of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a number of climate-related activities. which plays an important role in influencing national and regional policies. in 2010, the focus was on protected agri- culture – in other words, how to use green- MAKing THE MoST of houses as a means of protecting crops from innovATion floods, droughts and other climatic events. in recent years, it has become apparent in the years that followed, Cardi and CTa that most developing countries, including focussed on climate change and water ma- those in the Caribbean, are not getting the nagement, the impact of climate change on same returns on their investment in agricul- plant genetic resources, and climate change tural research as countries in the developed and pest management. world. “a few years ago, CTa asked us to analyse precisely why this is happening,” Each of these topics was the subject of says Cardi scientific officer norman gibson, a major workshop held during the annual “and we’ve done this using the agricultural Caribbean week of agriculture. “prior to Science Technology and innovation (aSTi) the workshops, we held-consultations and systems approach.” group meetings and commissioned desk studies on different aspects of each topic,” The conventional dissemination approach explains dr Chesney. “we also identified goes along these lines: innovations are deve- success stories and established research loped in centres of excellence, such as univer- programmes on the ground.” after the sities and research institutes, and extension workshops, Cardi produced policy briefs services then have the task of introducing and other publications to sensitise farmers, them to farmers. frequently, this approach policymakers and the public. fails to work effectively. “during the course of our research, we found that successful But have these initiatives made any dif- innovations were taking place at the ‘borders ference? “i think we’ve influenced policy, of knowledge’, where a range of different at least indirectly,” says dr Chesney. “it’s organisations and individuals are working important to realise that none of these are together and sharing ideas,” says norman. stand-alone activities, they are always part of a bigger process. That way, there’s a much The aSTi research has led to a complete better chance of the recommendations being change in thinking. “in the past, we and other implemented.” research institutes never involved policyma- kers in our work, and scientific research took José fonseca, CTa senior programme place in silos,” he reflects. “now, we delibe- coordinator, believes that the workshops and rately involve policymakers and agri-entre- associated processes have had a significant preneurs from the start of all our research impact. “if you take the example of protected programmes, because we can see that it’s agriculture research,” he says, “it has helped important to get them to buy into what we’re us to get beyond the rhetoric about climate doing. That way there’s a much greater chance change and come up with practical solu- of innovation making a real difference.” tions. as a result, climate change adapta- tion is now on the policy agenda.” research This isn’t simply a question of picking up findings have helped inform the activities of the phone and inviting policymakers and 42 > Supporting research for development entrepreneurs to meetings and workshops. “we needed to build their capacity, so CTa supported training for agricultural ministries, the national institute of higher Education (ni- hErST), Cardi and farmers’ organisations,” says norman. much of this has involved learning by doing, using case studies on various commodities, such as bananas in St vincent and the grenadines, nutmeg in grenada and small ruminants in six other countries. in each case, scientists and poli- cymakers tried to understand the complex relationships between policy, innovation and production. The research has given Cardi and its Promoting new ideas or innovations depends on good research. partners a much better understanding of the various issues that must be taken into consideration when promoting new ideas or innovations to farmers. To illustrate his point, norman cites the case of crop biodiversity. clear that journalists had a very poor unders- “you can promote great varieties, but you tanding of agriculture and its importance also have to know how to move material for the Caribbean; and scientists had a very from one region, or one country, to another. poor understanding about how the media and that’s a policy issue. in the past, Cardi works and how to talk to journalists. “The first would have focused mainly on the agrono- of these workshops was pretty chaotic, but mic aspects. we wouldn’t have looked at the ones that followed helped both sides to the regulatory and policy issues – but we gain a much better understanding of each do now.” other’s needs,” says dr Chesney. SPREADing THE woRD other activities have also helped to create dr Chesney recalls a conversation with better understanding between journalists the president of a media association some and scientists. for example, Cardi and years ago, during which he complained CTa have supported the Caribbean media about the poor coverage that agriculture awards – announced at the Caribbean week received in the press. “he said to me: ‘agri- of agriculture – for agricultural journalism, culture is not sexy, it’s not scandalous, and with prizes going to the best Tv story, the best it doesn’t sell papers.’ and that was why the news media story, the best print story, the sector received so little coverage.” best radio story and the best citizen journa- list’s story. “There’s no doubt that all these ac- That was before CTa helped Cardi to tivities have helped, and none of this would promote a better understanding between have happened without CTa’s support.” says scientists and journalists. Since 2010, the dr Chesney. “we now see many more articles two organisations have held annual media in the press, and hear programmes on Tv workshops during the Caribbean week of and radio, related to agricultural matters in agriculture. during the first workshop, it was the Caribbean.” n 43 © neil palmer/CiaT Stories of change linking researchers and entrepreneurs I t is easy to paint a gloomy picture of the the foundation for encouraging agricultural agricultural industry in the Caribbean. The research, entrepreneurship and innovation region has become a net importer of food and for inspiring young Caribbean nationals worth an estimated uS$3.5 billion a year to have confidence in their own vision, crea- and agriculture’s contribution to gdp has tive instincts and specialised capabilities,” stagnated or declined. yet there is much to says Judith. celebrate: across the Caribbean, entrepre- neurs and producers are showing that it is The workshop led to the launch of the Ca- possible to increase food production, gene- ribbean research innovation and Entrepre- rate employment and develop new markets. neurship network (riEnet). The 60 workshop participants became its first members. it now until recently, little attempt was made to has over 500 members, providing an electro- catalogue the success stories beyond Trini- nic discussion forum for entrepreneurs – they dad and Tobago. That’s why the Caribbean make up about 60% of the membership – Council for Science and Technology (CCST), and researchers, most of whom are involved with support from the organization of ame- in agriculture. rican States (oaS), decided to research and document Success Stories in Caribbean MAKing ConnECTionS innovation and Entrepreneurship. The book The network has proved to be an excel- describes the development of some 30 en- lent, low-cost forum for sharing knowledge terprises in niche tourism, energy and water, about research and innovation. it has also iCTs, agriculture and the environment, and helped to improve individual businesses. personal health. lovaan Superville of the national institute of higher Education (nihErST), an officer Shortly before it was published, CCST assigned to the CCST secretariat, gives the organised a CTa workshop in Jamaica on example of an organic farmer who has ‘Building a Critical mass for Science and gained new buyers, thanks to the publicity innovation: identifying the value proposi- he received through the riEnet website. “in tion for Caribbean young professionals and some ways, i see it as a sort of help desk,” Entrepreneurs.’ “This was one in a series of she says. Since 2010 CTa has continued pro- regional workshops that CTa had conducted viding support to riEnet. in 2009 to mobilize the aCp community on the need to build a critical mass of scientists riEnet now serves as a source of exper- and innovators for socio-economic deve- tise on science and entrepreneurship. during lopment,” says Judith francis of CTa. The a 12-month period in 2011–12, a total of 72 ar- Caribbean workshop provided a forum for ticles from around the region were uploaded learning lessons from demonstrated suc- on the www.rienet.net website, representing cesses and sharing best practices. “it set one new item each month for the six main 44 > Supporting research for development themes: ‘champion of the month’; research selected members deliberated on the sub- update; success stories; value propositions; ject of ‘adding value to local foods for food and foresight and innovation. registered and nutrition Security: myth or Strategic users can provide their own ratings for each option’. representatives from commodity article, using a scoring system of 1 to 5. “The and marketing boards, agro-processors, challenge is to continue to lift the average nutritionists, policymakers, researchers and score in each category and strive to gain at farmers developed a three-year roadmap least a score of three for each item,” wrote for adding value, both economic and nutri- riEnet facilitator, ian ivey, in his 2012 techni- tional, to local foods. Subsequent activities cal report. included a survey to gain a better unders- tanding of consumer perceptions and pre- riEnet members continue to participate ferences for local foods. The riEnet platform in CTa-related science and technology acti- acted as a channel for communication and vities in the Caribbean. in november 2012, knowledge exchange. n T“HE CARIbbEAN RESEARCH INNOvATION ANd ENTREPRENEURSHIP NETWORk PROvIdES AN ELECTRONIC dISCUSSION FORUm FOR ENTREPRENEURS ANd RESEARCHERS, mOST OF WHOm ARE INvOLvEd IN IN AGRICULTURE. IT NOW SERvES AS A SOURCE OF ExPERTISE ON SCIENCE ANd ENTREPRENEURSHIP. ” improving access to science and research “T his is to thank you very sincerely The registrar was referring to The Essen- for what i would call the most pre- tial Electronic agricultural library (TEEal). cious gift that this university has ever published by Cornell university’s mann received,” wrote owen Baya, senior library, TEEal provides scientists and stu- registrar at pwani university College, Kenya. dents in the developing world with access “i want to assure you that this set will go a to full-text articles from over 275 scientific long way to making pwani university a great journals dealing with agriculture and rela- academic institution.” ted sciences. it is estimated that the annual 45 Stories of change subscriptions to all the journals provided on in alafua, Samoa, and specifically the library TEEal, if subscribed to individually by an ins- at the School of agriculture and food Techno- titution, would cost more than uS$1 million. logy, uSp senior librarian angela Jowitt was Thanks to CTa support since 2009, 200 uni- so impressed by the TEEal collection that versities and research organisations in aCp she worked hard to get CTa sponsorship for countries – one of the latest applicants being campuses in fiji, the Solomon islands and a university in war-ravaged Somalia – had vanuatu. received the TEEal database by the end of 2013. This represents nearly half of the TEEal in a message to Erica reniff, head of database distributed in the developing world TEEal outreach and Client relations, angela by Cornell university. Jowitt wrote: “TEEal is very important to us at uSp as it is a cost-effective way of pro- The database comes on an external viding agricultural information to our staff hard drive which can be accessed off-line and students. it is also very valuable as it is on a local area network, so there is no need completely full text. we really appreciate the for internet access. “in many developing CTa sponsorship, which has also enabled countries, scientists can only read the abs- us to put TEEal in three more of our regio- tracts of journals online, and then only if nal campuses where agricultural research they have access to the internet, and most students are based, to give them access to institutions simply can’t afford the full subs- quality agricultural information.” criptions,” says Thierry doudet, head of CTa’s Knowledge management and Communica- in the past, CTa used to deliver various tions programme. databases free of charge. however, when it asked recipients to fill out a questionnaire feedback about the use of TEEal has to renew their subscriptions, less than 10% been overwhelmingly positive. Take, for responded. “we couldn’t justify the expense example, the way in which the database if organisations did not reply,” says Thierry has been used by the university of the South doudet. This has influenced CTa’s approach pacific (uSp). although CTa did not directly to providing databases. as a bulk buyer, fund the acquisition of TEEal by the campus CTa pays Cornell a reduced price for the TEEal database collection. The database is then provided free of charge to successful applicants in aCp countries. in exchange, recipients have to pay a small subscription fee to get updates for their database each year. many – including uSp – are now doing “ this. TEEAL PROvIdES SCIENTISTS ANd many universities and research institu- STUdENTS IN THE dEvELOPING WORLd tions whose TEEal databases have been WITH ACCESS TO FULL-TExT ARTICLES sponsored by CTa hold training events for their staff. To give just one example, the uni- FROm OvER 275 SCIENTIFIC jOURNALS versity of Eastern africa, Baraton (uEaB) held dEALING WITH AGRICULTURE ANd a workshop at its Eldoret Extension Centre in June 2013. The workshop was attended by RELATEd SCIENCES.” faculty members and students. at the end of 46 > Supporting research for development TEEAl is a cost-effective way of providing students with access to agricultural research. the workshop, they were invited to evaluate Besides enabling users to improve their their experience. Some had not even been research abilities, TEEal is providing signi- aware of the existence of TEEal before the ficant access to scientific papers published workshop. according to the summary report, in aCp countries. of the 18 most commonly “all the participants… were very excited after accessed journals, three focus on african they discovered that they were able to enrich agricultural research issues. n their learning experience by downloading full-text articles from TEEal and eventually writing quality research papers.” 47 © CTa Stories of change © giacomo rambaldi > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 5 gETTing infoRMATion AnD Know-How To fARMERS CTA’s bimonthly magazine, Spore, goes to over 60,000 subscribers, but it is read by a great many more people. Blending news and reviews with lengthy articles, the magazine is a valuable source of information for farmers in aCp countries. CTa has also published over 100 practical publications on agricultural matters, and supported a range of projects which have encouraged extension agencies to work more closely with farmers. This chapter begins with a description of one of CTa’s longest-running programmes, its Question & answer Service, launched in 1985. By providing customised answers to specific requests, the service has enabled tens of thousands of farmers to improve their productivity and tackle the diseases and pests that threaten their crops and livestock. 49 Stories of change Catching up with readers has been overwhelmingly positive. The magazine is put to good use by educa- the future tional institutions, and information from Spore is regularly transmitted by local radios. following the success of the South Kivu experiment, CTa has continued to explore new ways of promoting the magazine. in Ca- I n many countries, CTa is best known for meroon, the number of subscribers receiving its publications, especially the bimonthly Spore rose from 3000 to over 7500, thanks to magazine, Spore, whose paper version an innovative partnership with the monthly goes to over 60,000 subscribers, but which newspaper la voix du paysan/The farmers’ is read by a great many more. Spore blends voice. The newspaper is now distributing the articles with news items, book reviews, com- magazine free of charge. ment pieces and more lengthy ‘dossiers’ on specific issues. from time to time, the maga- reader surveys in Cameroon and uganda zine also produces special issues on topical revealed a high level of satisfaction. in the subjects in which CTa has a particular interest. former, over 50% said the magazine provided them with useful information about agricultu- Spore reaches places where other maga- ral and rural development worldwide and in zines find it difficult or impossible to gain a neighbouring countries. approximately 16% readership. Take for example, the experience benefited from technical information and in South Kivu, democratic republic of Congo 10% from references and useful addresses. (drC). This region suffered greatly from armed readers also used the magazine as a way conflict during the period 1998–2003, and of improving their career development and even now communications remain difficult. getting training material. The uganda survey “The postal service is so poor that the chances provided a number of examples of specific of copies reaching addressees are remote, activities inspired by articles in Spore. among especially outside the capital,” explains mu- other things, readers had benefited from ar- rielle vandreck, who oversees the distribution ticles on post-harvest practices, biogas, fruit of CTa’s publications. poor internet connec- growing, fish farming and vegetable produc- tions also mean that it difficult to access Spore tion. Spore is also used in literacy and adult on-line. education programmes. To get round this problem, CTa struck a it would take a big book to catalogue all distribution deal with proximédias libres, a lo- the feedback received over the years. The cal company with a good network of partners. following two stories give a good insight into Before the partnership was launched in 2010, what Spore has meant to its readers. in 2010, there were just 100 Spore subscribers in South the June/July issue of Spore (no.147) featu- Kivu. There are now 1500, including ngos, red a short article which reported that quail churches, radio clubs, schools, government farming had recently taken off in Cameroon. departments and individuals. The magazines This article caught the attention of Thomas are shipped to the capital, Bukavu, and distri- munyoro, a retired policeman in Kenya’s nyeri buted by bus, motorbike and pirogue. Subs- district and a leading light in a small ngo for cribers also collect their copies from radio retired civil servants, the 2010 Strategic Self- stations and churches. The response from help group. 50 > getting information and know-how to farmers Thomas read the article in the offices of KEn- John got in touch with CTa’s giacomo ram- fap (see Chapter 1 page 13). “my colleagues baldi, who he had come across during an and i had been rearing rabbits as a way of e-conference. “i write to notify you and also raising income, but we’d had problems,” thank you for how your publication (Spore he recalls. “They were affected by many di- magazine) has reshaped and guided me in seases, so we were looking for other activi- my researches,” he wrote and cited a speci- ties.” They liked the idea of quail farming, and fic article about a project in Kenya that had after reading the article in Spore they resear- featured in the June/July 2012 issue of Spore. ched the topic on the internet. They found a The information in the article helped him to quail producer in nairobi and bought some design his research project on helping pea- chicks. Since then they have established a sant farmers to make better and safer use of business selling quails’ eggs, which are now pesticides. “This project, which is ongoing, will in great demand for their medicinal proper- have a positive impact on the users of these ties. Thomas now has over 100 laying quail chemicals, as it will enhance good farming and his business is thriving. “all of this dates practice and healthy living among the pea- back to reading an issue of Spore,” he says. sant farmers,” he informed giacomo. Spore has also proved highly popular printed versions of Spore are distributed among those involved in education and free of charge to persons and organisation research. Take, for example, John gushit, a based in aCp countries. Spore is also avai- lecturer in the faculty of natural Sciences at lable online to anyone who wishes to read it the university of Jos, nigeria. (http://spore.cta.int). n A new way of reaching farmers W hen the rural Empowerment compensate for the lack of state-funded agri- network (rEn) asked Jane cultural extension services. The vast majority naluwayiro if she would like of farmers in and around Jane’s home district to become a field agent on a Kayunga had never met an extension agent new project to get information to farmers, or received advice about how to improve their she jumped at the chance. “i wanted to do farming systems. whatever i could to help farmers in my area,” she says. “for us farmers in africa, whatever The Q&a project has a long history. it was we grow, whatever livestock we rear, we get first launched by CTa in 1985, providing the problems with pests and diseases, and we opportunity for farmers in aCp countries to need help to tackle them.” send a written question to CTa’s headquar- ters in the netherlands. They received their She believed the Question and answer answers by post in those days. Then in 2004, (Q&a) ‘voucher system’, piloted in uganda CTa launched Q&a pilot projects in Benin, in 2006 and fully launched in 2008, would Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and uganda. These 51 Stories of change were locally managed. following a workshop rough? These and all the other questions and in nairobi in 2005, the decision was made to answers can be found on http://www.erails. scale-up the Q&a project in uganda. net/ug/ren/qas-2009/. This involved the introduction of a voucher “once i started work, i visited as many system at 14 sites in seven districts. “a vou- farmers in the district as i could,” she says. cher,” explains rEn programmes coordinator “if they asked a question i couldn’t answer, patrick Kasangaki, “represents the right given i would make a record of it, take photo- to a farmer to receive a customised answer to graphs, and take the questions to the rEn a specific request.” The aim was to improve office in Kayunga.” here, as in other districts, food security and rural livelihoods by provi- rEn passed the questions on to local rural ding timely and accurate responses to specific information brokers, such as the owners of questions. By the time the project came to an internet cafes, who ‘published’ them on the end in 2011, it had responded to 900 specific internet. These were sent to Eria Bwana- questions. Simba, who works in the library of the go- vernment-run national agricultural research linKing fARMERS To ExPERTiSE organisation (naro). Sitting in the office from which she ma- nages patience pays initiative, a pineapple “my role was to identify the experts who processing company she established to- could respond to the questions,” he says. get- gether with her husband, Jane flicks through ting them to respond wasn’t easy, and after a file which contains all the questions asked a while Eria decided the most effective way by farmers in her district and the answers of getting answers was to visit the experts in they were given. for example, Question person. once he had the answers, he posted 6379: why are my pineapples rotting? Ques- them on the web and the rural information tion 6409: why are my goats unproductive? broker passed them to the field agent, who Question 6046: why is my sheep’s skin so returned to the farmers with a written record of the answers. “i’d often go back later, just to make sure that farmers had worked out how to make best use of the advice,” recalls Jane. indeed, the various links in the chain – field agents, rural information brokers, experts, rEn and naro – were only paid once the farmers were fully satisfied with the answers. TESTiMony fRoM THE fiElD in terms of the amount of land she farms and the difficulties she faces, fatuma Kasi- bante’s situation is typical for many living and farming in the area round Kayunga. a mother of five young children, she struggles to make ends meet. “when Jane came, it was the first time anybody ever approached me offering help,” she says. her question was about her field agents provide farmers with timely and accurate responses to their rotting pineapples. The expert’s advised her questions. to uproot and burn the affected pineapples, 52 © rEn > getting information and know-how to farmers and plant new ones after soaking the roots people in all project sites across the country with insecticide. “i’m very happy now, and all have listened to the programmes, either on my pineapples are healthy,” she says. air or as members of listening groups. a few minutes’ walk down a dirt track, ExPERT oPinion haminsi Kibunga and his wife are enjoying agronomist peter Sajjabi and vet hamiisi the last rays of the evening sun outside their Semanda, two experts who provided answers shack, chatting with their seven children. for farmers in Kayunga, have first-hand expe- haminsi’s question related to the rough skin rience of the difficulties farmers face in the sub- on his sheep. The experts advised him to county. “There’s just one extension worker for use a de-wormer and before long his three every 30,000 households, and farmers have sheep were healthy enough to sell. “i used very little knowledge about crop diseases, the money to pay for school fees,” he says. which are a major problem,” says peter. “i “i think it’s a very good system, and i hope it think the Q&a project has been very helpful continues.” as it’s reached farmers who would never have been reached by the extension services.” on their smallholding near the main road, mother of six Jane nambejja has to To satisfy his own interest, hamiisi not only do most of the agricultural work herself as answered the questions sent to him, he fre- her husband is an invalid. She told Jane that quently dropped in to see farmers to discuss her pawpaws produced just a few tiny fruits; their problems face-to-face. as a result, the she wanted to know why. She was advised to project gave him a better insight into the pro- apply minerals and compost. “i didn’t realise blems farmers had to deal with in this area. that the soil was in such poor condition. now peter agrees: “it’s been an important learning that i’m making compost, i’m getting much process for me too. my experience with the better fruit,” she says. Q&a service has meant that i am now able to alert local agricultural advisers about unusual according to Jane, at least two-thirds of the diseases they need to look out for.” 100 farmers who asked questions in her area have improved their productivity and incomes an independent evaluation, conducted in as result of the Q&a service. although it has 2011, concluded that the service had provided come to an end, she and other field agents timely, up-to-date and relevant information to have retained a large database of all the farmers, even though its impact hadn’t been questions and answers, and farmers regularly properly documented. The vast majority of come to her office to consult it. farmers were satisfied with the answers they received. Equally important is her archive of 72 15-minute radio programmes covering 12 “my feeling is that the programme was a themes in six different languages. These are success, and many farmers would like it to based on the questions and answers gene- continue,” says patrick Kasangaki. “The Q&a rated by the project. “in my sub-county, there service is just one of several approaches that are six farmer listening groups, with up to 20 need to be taken to improve the information members in each group, and they meet once farmers receive but Q&a services will only be a month to listen to Cds of the radio pro- a real success in future if more development grammes and discuss them,” she says. pa- partners and the government embrace them trick Kasangaki estimates that some 5 million and provide financial support.” n 53 Stories of change listening to farmers A fter decades of under-investment, the respondents had made and maintained governments and development contact with at least 10 fellow participants. “The organisations now recognise the extension conference was a torch to find out importance of revitalising extension what i want to do,” wrote one participant from services. This is not just a matter of increasing malawi. “it has changed my way of thinking.” financial support. “it is also about reforming the way they work, and making sure that the re- a good example of how to involve farmers forms that are underway are cost-effective and in the delivery of extension materials comes sustainable,” said CTa director michael hailu from papua new guinea. in 2011, CTa, the on the opening day of a major conference on institute for research, Extension and Training innovations in Extension and advisory Services. in agriculture (irETa) and png’s department held in nairobi in november 2011 and co-orga- of agriculture and livestock organised a trai- nised by CTa and 17 partners, the conference ning course on the production of agricultural attracted over 450 delegates from 85 countries. extension materials. “The aim was to show- case an approach which encourages exten- The findings of the conference were ens- sion office to work closely with farming com- hrined in the nairobi declaration, which calls munities,” says rodger obubo, CTa’s training on governments to develop clear policies for programmes manager at the time. extension in consultation with farmers, to in- crease funding, and to introduce mechanisms during the course, 21 extension workers that ensure better coordination and sustai- and researchers from png, vanuatu and nability of high-quality services. “Efficient, de- the Solomon islands learned how to use a mand-driven extension services are the key to farmer-participatory approach to producing improving the productivity and incomes of the extension materials. This had already been world’s smallholder farmers,” says CTa senior successfully tried and tested during similar programme coordinator Judith ann francis. CTa organised courses in fiji, ghana, guinea, Sierra leone and Zambia. in 2013, the Kenyan-based company inter- media development Consultants submitted to The trainees invited a selected group of CTa the findings of a study which examined the farmers from madang province to catalogue impact of the conference on participants and their agricultural activities and describe the their organisations. it also assessed progress challenges they faced. The farmers discussed in implementing the nairobi declaration. The what sort of information would be most help- majority of participants who responded to the ful, and identified priorities. They were keen to online survey said that the conference had have written material on the control of the taro made them more aware of new iCT tools and beetle, on how to identify and control taro leaf approaches. The conference had also rekin- blight, and on techniques for pruning cocoa. dled interest in agricultural extension, and encouraged participants to keep in touch with The extension workers then began the one another over the coming years. most of task of writing and designing booklets and 54 > getting information and know-how to farmers listening to farmers posters. The aim was to provide simple mes- during the weeks that followed, course sages in English and pidgin with plentiful use participants listed a range of activities they had of drawings and photographs for those who undertaken, or were about to undertake, using have difficulty reading. The farmers scrutinised the knowledge they had gained. These included the drafts and further changes were made revising existing extension materials, publishing before the final versions were produced. “The new brochures about root crops, cocoa and co- aim must always be to produce materials that conut, producing radio programmes, and trai- farmers really feel part of, and will be proud ning colleagues in the farmer-based approach to use,” says rodger. to producing extension materials. n on practical matters F rom the moment it was established in how agrodok publications have benefited far- 1984, CTa has been thinking about ways mers and others. one respondent had trained of getting practical information to the 300 farmers on rabbit rearing, using infor- people who need it most: small-scale mation gained from an agrodok handbook. farmers, farmers’ organisations, extension another had used knowledge from an agro- workers, and teachers and trainers in rural dok handbook to write a manual and flyers areas. over the past 30 years, it has been on the composting of cattle manure, for use closely involved in the production and promo- by extension workers and farmers. another tion of more than 100 practical publications. replied that agrodok handbooks had “helped me improve my understanding, as well as my The majority of titles – 50 by 2013 – fall training abilities, on a lot of topics, like snail under the heading of agrodok, a series pro- rearing, mushroom farming and many other duced in partnership with agromisa, a non- topics.” many respondents said they handed profit knowledge centre that supports small- on the agrodok guides once they had used scale farmers and organisations. Based in them to friends, neighbours and colleagues. wageningen, agromisa has close links to wageningen university and local and interna- “most of the handbooks have been pu- tional research centres. agrodok handbooks blished in English, french and portuguese, provide practical and accessible information but they also attracted interest in other on a wide range of subjects including water parts the world,” says Jenessi matturi in harvesting, agroforestry, seed production sto- CTa’s publication department. for example, rage, animal husbandry and marketing. a book on goat-keeping has been translated into Japanese; a book on fruit growing into an impact study conducted in 2011 by Chinese; and books on bee-keeping and Esmé Stuart revealed a high level of satisfac- mushroom cultivation into Swahili. in 2013, tion among CTa subscribers and other users an organisation from Eritrea asked CTa and of the agrodok series. The study, based on a agromisa for permission to translate eight of questionnaire, provides over 250 examples of the booklets into the local language. 55 Stories of change CTa’s practical guides – 18 titles had been new series of guides under the title pro- published by 2013 – are specifically designed agro. aimed at extension workers, market for use in the field. These eight-page, fold-out gardeners and small-scale producers, six leaflets provide information for small-scale had been published in English and french farmers on topics such as enriching compost by mid-2013, and another eight were in the for high yields, establishing tree nurseries, pipeline. among the most popular are those controlling stem-borer in maize, intensive rice on rearing grasscutters – or cane rats – for cultivation and making banana chips and flour. meat; improving the production of plantains; and making a hand pump. although most one of the most popular guides in recent of the subscribers and readers are in west years focused on how to control the mango africa, some of the booklets have proved fruit fly, and was first published in 2007. The popular elsewhere, with the hand pump year before, CTa had supported a workshop booklet being ordered by CTa subscribers in Conakry, guinea, on the battle to control the in Ethiopia and Kenya. fruit-fly in west africa. according to CTa’s José fonseca, the workshop and other activities CTa’s Cameroonian partners are res- helped to alert mango producers and sellers ponsible for choosing the topics and commis- of the danger posed by the fruit fly, a native sioning the writers. CTa then has the drafts of East asia which had made its way to west peer-reviewed, and takes responsibility for africa via East africa. editing and design. a pdf of the final product is sent to Cameroon so the printing can be after the workshop, José got in touch done locally. The pdf versions, published on with ColEaCp, an organisation which brings the CTa website, are proving very popular. together professionals concerned with esta- as a result of the partnership, ingénieurs blishing a sustainable horticultural trade for sans frontières has significantly improved its aCp producers and exporters. “The mango publishing skills. fruit fly posed a serious threat to trade, so i went to ColEaCp and said: ‘we have a pro- “i think the pro-agro guides are popu- blem, and you have the expertise.’” ColEaCp lar for two reasons,” says Jenessi. “first, they commissioned a scientist to write a practical provide step-by-step instructions that anyone guide on the subject. This proved so popular can follow. and second, some of the titles that it was recently reprinted. deal with very practical matters that can help people improve their incomes.” an example in 2011, CTa and the Cameroon-based of the latter is the guide on soap-making, organisation ingénieurs sans frontières something which anybody in rural africa can (Engineers without Borders) launched a do if they have access to vegetable oil. n 56 > getting information and know-how to farmers Modelling a brighter future P eople with low levels of education features. By the time they had finished, the and poor literacy skills have difficulty model had 79 features and 83 places of making themselves heard. This is cultural significance. particularly true for indigenous com- munities. Their ancestral knowledge and The model was subsequently used as a rights are often ignored by governments, basis for an island-wide management plan mineral companies and others who wish to and three districts management plans. The exploit their lands. however, it needn’t be process identified 16 ‘taboo’ areas in which like this. working with local partners, CTa there is now total protection of marine life. has helped to pioneer a process, known as local people have also begun to clear cere- participatory 3-d modelling, which is helping monial pathways which had become over- local communities not only to document the grown. during the course of three years of areas where they live, but influence the way research, the museum of fiji only managed decisions are made about land-use and to identified 20 places of cultural significance tenure. – a quarter of the number identified by villa- gers during the modelling process. “Traditionally, maps were made by go- vernments, and the data was controlled by in many ways, the process is as important governments,” says CTa’s giacomo ram- as the finished article. “it helps people to vi- baldi. “But there has been a huge change sualise and localise their spatial knowledge, recently as civil society groups have acqui- and this is very empowering,” says giacomo. red the ability to make their own maps and “and, of course, it enables them to make videos.” They have benefited from access to their case more persuasively.” in the past, google Earth and youTube and participatory indigenous communities might produce 3-d modelling as a way of creating accurate, sketch maps laying claims to their land, but geo-referenced maps. decisions-makers seldom took much notice. The 3-d models providing intricate details of The first CTa-supported modelling exer- landscape features and resource use are cise in the pacific was held in fiji in 2005. much harder to ignore. The 11-day event in lavuka focused on ova- lau island, where local communities were ACRoSS THE PACifiC suffering from the over-exploitation of their Kenn mondiai, who runs partners with fishery grounds, especially by foreign fleets. melanesians, an ngo based in papua new during the first three days, 30 high-school guinea, was among those to benefit from students and six teachers constructed a 3-d the training in fiji. Since then he has played model of the island with the assistance of an important role in promoting participatory 15 facilitators and trainees. ninety men and 3-d modelling across the pacific. with sup- women from 26 villages then ‘populated’ the port from the world Bank, he helped local model with mountains, roads, rivers, fishing communities on png’s managalas plateau, grounds, croplands, cultural sites and other home to around 150 clans, to create a 3-d 57 Stories of change model of their ancestral lands. This was used of The nature Conservancy (TnC) in a short as part of the evidence to promote the ma- film about the Boe Boe exercise. “TnC or the nagalas Conservation area, whose official government don’t own it.” The community recognition is anticipated around the time does. of going to press. TRAining in THE CARiBBEAn in 2011, The nature Conservancy hired CTa was keen to encourage participatory Kenn to conduct trainings in the Solomon 3-d modelling in the Caribbean, but was islands. The modelling exercise at the coas- obliged to import expertise from elsewhere. tal village of Boe Boe focused on climate in october 2012, the first Caribbean model- change and its possible impact. Such was ling exercise was held in Tobago, hosted by the enthusiasm of the school children and the Caribbean natural resources institute students who helped to build the model that (Canari) and facilitated by Kenn mondiai. some would stay until 5 a.m. in the morning This led to follow-up modelling workshops and return to work on the model after just on union island and granada. a few hours’ sleep. The model showed the extent of the last tsunami in 2007 and recent according to gillian Stanislaus of the de- king-tide levels that had inundated parts of partment of natural resources and Environ- the village. The community then used the ment in Trinidad and Tobago, the Tobago 3-d model to discuss the potential impact of model will help the authorities manage fu- rises in sea-level and other climate-related ture developments more efficiently. “Because events. of the modelling process, we have a much greater depth of knowledge about the way “The model showed the younger gene- in which the land is used and its significance ration that we need to think about climate for local people,” she says. change,” reflected winifred piatamama after the exercise. “it’s important to realise that in Terrence phillips attended one of the mo- a few years time the sea level won’t be the delling workshops – its focus was on adap- same as it is now.” following discussions, ting to climate change – as a representative the villagers decided that instead of building of the Caribbean regional fisheries mecha- along the coastline, as they have done in nism. he was impressed. “i think this is a the past, they would look towards the higher very useful tool,” he says. “The communities land further from the sea. in short, the model were able to describe what had happened helped them to devise plans which will help to their marine resources in the past and the them adapt to climate change. state of the resources now.” The modelling encouraged them to consider the possible according to winifred, the modelling impact of sea-level rises and climate change, process was particularly important for the and devise strategies to help them adapt. women in the community. “at the beginning The modelling exercise helped to create a it was a bit challenging for women, because constructive dialogue between the govern- they don’t raise their concerns, they are ge- ment and the local community, ensuring that nerally quiet,” she said. however, the mo- they work together effectively in future. n delling process encouraged them to share their views more openly. “when everyone contributes to the model, they share pride and ownership,” reflected gabriel Kulwaum 58 > getting information and know-how to farmers Justice for Kenya’s hunter-gatherers africa’s first participatory 3-d mapping exercise took some 10 months to organise. held in the village of nessuit in Kenya’s nakuru County, it was managed by Environmental research mapping and information Systems in africa (ErmiS-africa), with financial and technical support from CTa. over the course of 11 days in august 2006, some 120 men and women belonging to 21 ogiek clans constructed a 3-d model of the Eastern mau forest Complex. The mau forest had suffered from decades of commercial logging and encroachment. These activities had destroyed much of the landscape, as well as many ogiek cultural sites, and for some years the ogiek had been attempting to assert their rights to the land in court. “The court cases had been dragging on, with no real resolution,” explains Julius muchemi, director of ErmiS-africa. “what the ogiek needed was concrete evidence to support their claims, and the modelling exercise helped to provide that.” The evidence was persuasive enough to convince the government of the ogiek’s right to the land, and the need to protect the area from further degradation. when a conservation process was launched in 2007, all those occupying the forest apart from the ogiek were evicted. Since then, ErmiS-africa and its partners have produced the ogiek peoples ancestral Territories atlas. This provides the most comprehensive description to date about the ogiek’s culture and their links to the land. among the organisations which supported the mapping exercise was the indigenous peoples of africa Coordinating Committee (ipaCC). according to its director, nigel Crawhall, this was a key event in the life of ipaCC. The mapping exercise, and CTa’s support for the organisation, led to a series of important developments for indigenous people, including ipaCC’s engagement with the un framework Convention on Climate Change and the launching of a multi-country training programme on climate change mitigation and adaptation. “from a professional perspective,” said dr Crawhall, in a written summary about the impact of CTa, “the relationship with CTa has brought important changes, new tools and opportunities... Exposure and partnering with CTa has transformed the work, practice and knowledge of africa’s only regional indigenous peoples network, it has touched the lives of people in more than a dozen countries, it has created new career and advocacy opportunities for indigenous leaders, and it has opened new horizons for me professionally.” Since the mau forest mapping exercise, CTa has supported similar initiatives in Ethiopia, gabon, Chad and uganda. Supported by an e-handbook published in English, french, Spanish, portuguese and amharic, and a vibrant online community, modelling exercises have also taken place in other parts of Kenya, the democratic republic of Congo, ghana and morocco. 59 Stories of change © ami vitale/panos/hollandse hoogte > Strengthening producer organisations CHAPTER 6 MAKing THE MoST of MARKETS This chapter provides an insight into CTA’s support for a wide range of activities designed to strengthen national and regional value chains. as international markets become increasingly competitive, producers need to find ways of differentiating themselves and their products, for example, through the use of geographical indications (gi), which link quality and uniqueness with location. workshops and discussion forums supported by CTa, and the publication of a practical manual, provide aCp countries with valuable guidance on the benefits of gis. CTa’s agritrade website has established a reputation as a unique source of information and analysis on aCp- European union agricultural trade issues. other stories in this chapter cover CTa’s support for a journalists’ study tour investigating trade barriers in west africa, and initiatives on structured trade. 61 Stories of change Standing out RAiSing AwAREnESS CTa’s work on this subject began in 2005 from the crowd with the production of a discussion paper to inform aCp countries about the challenges and opportunities of gis in the context of the world Trade organization (wTo) nego- tiations. This eventually led to the first aCp/Eu workshop on gis, which was held in mont- T he international market for agricultural pellier in march 2009 and jointly organised goods has become increasingly com- by CTa, the agence française de développe- petitive, with Brazil and other emer- ment (afd) and the Centre de coopération ging economies posing a significant internationale en recherche agronomique threat to producers elsewhere. To give just pour le développement (Cirad). one example, africa’s share of world coffee exports has fallen by almost a half over the The workshop attracted over 60 partici- past 20 years, largely because of increased pants, including farmers and representatives competition from non-aCp countries such as of producer organisations from many aCp indonesia and vietnam. countries. during the course of the week, they learned how gis can contribute to rural “This is a serious problem for many of development, and explored the legal and the countries where we work,” says vincent institutional framework for gis and the steps fautrel, CTa’s senior programme coordinator needed to create them. There were field vi- for trade and value chain development. “if sits to see the production of bull meat in the producers want to retain their market share, Camargue, sweet onions in the Cevennes they need to find ways of differentiating and olive oil in nyons, three local products themselves, of finding a specific niche that which had benefited from gi status. attracts consumers.” The need to stand out from the crowd has led to a surge of interest The following year, CTa was contacted in origin-linked products and particularly by Cameroon’s national Coffee and Cocoa geographical indications (gis) which link the Board (nCCB). “a that time, nCCB was deve- quality, reputation and uniqueness of parti- loping a new strategy for their coffee and cular products to a specific location or terroir. cocoa and were keen to learn more about gis and how it could help Cameroon to bet- Think, for example, of french champagne, ter position itself on the market,” recalls vin- parma ham and darjeeling tea. Their gi sta- cent. This led to a three-day expert technical tus, recognised under Eu law, guarantees their workshop in yaoundé, during which repre- authenticity, protects them from counterfeits, sentatives of both public and private sec- and adds value for producers. most products tors from Cameroon, Côte d’ivoire, france, afforded gi protection come from Europe, but ghana, guinea and Kenya explored the po- producers in aCp countries are increasin- tential of gis for coffee and cocoa growers. gly looking at origin-linked products and in This indirectly led to contacts between cocoa some cases gis as a way to better differentiate growers in Cameroon and one of the finest themselves. Jamaican Blue mountain Coffee, manufacturers of Belgian chocolate, pierre macenta coffee in guinea, penja pepper and marcolini, who was interested in sourcing a oku honey in Cameroon are just a few recent specific type of dark red cocoa from Came- examples of aCp origin-linked products. roon’s north west region. 62 > making the most of markets MAKing ConnECTionS cular, provide interesting opportunities for To increase the outreach of the montpel- aCp countries, but it is often a lengthy and lier workshop, CTa commissioned a docu- costly process,” he says. “producers have mentary film based on the discussions and to consider the various protection options field visits. This has been used at Cirad’s available – such as trademarks, collective annual training sessions on gis for officials marks, certification marks and gis – and from developing countries. according to decide which strategy to adopt based on Cirad, the documentary has been highly their specific contexts.” Building capacities appreciated by trainees as a good intro- at the national and regional level is a key duction to the subject. after the montpellier priority. n workshop CTa funded the participation of aCp experts at the general assembly of the organisation for an international geo- graphical indications network (origin), and in partnership with origin it established an electronic discussion forum which by 2013 had 225 members from 62 countries – a clear sign of growing interest. The e-discussions and associated trai- ning modules not only helped to build the capacity of the individuals and organisations involved, they provided the raw material for The practical manual on geographical indications for aCp Countries, which was launched in geneva parallel to the 8th wTo ministerial Conference in december 2011. Jointly published by CTa and origin, this provides policymakers, farmers’ groups and others with a comprehensive guide to the economic, legal and operational issues involved in adopting a gi approach. “IF ACP PROdUCERS WANT TO RETAIN in 2013, CTa convened a high-level panel THEIR mARkET SHARE, THEy NEEd discussion in Brussels that looked at origin- linked products for aCp countries. during the TO FINd WAyS OF dIFFERENTIATING same week CTa launched a capacity buil- THEmSELvES, OF FINdING A SPECIFIC ding programme, and trainings were sub- sequently held in africa and the Caribbean. NICHE THAT ATTRACTS CONSUmERS. THEy ARE INCREASINGLy LOOkING according to vincent, CTa’s main achieve- ment has been to create greater awareness AT ORIGIN-LINkEd PROdUCTS ANd in aCp countries about the potential of ori- IN SOmE CASES GEOGRAPHICAL gin-linked products and more specifically gis, as well as the considerable challenges. INdICATIONS AS A WAy TO bETTER “origin-linked products, and gis in parti- dIFFERENTIATE THEmSELvES.” 63 Stories of change Making trade work for Africa’s smallholders I n many parts of africa, farmers are not furthermore, the transaction costs producing nearly as much of the staple involved in buying and selling grain are food crops as they could and should. Take, relatively high in many african countries. for example, the situation in Kenya. “Every This relates, in part, to a range of problems soul in this country consumes around 90 kg that affect both farmers and traders. These of maize each year, which amounts to 40 include poor post-harvest handling, pressure million bags,” says gerald masila, director on farmers to sell crops immediately after of the Eastern africa grain Council (EagC). they have been harvested – for example, to “But our farmers are only producing around raise money to buy food or pay school fees 29 million bags.” There is an even greater – and the difficulties in sourcing grain from shortfall for wheat, with the country impor- large numbers of scattered farmers. ting some 60% of its needs. fortunately, there is a tried and tested There are a number of reasons why solution to these marketing problems. Struc- farmers, here and elsewhere on the conti- tured trading systems already play a key role nent, are failing to fulfil their potential. most in organising, regulating and financing trade obviously, poor farming practices and decli- in commodities in the developed world, and ning soil fertility mean that many struggle to structured trading is now expanding in afri- produce decent yields. while yields of staple ca. Since 2008, CTa has conducted a num- crops have risen four-fold in East asia over ber of activities whose purpose has been to the past four decades, they have scarcely introduce the principles of structured trade risen over much of sub-Saharan africa. to parts of the african continent where it has yet to take off. Structured trade connects farmers to finance by establishing warehouse receipt systems. farmers lodge their grain with a warehouse owned by a third party and they can use the receipt as a form of collateral to raise credit with banks, usually 60-80% of the value of the crop. This means they are not forced to sell their grain immediately after harvest, when there is often a glut and prices are at their lowest. at a later date, when prices will hopefully be higher, they can sell their grain. They can then repay their Mwinchande Abdallah, the treasurer of the Mshikamano Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCoS), with stock receipts at the Magugu warehouse, loans, pay the warehousing fees and pos- Tanzania. sibly invest some of their savings. 64 © ifad/mwanzo millinga > making the most of markets SPREADing KnowlEDgE fRoM africa on how to develop similar systems. SouTH To wEST The west african Economic and monetary in 2008, CTa and the agence française union (uEmoa) and Economic Community de développement (afd) funded a two-week of west african States (ECowaS) commis- study tour of warehouse receipt systems and sioned various studies as a result of these agricultural commodity exchanges in South discussions. in Central africa, Cameroon’s africa and Tanzania. organised by the natu- national Coffee and Cocoa Board, together ral resources institute, the tour provided 23 with the commodities division of the united individuals from west and Central africa – nations Conference on Trade and develop- policymakers and representatives of agricul- ment (unCTad), worked on the setting up of tural producers’ organisations, the banking a warehouse receipt system for coffee and sector and ngos – with the opportunity to cocoa. unCTad also used the report and increase their knowledge about the chal- video of the tour as background material lenges involved in setting up and running for regional workshops in africa. warehouse receipt systems and commodity exchanges. A STEP-By-STEP guiDE To STRuCTuRED TRADE South africa has a particularly well-deve- during recent years, the Eastern afri- loped commodity trade and finance system, can grain Council has become a powerful managed by the agricultural division of the advocate of structured trade. “we believe Johannesburg Stock Exchange. its silo certifi- that structured trading of grains, similar to cate system enables farmers to sign forward the arrangements which already exist in contracts to sell fixed volumes of crops at this part of africa for tea and coffee, could the beginning of the planting season. This, in improve the way grain crops are marketed, turn, enables the farmers to access finance with benefits to both producers and buyers,” from the banks. The system helps to reduce says gerald masila. with support from CTa, the cost of sourcing produce for traders and EagC organised a ‘writeshop’ to develop processors, while lowering the cost of acces- a training manual for structured trade in sing markets, especially for premium quality arusha, Tanzania, in July 2012. produce, for farmers. This was CTa’s first writeshop. “it was a from South africa the tour moved on very interesting and valuable experience,” to Tanzania, where participants had the says vincent fautrel. “we brought together a opportunity to study the benefits that small- group of experts and organisations involved scale agricultural producers gain from a in agriculture and the grain trade, and during regulated warehouse receipt system. “The the course of an intensive four-day period tour proved very successful in achieving its we were able to produce a draft for a new main objectives,” says vincent fautrel, CTa’s manual on structured trade.” senior programme coordinator on trade and value chain development. “it exposed written in plain, jargon-free English, Struc- participants to the benefits and critical requi- tured grain Trading Systems in africa, which rements of developing warehouse receipt was published in 2013, is divided into eight systems and commodity exchanges which chapters, covering topics such as grades and are sustainable and accessible to smallhol- standards, post-harvest handling and ware- der farmers.” The study tour contributed to house receipts. “it’s a great piece of work,” discussions and debates in west and Central says gerald masila, “and it’s an output that 65 Stories of change we will use a lot in the future.” The manual has these arrangements could rise rapidly in the been circulated widely and is now used by the coming years. as these systems help to im- Eastern africa grain institute (Eagi), which has prove farmers’ access to finance and inputs offices at the headquarters of EagC in nairobi, like fertilisers, they offer a promising avenue to provide farmers, traders, millers and ban- for improving agricultural productivity, rural kers with a thorough introduction on how to incomes and food security. establish efficient structured trading systems. in 2013, a special edition of Spore was at present, just a tiny fraction of grain in devoted to the subject of Structured Trading East africa goes through a structured tra- Systems: a new vision for Trade. (see http:// ding system. however, EagC believes that spore.cta.int/images/stories/special_is- the number of farmers taking advantage of sue_2013/Spore-hS-2013-En.pdf) n Breaking the barriers to trade T rade within and between regions can fect opportunity for officials to demand bribes play an important role in stimulating from organisations and individuals carrying economic growth and reducing po- freight on the road. verty, so governments should do their upmost to support the cross-border move- But how exactly do these ‘informal’ non- ment of goods and services. But in much of tariff barriers work? a journalists’ study sub-Saharan africa, this simply isn’t happe- tour of red tape and harassment along the ning. official figures for 2008 suggest intra- 1325 km road between Bamako and dakar, regional trade in africa was just 10% of total the capitals of mali and Senegal, carried out trade, compared to 27% within latin america in June 2008, provided some answers. The and the Caribbean, 47% in asia and 70% in five-day tour was organised by the Confe- the European union, although this didn’t take rence of ministers of agriculture in west and into account substantial informal trade. Central africa (Cma/wCa) and supported by CTa, in collaboration with the regional Cattle in africa, non-tariff barriers to trade include and meat observatory and the west african high transport costs, poor infrastructure, ex- network of agricultural Journalists. cessive bureaucracy and bribery. a study by the united nations Economic Commission for Cattle, sheep and goats represent the africa (ECa) found that there were 69 check- main export from mali to Senegal, with points on the road between lagos, nigeria, livestock from mali helping to meet domes- and the Côte d’ivoirean capital of abidjan – tic shortages in Senegal. The trade provides one for every 14 km. These provided the per- a living and means of survival for tens of 66 > making the most of markets thousands of pastoralists, marketeers, mer- private operators also use the system to their chants, truck drivers and others working in advantage by not complying with the rules. the private sector. Bribery and extortion are not the only pro- despite the existence of a regulatory fra- blems facing livestock traders and transpor- mework on the free movement of agricultural ters. The study trip revealed that there are also products in west africa, moving livestock is legal and regulatory issues which needed to anything but free. Take, for example, the tes- be addressed. for example, the export licence timony heard by the journalists in the markets demanded by the malian authorities was in at niamana and Kati, where cattle are loaded direct contravention of the current regional for the journey to Senegal. in both markets, regulations; in other words, mali had signed the operators unanimously condemned ha- up to an agreement which it was flouting. rassment by the authorities. They explained The journalists also recommended that both that in order to gain the necessary export countries needed to harmonise the rules rela- licences they were obliged to pay the autho- ting to the transport of cattle. at the time of rities bribes of Cfa 2000–5000 (€3.10–€7.80). the study tour, a truck carrying cattle in mali The veterinary services also demanded bribes could have up to five livestock handlers in the of between Cfa 500–5000 Cfa (€0.80–€7.80) back to watch over the animals. in Senegal, before issuing health certificates which should this practice was illegal. have been issued free of charge. The national transport authority and the city council also at the end of the trip, the journalists, who demanded ‘informal payments’. represented a wide range of media, inclu- ding radio stations, daily papers and national over the next few days, as they travelled television, were unanimous in their praise for west, the journalists gathered more damning the organisers and recommended that simi- evidence. By the time the operators reached lar journeys should be repeated elsewhere in dakar they had been forced to pay conside- the region. The study tour had provided them rable sums of cash. and they were not the only with an opportunity to research a topic of ones to suffer: bribery on this scale inevitably considerable importance and create greater has an effect on prices, and contributes, in part, awareness about the problems confronting to the high cost of meat in dakar. livestock traders in west africa. many of the individuals working for law-en- Since then, CTa has supported a variety forcement authorities painted a very different of initiatives which encouraged west african picture. The journalists reported that all the countries and regional trade organisations policemen, customs officers and gendarmes to review their laws, and reduce regulations whom they met at various checkpoints said and taxes which restrict trade. for example, precisely the same thing, as if they had lear- in april 2011, a workshop in Burkina faso fo- ned by heart what to say when questioned. cused on harmonising the regulations gover- all said that their job consisted in ensuring ning agricultural trade. Jointly hosted with the the road users’ security – by checking the Conference of ministers of agriculture in west condition of vehicles and whether the pape- and Central africa, it attracted policymakers, rwork was in order – and they categorically traders, farmers’ organisations and journa- denied demanding and taking bribes, despite lists. “progress has been made in reducing evidence to the contrary. however, it should trade barriers, but much remains to be done,” be pointed out that in these sorts of situation says José fonseca of CTa. n 67 Stories of change unravelling burning trade issues I n 2000, when the Eu and the aCp group analysis on aCp-Eu agricultural and fishe- decided to negotiate new trading arran- ries trade issues. it is used as a source of gements that would progressively replace information for trade discussions by the aCp long-standing preferential agreements, Secretariat and the aCp missions in Brussels nobody knew exactly how this would affect and geneva. aCp ministries use the agri- the development of the agricultural sector in trade Executive Briefs as training material for aCp countries. furthermore, reforms of the their new staff. Eu Common agricultural policy (Cap) and the launch of the world Trade organization over the past decade, agritrade has un- (wTo) doha round of talks also had serious dergone various changes. The website ini- implications for the agricultural and fisheries tially focused on the agricultural implications sectors of many aCp countries. of the wTo and the Economic partnership agreements (Epa) negotiations, Cap reform, “policymakers, trade negotiators and pri- and several ‘protocol’ commodities, inclu- vate sector representatives all expressed the ding sugar, banana, rice and beef. in 2004, need to have a much better understanding the website began to cover sanitary and of the agricultural challenges at stake, and phytosanitary (SpS) and food safety issues. possible policy options,” says vincent fautrel, in the same year, agritrade launched an senior programme coordinator at CTa. “This entirely new section dedicated to trade in the inspired us to establish the agritrade website fishery sector. The following year, agritrade in 2002.” played a critical role during the preparation and reporting of the Sixth wTo ministerial The website (http://agritrade.cta.int/) has Conference in hong Kong, hosting special established a reputation for being a unique reports and producing various analytical source of non-partisan information and documents. P“OLICymAkERS, TRAdE NEGOTIATORS ANd PRIvATE SECTOR REPRESENTATIvES ALL ExPRESSEd THE NEEd TO HAvE A mUCH bETTER UNdERSTANdING OF THE AGRICULTURAL CHALLENGES AT STAkE, ANd POSSIbLE POLICy OPTIONS.” 68 > making the most of markets Since 2006, the agritrade website has information directly to ongoing trade policy provided information on many new com- processes. “we need to make sure that our modities and has also drawn attention to information is not only delivered to the right emerging topics such as aid for trade, pro- person, but is actually used in the decision- duct differentiation and biofuels. recently, making process,” says michael hailu, direc- the site was completely revamped and it tor of CTa. “agritrade should be developed has became more interactive with the inclu- as a fully fledged service which goes beyond sion of a social platform – myagritrade – that the website. Engaging more directly with va- allows subscribers to share common areas rious public and private bodies at regional of interest and get access to more targeted level should help us to achieve this goal.” n information. Since 2010, agritrade has covered regio- nal trade issues as well as corporate deve- lopments in various agro-food sectors. The agritrade managers also recognise that the site could achieve more by providing 69 Stories of change Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-Eu (CTA) p.o. Box 380 6700 aJ wageningen The netherlands www.cta.int written by Charlie pye-Smith Coordinated and edited by Stéphane gambier (CTa) anne legroscollard (CTa) Proofreading marilyn minderhoud-Jones graphic design and lay-out Stéphanie leroy Printed by pure impression Cover picture roberto faidutti iSBn 978-92-9081-545-7 © CTa, 2014 70 Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-Eu (CTA) P.O. box 380 - 6700 Aj Wageningen, The Netherlands - www.cta.int © damian Prestidge/CTA