A YEAR IN REVIEW MOVING TO NEXT-GENERATION FARMING 20 17   ARTICLESCONTENTS CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 Grow more, sell more 9 11 13 22 24 26 28 30 32 15 17 19 Making the most of cassava Profiling tea farmers in Uganda Strengthening Africa’s cooperatives Leading the data revolution Creating profitable value chains Inspiring young entrepreneurs Exploring the future Apps improve value chain efficiency Supporting Africa’s rising entrepreneurs Boosting Caribbean food exports Model gardens for Haiti MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR KEY FIGURES FOR 2017 6 8 21 34 50 57 43 4 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017 MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS CHAPTER 3 35 37 39 41 44 51 53 55 46 48 Co-management in the Indian Ocean Opportunities for Pacific agri-tourism Improving nutrition in the Pacific The transformative power of drones PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES CHAPTER 4 Climate-smart strategies for pastoralists Coping with climate change Influencing global climate policy PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS CHAPTER 5 Experience capitalisation Changing the way we communicate How mapping changed behaviour KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT COORDINATION Anne Legroscollard, CTA WRITTEN BY C. Pye-Smith, UK EDITED BY WrenMedia, UK GRAPHIC DESIGN AND LAYOUT Until Sunday CTA 2018 – ISBN Cover image: ©michaeljung We have stepped up our efforts to encourage youth entrepreneurship, support climate-smart agriculture, and promote digitalisation to improve the productivity and resilience of agricultural value chains. Michael Hailu, CTA Director © U ns pl as h/ M ad dy B ak er Michael Hailu, Director t CTA, we leverage the power of knowledge, innovation and technology, particularly information and communication technologies (ICTs), to make a difference to the lives of rural people across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. We have stepped up our efforts to encourage youth entrepreneurship, support climate-smart agriculture, and promote digitalisation to improve the productivity and resilience of agricultural value chains. CTA’s renowned publishing programme now has a far stronger online presence than in the past, providing ready access to much needed technical knowledge for millions of readers. I am especially proud of the work we have done to inspire youth entrepreneurship. Through well-known talent competitions – such as regional Hackathons and Pitch AgriHack, held in West Africa this year – CTA encourages young innovators to showcase their skills and develop new products. Many have gone on to develop successful businesses. These are not only creating employment, but providing a range of services that help hundreds of thousands of farmers to increase their productivity. This is vitally important, especially in Africa, where 60% of the population is under the age of 35. Digitalisation has the power to transform agriculture and we see this clearly in our projects in Eastern and Southern Africa. The Market-led User-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Service (MUIIS) (see page 9), provides small- scale farmers in Uganda with agronomic tips, weather alerts and index-based insurance, all delivered via mobile phone. Within three years, the project aims to increase the yields and incomes of 150,000 farmers. Another climate- smart project in Southern Africa (see page 44) also provides ‘bundled solutions,’ including weather information, crop insurance and drought-tolerant maize, to a similar number of farmers. These projects give you a flavour of what we have achieved this year with our renewed focus on the priority issues of advancing youth entrepreneurship and employment; leveraging digitalisation for productivity and resilience; and promoting climate-smart farming practices. MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR A KEY FIGURES FOR 2017 484 390,512 117,337 100,000 230,000 18,500 150CEOs, government agricultural officials and village farm suppliers were trained on climate- smart agricultural solutions in Zambia. students of which individuals follow CTA accounts on Facebook. on Twitter. pastoralists will benefit from the CLIMARK project that builds resilience to climate change in the livestock value chain. farmers were targeted by the MUIIS project to receive tailored crop husbandry recommendations and opportunities to insure their crops. individuals in total have now subscribed to the e-version of Spore. families received funds to support home gardens through the Diversified Home Gardens for Improved Nutrition and Income in Haiti project. 350 160 were women, received training on organic farming at the CTA supported Organic Warriors Academy in Samoa. KEY FIGURES FOR 2017 660 180 115 85% 576,489 500 33% 260,000 50% 1300 276,007 300,482 100,000 individuals of which agricultural cooperatives representing over people of which of PDFs of publications were downloaded from the CTA Publishing website, of which: delegates attended three side events co-organised by CTA during the UN’s key climate change event - CoP23. were youth, attended climate-change related events co-organised by CTA. farmers were trained to strengthen their managerial capacity and improve their business performance. were women, participated in three national workshops on promoting nutritious food systems in the Pacific. respondents to an ACP-wide survey supported the use of drones for agriculture. This led to recognition by the African Union of drones as a critical component in agricultural development. from ACP countries from non-ACP countries. cassava smallholders and processors will benefit from four projects established in Central Africa. MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION CTA has continued to pioneer the use of ICTs in agriculture. In Uganda, a major new project has devised a ‘service bundle’, providing agronomic tips, weather alerts and crop insurance to help smallholder farmers increase their yields and incomes. Another project in Uganda, which involves profiling and registering tea farmers, has significantly increased their efficiency and productivity. During the year, CTA took a leading role in the global discourse on Data4Ag. 1 I GROW MORE, SELL MORE The Market-led User-owned ICT4Ag-Enabled Information Service (MUIIS) project, which is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by CTA, seeks to use the power of ICTs to help farmers in Uganda increase their productivity and earn more income. n March 2017, MUIIS launched a unique ‘service bundle’ which provides farmers with agronomic tips, weather alerts and index-based insurance, all delivered by text to their mobile phones. Robinah Najjuma, a mother of five who farms in Zirobwe district in Central Region, was one of the first to subscribe to the MUIIS service bundle. “In the past, I never planted maize in straight lines, but I do now, and I have also followed all the advice about when to sow my crops and how to treat pests and diseases,” she explains. “This year, I’m expecting to get 2.5 tonnes per acre (6.18t/ha).” In contrast, the maize belonging to her neighbours is faring poorly and they will be fortunate if they get 1 tonne per acre (2.47t/ha). Unlike Robinah, they haven’t benefited from the advice delivered by MUIIS. The project’s value proposition is simple. “MUIIS is a business, not just a development project,” says CTA’s Carol Kakooza, Project Coordinator for MUIIS. “It is a one-stop service which helps farmers to grow more and sell more.” The ultimate aim of the three-year project is to reach 350,000 Ugandan farmers through training and awareness raising, and increase the crop yields of some 200,000 Ugandan farmers by at least 25% and their incomes by at least 20%. 9MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  ©CTA GROW MORE, SELL MORE In addition to CTA, the main project partners include Mercy Corps, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, aWhere Inc, EARS Earth Environment Monitoring, eLEAF BV and the East Africa Farmers’ Federation (EAFF). Some partners have hired other organisations to implement the project. EAFF, for example, has delegated responsibility for working with farmers to the Ugandan Cooperatives Alliance (UCA) and the Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE). These organisations oversee the work of the MUIIS Service Agents who are responsible for profiling farmers and the sale of products to the farmers. The messages farmers receive are tailored to their individual needs, as defined in their profiles. By the end of 2017, over 230,000 farmers had been directly influenced by the project, having received training or attended talks given by MUIIS service agents. The project has also profiled 150,000 farmers. However, these figures need to be put in perspective. It was originally hoped that 100,000 farmers would sign up for the service bundle by the end of the second, but just 379 subscribed during the second season. “In the end, it all comes down to cost,” says Ben Addom, CTA’s ICT Coordinator, who leads the implementation of the project. “Most farmers in Uganda are used to getting advisory service for free and they are unwilling to pay for such a product.” The project urgently needs to prove its value for money by gathering data about the increase in yields experienced by those who have subscribed to the service and the advantages of paying for index-based insurance. The good news is that financial institutions, such as Rabobank Foundation, have seen the value of MUIIS and are piloting an agricultural input loan scheme with about 5,000 MUIIS farmers during the first crop season of 2018. Despite the initially slow uptake of MUIIS services, UCA and the UNFFE – who will assume ownership of MUIIS after the funding comes to an end – believe the project will be hugely beneficial, both for their member associations and the farmers who sign up to the service bundle. “Of all the projects I have worked with, this one connects most closely with smallholder farmers,” says Ronah Nyiraneza of UCA.  A longer version of this story can be found in the CTA publication, How farmers are making the most of digital technologies in East Africa: https://goo.gl/DyV53a By the end of 2017, over 230,000 farmers had been directly influenced by the project, having received train- ing or attended talks given by MUIIS service agents. 10  PROFILING TEA FARMERS IN UGANDA A CTA-funded project which focused on the profiling of farmers and data management enabled a smallholder tea company in Uganda to introduce measures that have improved the performance of both the company and the farmers. Yields are beginning to rise, the number of farmers supplying the company with tea has increased, and fewer farmers are defaulting on the loans they receive from the company. or many years, farmers supplying Igara Growers Tea Factory Ltd (IGTF), in Uganda’s Western Region, have had access to inputs such as fertilisers, which the company provides on credit. It then deducts what it is owed for these inputs when it buys the farmers’ leaf. The system worked well as long as farmers sold their leaf to IGTF, but many families registered the same gardens under different names, claimed fertilisers on credit and often failed to pay their debts, while supplying leaf to other companies. “One of our problems was that we didn’t have accurate records about the ownership and location of the tea gardens,” explains Onesimus Matsiko, IGTF General Manager. “We weren’t sure who was with this, and who wasn’t, and we realised we needed to strengthen our database, geo-reference the gardens and gather a range of other statistics.” F 11MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  ©CTA PROFILING TEA FARMERS IN UGANDA With support from CTA, IGTF began profiling farmers in July 2017. Over a period of five months, 10 ‘enumerators’ ranged across the rugged terrain, each visiting up to six farmers a day. The farmer profiles provide detailed information about everything from the location of farms and the age of tea gardens to the method of harvesting and additional sources of income. The enumerators finished their work a month ahead of schedule, having profiled over 4,000 farmers. “I think the profiling helped to revive confidence in the company among farmers, and it has strengthened their identity as shareholders,” says Hamlus Owoyesiga, Network and Systems Administrator for IGTF. As a result, many of the farmers who had been supplying other companies with leaf decided to return to IGTF. The company has also sought to make itself more attractive to farmers by providing fertilisers at a lower price than can be bought on the open market. Just as significantly, the project led to the creation of the Igara–Buhweju Tea Farmers’ Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO). “We know that we can trust the data gathered during the profiling exercise and it helps us assess the creditworthiness of farmers who come to us for loans,” says Lillian Nuwagaba, General Manager of the SACCO. The SACCO, rather than the factory, will soon be responsible for supplying inputs on credit. As it has access to the profiling database, the SACCO will be able to chase up any farmer who fails to repay his or her loan and this should significantly reduce the company’s debts. Since the CTA project was launched, many smallholders who supply IGTF with leaf have increased their yields. “The profiling project helped us to establish the exact size of our gardens and calculate the correct amount of fertiliser to use,” says 80-year-old Eliasaph Rwankangi. “This is helping us to become more productive.” Farmers supplying Igara Growers Tea Factory are also set to benefit from another project, also supported by CTA, which uses drones to gather data about the tea gardens. Test flights were carried out over 44 tea farms in late 2017 and the pilot project is developing an algorithm which will enable IGTF to assess the health of tea bushes, gaps in planting and nutrient deficiencies. “Once the data has been analysed, we will be able to advise farmers how to improve the management of their tea, where to use more or less nitrogen and where they need to replace unhealthy tea bushes,” says Hamlus. Access to this information should lead to higher yields and better incomes for farmers.  I think the profiling helped to revive confidence in the company among farmers, and it has strengthened their identity as shareholders. HAMLUS OWOYESIGA, NETWORK AND SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR FOR IGTF 12  LEADING THE DATA REVOLUTION Data4Ag is all about making sure farmers have access to data and information which can help them to improve their productivity and incomes. here are three key elements to the Data4Ag component of CTA’s ICT4Ag portfolio: promoting technologies and knowledge, improving the way data is used and presented, and leading the global dialogue on ICT4Ag. The MUIIS project described on page 9 is an outstanding example of CTA’s work to promote a bundle of ICT services. Meanwhile, the story on page 19, which describes CTA’s partnership with an organisation in Samoa, provides a good example of how CTA is using data to help farmers improve their incomes. And then there is leadership. CTA has taken a prominent role in guiding the global discourse on Data4Ag through its support for the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) project, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Launched in 2016, GODAN supports the proactive sharing of data so that information about agriculture and nutrition is freely available, accessible and usable. The initiative’s ultimate goal is to improve food security. By the end of 2017, approximately 25% of GODAN’s 630 members came from ACP countries. “The growth in membership, particularly from Africa, has benefited from CTA support,” says Chris Addison, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Data4Ag. “Since GODAN was launched, we’ve done our best to ensure that ACP participants are included in meetings and, in particular, that there is strong representation from Africa.” CTA is responsible for managing the capacity development element of the GODAN action T 13MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  ©CIAT/Georgina Smith LEADING THE DATA REVOLUTION CHRIS ADDISON, CTA DATA4AG SENIOR PROGRAMME COORDINATOR We have taken a blended approach, which involves face-to-face training sessions, as well as webinars and a Massive Open Online Course. project. “We have taken a blended approach, which involves face- to-face training sessions, as well as webinars and a Massive Open Online Course [MOOC],” says Addison. To give an example of the former, in July 2017, Chipo Msengezi, CTA’s Project Coordinator for the GODAN Action Project , ran a training seminar during the Open Data for Africa week, which was held in Accra, Ghana. The workshop was specifically designed for GODAN trainers, and around 16 participants were able to test materials produced for the MOOC curriculum run by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Two hundred people were enrolled on the MOOC, with over 400 benefiting from monthly open data webinars managed by CTA by the end of 2017. CTA also played a key role in many open data meetings and events. In February 2017, over 150 participants attended a meeting on creating impact with Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition. This was co-organised by CTA, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GODAN and the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. To coincide with Open Data Day on 4th March 2017, CTA launched an edition of ICT Update covering the event and presented a new video on the subject. In June, CTA supported the Ministerial Conference on Agriculture and Nutrition Data, which culminated in the creation of a new African Intergovernmental Ministerial Network for Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition, involving 15 nations in the Nairobi Declaration. Over 400 people registered for the conference, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition, around 6,000 people attended the Agritech exhibition associated with the conference. In August, CTA launched a network of GODAN trainers. “We hope that this will lead to the spread of knowledge and skills to ensure that open data is used to solve agricultural and nutritional challenges – and, in this way, we hope to ensure the future sustainability of GODAN activities,” says Msengezi. By the end of 2017, the network included 75 members. In 2018, a larger Data4Ag project will begin involving Agricord and the Pan-African Farmers Organisation in capacity building across four African regions.  14  INSPIRING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS EDIAPROD, a communicationfor development agency based in Burkina Faso, responded to a call for proposals issued by ARDYIS in 2015. The project was seeking to identify and reward young people who had come up with innovative ideas involving the use of ICTs in agriculture. As one of five winners from over 500 applications the company was awarded a grant which enabled it to create Agribusiness TV and develop and expand its activities to over 12 sub-Saharan African countries. “Agriculture used to be just about growing your own food,” says MEDIAPROD founder, Inoussa Maiga. “This is how my parents and the generations before perceived it. But my generation sees it differently. Agriculture is a business and there are many opportunities along the value chain. That is why I want to contribute to rebranding agriculture in Africa. The market is there and young Africans are ready to innovate.” Agribusiness TV is the first of its type in Africa, in that it produces videos made by young people for young people. The web and mobile application is embedded in MEDIAPROD, which was launched by Maiga in 2013. Every month, Agribusiness TV makes up to six 4-minute videos, which cover a wide range of topics, from food production to value addition, from nutrition to sustainable employment creation. The company also publishes related material, such as blogs and articles, on an online platform in both English and French. M Hundreds of young people in ACP countries have benefited from a wide range of projects under CTA’s Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society (ARDYIS) project, as well as other CTA activities that encourage entrepreneurship. Indeed, encouraging youth entrepreneurship in agriculture is at the heart of CTA’s strategy and there have been many success stories. Here we highlight just one. 15MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  ©AgribusinessTV/Inoussa Maïga 16  INSPIRING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS “Agribusiness TV has been a tremendous success and we are very proud of the fact that we have supported it,” says Ken Lohento, CTA’s ICT Programme Coordinator. “They have produced over 100 high-quality videos. Many of these are inspiring young people to become entrepreneurs, and helping existing agri-entrepreneurs to find new markets.” After they have watched the videos, people often call or write in to ask for details about the entrepreneurs who have been featured. As a result, some have even started their own businesses in agriculture and many agripreneurs featured in the videos have expanded their business. In 2017, agribusiness TV was awarded the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Project Prize in the ‘media’ category. During the year they also won the Francophone Innovation Prize, another international award. By the end of 2017, their videos had received over 6 million views on various platforms. This is testament to the company’s success and the impact it is having in terms of promoting agriculture among young people in West Africa.  Agribusiness TV has been a tremendous success and we are very proud of the fact that we have supported it. They have produced over 100 high-quality videos. Many of these are inspiring young people to become entrepreneurs, and helping existing agri-entrepreneurs to find new markets. For more information: http://agribusinesstv.info/en/ KEN LOHENTO, CTA’S ICT PROGRAMME COORDINATOR EXPLORING THE FUTURE From time to time, CTA organises events to explore emerging issues related to ICTs in the agri-food sector. The 2017 ICT4Ag Outlook Workshop, held in Rhenen, The Netherlands, focused on two key issues: first, how to leverage resources to help young ICT entrepreneurs establish and improve their businesses; and second, how to harness the potential of two new innovations which could help transform agricultural practices in developing countries, blockchain and 3D printing. ver 40 people took part in the work- shop, including representatives of government ministries, agricultur- al development organisations and banks, as well as young e-agriculture entrepre- neurs and independent experts. Otherwise known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing involves printing layers to form a physical 3D object from a digital model. Already in widespread use in the medical and manufacturing sectors, 3D printing could bring major benefits to agriculture in developing countries, for example in the manufacture of tools and machine parts. Workshop participants benefited from the experience of two renowned international institutions working on 3D printing in the agri-food sectors: the 3D4AgDev programme of the University of Ireland, which has been developing labour-saving farm tools in Malawi, and Proximity Design, an award-winning social enterprise from Myanmar. Just as significant – possibly more so in the immediate future – is blockchain, an emerging technology which is already having an impact in the United States and Europe. “At present, most people in ACP countries know very little about blockchain and the way in which it can O 17MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  ©YakobchukOlena KEN LOHENTO, CTA’S ICT PROGRAMME COORDINATOR At present, most people in ACP countries know very little about blockchain and the way in which it can be used to improve farming businesses. be used to improve farming businesses,” says Ken Lohento, CTA’s ICT Programme Coordinator. Blockchain is a digital ledger which allows peer-to-peer ex- changes and helps to reduce or remove the role of intermediar- ies. It enhances the traceability of farm produce, makes transac- tions more transparent and helps to link all the different players in the value chain. As the information is disseminated via the internet, rather than being held on one or two computers, it can be widely shared, and this helps to reduce corruption. Experts believe that from 2018, the use of blockchain in business processes will accelerate. Many companies facilitating the use of the technology are already operational, both worldwide and in ACP countries. A multinational finance company, Goldman Sachs, estimates that blockchain could lead to global savings of up to US$6 billion a year in business transactions. Participants at the workshop agreed that much more needs to be done to educate farmers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and financial institutions about the advantages of using blockchain technology. They also recommended that more uses for blockchain should be developed and promoted via an online platform; that entrepreneurs should be supported to create effective blockchain solutions for agriculture; and that ACP governments should accelerate the adoption of digitisation, particularly blockchain, in the agricultural sector. “There are not that many organisations working on the benefits of these emerging technologies for agribusiness, and we are keen that CTA should be taking a position of leadership,” says Lohento. The ICT4Ag Outlook workshop undoubtedly helped to do just that. Indeed, 80% of participants said they intended to initiate activities on blockchain use in agriculture after attending the event.  18  EXPLORING THE FUTURE APPS IMPROVE VALUE CHAIN EFFICIENCY If you visited a restaurant in Samoa a decade ago, most of the food on your plate would have been imported. Today, increasing numbers of restaurant owners are doing their best to source ingredients from local farmers. ake, for example, Dora Rossi’s Pad- dles Restaurant. About 60% of all her fresh produce is now supplied by local organic farmers through Women in Business Development Incorporated’s (WIBDI) ‘Farm to Table’ programme. “I love supporting WIBDI, because they’ve done so much to help local farmers,” Dora says. WIBDI was established 25 years ago, but its influence has grown significantly during recent years, with enlightened chefs like Dora Rossi and Robert Oliver, a New Zealander best known for his TV cookery programmes, providing expertise and support. Over the years, CTA has provided considerable support for WIBDI. Thishas recently focused on helping the organisation to overcome some of its operational difficulties. “WIBDI came to us because they needed an effective system to manage data,” explains Chris Addison, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Data4Ag. “We have provided support which is having a real impact, not just for WIBDI as an organisation, but for producers and consumers.” 19MAKING THE MOST OF DIGITALISATION1  T All rights reserved. Since 2016, WIBDI has run a training programme for young people at its Organic Farm to Table Academy, based in Apia, Samoa’s capital. During the early years, the organisation had difficulty tracking students’ progress. With support from CTA they developed an online tool to improve their management. “We are now putting information that was previously manually recorded into a digital format,” says WIBDI project manager Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i, “and thanks to the software that we have developed, the Academy is better able to manage information about the students.” Administrators can now see exactly how students are progressing through the course. CTA has also supported a range of other activities, including training and the development of mobile applications. For example, the Organic Farm to Table app enables tourists and local residents to find restaurants that serve organic food. By facilitating public access to this information, the app is helping to make WIBDI’s operations more efficient and transparent. It also provides a useful resource for those in search of a good meal made with locally grown organic ingredients. CTA support has enabled WIBDI to develop another mobile application to support the dis- tribution process and improve communications with both its suppliers and those buying their produce. The app is being used by WIBDI staff to manage the Farm to Table contracts. By November 2017, 350 farmers under the age of 35 had attended WIBDI training workshops organised with CTA support. Of these, 160 were women. According to WIBDI, 107 new jobs were created through the CTA-funded projects. Furthermore, the organisation estimated that 350 small-scale producers had increased their resilience to climate change and environmental shocks following training, and 30 small-scale producers had increased their output and income. Through a Memorandum of Understanding be- tween the Pan-African Farmers Organisation, CTA and Agricord, ICTs are now being used in Africa to build the capacities of farmer organi- sations and agribusinesses which aggregate the produce of smallholder farmers. By using data more efficiently these businesses can raise farm incomes and create new jobs in agriculture.  20  APPS IMPROVE VALUE CHAIN EFFICIENCY We are now putting information that was previously manually recorded into a digital format and thanks to the software that we have developed, the Academy is better able to manage information about the students. FAUMUINA FELOLINI MARIA TAFUNA’I, WIBDI PROJECT MANAGER For more about WIBDI, see Transforming food systems in the Pacific, CTA Stories from the Field No 4.: https://publications.cta.int/en/publications/publication/2005/ FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS Empowering agricultural entrepreneurs is a major preoccupation for CTA. This year, we helped to organise the 3rd Caribbean Agri- business Forum, which saw the launch of a new export company. Barbados, Grenada and the Dominican Republic were among the Caribbean islands to benefit from CTA support for value chain de- velopment. In Central Africa, a CTA project is enabling its partners to improve regional value chains for cassava. Meanwhile, CTA is promoting a new generation of cooperatives, in Africa and beyond. 2 22  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 Cassava is the third most important source of carbohydrate in the tropics, after rice and maize, and the staple diet of around half a billion people. In Central Africa, smallholders grow approximately 27 million tonnes a year and the crop has been identified as having great potential in terms of increasing productivity and adding value. n December 2017, CTA and la Plateforme Sous-Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale organised a regional forum on cassava in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The aim was to explore how to develop a regional cassava value chain that could help to increase productivity, job opportunities and income for large numbers of people. “The forum helped us to consolidate our ideas about establishing a cassava programme as a CTA regional flagship project for Central Africa,” recalls Vincent Fautrel, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Value Chains. “This would include two main elements: upgrading the processing capacity of cassava cooperatives, and linking cooperatives to buyers and processors.” In Nigeria and Ghana, significant progress has been made in substituting imported wheat flour and maize starch with cassava flour. It was agreed at the forum that similar measures should be considered for Central Africa. MAKING THE MOST OF CASSAVA I ©FAO/Olivier Asselin 23 Between them, these 2-year projects will benefit approximately 100,000 smallholder producers and processors. Women constitute the main body of the cassava labour force along the value chain, so they will be the main beneficiaries. Following the forum, CTA commissioned a comprehensive study of the cassava value chain in Central Africa. This would take the best part of the year to complete, but Fautrel was eager to build on enthusiasm generated by the forum while the study was still being undertaken. In early 2017, CTA launched a call for proposals to support cassava value chain initiatives. This led to the establishment of four projects in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Cameroon. Between them, these 2-year projects will benefit approximately 100,000 smallholder producers and processors. Women constitute the main body of the cassava labour force along the value chain, so they will be the main beneficiaries. Three of the projects – one in each country – are devoted to up- grading the capacity of women through training and the provision of new equipment. The fourth, in northern Cameroon, involves a partnership with the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) to ex- plore new techniques for processing cassava. In CAR, training courses on cassava processing were held with the largest cassava processing women’s group supplying the capital, Bangui. The project also invested in basic infrastructure. In DRC, a strong business plan was created by a cooperative of 300 wom- en smallholders to increase cassava sales and profitability, and the project paid for the installation of two large containers in a Kinshasa market. In Cameroon, the capacity building project has provided training in production methods, soil management, dis- ease control and financial accounting to a large number of women. Particularly impressive progress has been made by the partner- ship between cassava cooperatives in Cameroon and CIRAD. The process of roussiage or retting, which involves soaking raw cas- sava in water to break down the tissue and remove cyanide, normal- ly takes about 3 days. “Now, in northern Cameroon, the coopera- tives working with the project are achieving the same results in half the time, thanks to the introduction of new techniques, such as the so-called ‘starter optimisé,’” explains Fautrel. The cooperatives are disseminating new technologies which could lead to a significant increase in productivity and income for the women farmers involved. “This has been such a success that the cooperatives have been inundated with applications from women who want to join,” says Fautrel. These initiatives could be the beginning of something much big- ger: a regional flagship project which will significantly increase food security, encourage greater regional trade and improve the lives of hundreds or thousands of people.  MAKING THE MOST OF CASSAVA 24  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 STRENGTHENING AFRICA’S COOPERATIVES he 2-year Enhancing Development through Cooperatives (EDC) pro- ject, managed by CTA, is all about developing a new generation of agri- cultural cooperatives. “Our aim is to strength- en the managerial capacity of agricultural cooperatives and improve their business per- formance and the amount of money they help farmers to earn,” says Francesconi. During its first year, the EDC project trained and coached the leaders and managers of 360 agricultural co- operatives in Madagascar, Uganda and Malawi. The cooperatives which benefited have around 200,000 farmer members. The project organised 5-day training events in each country. In Madagascar, the training was attended by around 110 cooperative leaders and the same number of representatives from gov- ernment, the private sector and international NGOs. Agro-industries in Madagascar regard cooperatives as a vital link for procuring pro- duce from farmers. However, many are failing to compete effectively with private sector com- panies and informal traders. During the training T Over much of Africa cooperatives are viewed with suspicion, especially by farmers. “Most cooperatives in Africa were originally led by colonial officials and then by the state after Independence,” says Nicola Francesconi, CTA’s Senior Technical Adviser on Cooperative Business Development. “Unfortunately, the cooperative movement has had a troubled history and it has often been plagued with corruption. ©IFAD/R. Ramasomanana What we are advocating is the creation of a favourable environment that enables every coop to get established in their supply chain and respond to market demands. NIRINA RAZAFIMANANTSOA  25 event, cooperative leaders reported that one of their main problems is lack of access to markets. “What we are advocating is the creation of a favourable environment that enables every coop to get established in their supply chain and respond to market demands,” said Nirina Razafimanantsoa, a spokesperson for one of the participating cooperatives in Madagascar. Following the event, the government of Madagascar obtained a grant from the US Agency for International Development to establish and run an inter-ministerial committee that will revise existing laws and policies on cooperatives. In Uganda, two training events organised under the EDC project, the first in May 2016, the second in July 2017, brought together the leaders and managers of about 150 agricultural cooperatives. Between these twoevents Uganda witnessed a severe drought. “One of the things we observed was that farmers who belong to cooperatives that benefited from the first training proved to be more resilient than farmers who hadn’t attended,” says Francesconi. This, he believes, provides clear evidence that the capacity building events made a measurable difference. In Malawi, the EDC project organised a training event with the participation of the leaders and managers of 100 agricultural cooperatives. After the event, CTA entered a public-private partnership with the Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ACE) of Malawi. ACE is involved in the trade of agricultural commodities, especially grains and beans, and has recently made a large capital investment in four new warehouses. CTA is providing technical and financial support to assist ACE in devolving the ownership of the warehouses to local cooperatives. To do this, CTA is helping ACE strengthen local cooperatives’ leadership and managerial capacity, improve their level of professionalism and optimise their governance structures. It is hoped that these efforts will lead to an increase in the volume of produce sold through the warehouses.  STRENGTHENING AFRICA’S COOPERATIVES 26  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 Two decades ago, countries belonging to the Caribbean Community imported 54% of their food. Since then, food imports have risen dramatically. To counter this trend, Caribbean countries have pledged to increase domestic food production and reduce their reliance on foreign food. Among the key players in this story will be the region’s smallholder farmers, who constitute about a fifth of the labour force and frequently suffer from low productivity, poor marketing and high levels of poverty. TA’s interventions in the Caribbean are designed to improve agricul- tural value chains and help small- holders increase their productiv- ity and income. A major component of CTA’s Caribbean programme, which comprises a range of projects in countries across the re- gion, including Barbados, Grenada and the Dominican Republic, focuses on building sustainable and profitable value chains. In 2017, the Barbados Agricultural Society implemented a project to help small-scale pro- ducers improve the efficiency of their farms and the marketing of their produce. The project involved 12 workshops, most of which used the farmer field schools approach. The work- shops introduced 240 individuals, from 86 Barbados households, to a wide range of topics, including good agricultural practices, the importance of record keeping and appropriate cultivation methods. CREATING PROFITABLE VALUE CHAINS C All rights reserved. 27 CREATING PROFITABLE VALUE CHAINS The workshops also helped farmers to gain a better understanding of how to satisfy the needs of the market. If value chains are to work efficiently, farmers need to know exactly what specification buyers want. JUAN CHEAZ, CTA “The workshops also helped farmers to gain a better understanding of how to satisfy the needs of the market,” says Juan Cheaz, who was responsible for managing CTA’s operations in the Caribbean prior to his departure in August 2017. “If value chains are to work efficiently, farmers need to know exactly what specification buyers want.” In Grenada, CTA support enabled the Marketing and National Importing Board to undertake a number of activities to build sustainable and profitable agricultural value chains. The project launch in May 2017 was attended by over 200 people, half of whom were farmers. An external consultant was hired to increase the number of items included in the island’s Produce Specification Manual. This now provides details of the 40 items traded in Grenada, for which there is a strong market demand. The Grenada project also focused on creating a more efficient value chain between producers and the hospitality sector to boost income from agritourism. Increasing the use of ICTs by farmers and others involved in the production, marketing and sale of food was also a priority. Another key component of CTA’s Caribbean programme aims to increase access to agri- finance. In the Dominican Republic, a partnership between CTA and Banco ADOPEM – a micro-finance institution with some 400,000 clients and a loan portfolio worth US$126 million – is helping smallholder banana and plantain farmers to gain access to financial services. The partnership also helps farmers acquire the skills, tools and technology required to penetrate and consistently supply new and more profitable markets. During its first three months of operation in 2016, over 200 producers were trained to meet standards required for the export market, such as GlobalGAP certification. Two associations also received training in management and financial procedures, and over 150 producers were provided with rural financial education. As a result, 66 small-scale producers gained access to credit. During 2017, the programme continued to improve smallholder farmers’ position in the value chain through greater access to micro-credit, as well as through technical training in harvest and post-harvest management and soil nutrition. The success of Banco Adopem in reaching out to smallholder farmers in all corners of the Dominican Republic was recognised by the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), when it received the Inter-American award for fi- nancial and entrepreneurial innova- tion. The award, granted by the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund, is among the most prestigious honours for this particular sector in the region.  28  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 SUPPORTING AFRICA’S RISING ENTREPRENEURS mpowering youth and helping them to become part of the agricultural value chain as ‘agripreneurs’ has be- come a major preoccupation for CTA and many of its partners. “There have been few continent-wide forums which connect agricul- tural entrepreneurship programmes, create ex- change platforms between entrepreneurs and financial service providers, build the business capacity of agripreneurs and reward the best of them – all at the same time,” says Ken Lohento, CTA’s ICT Programme Coordinator. This was one of the aims of the African Youth Agripreneurs Forum, held in Ibadan, Nigeria, in April 2017. The Forum brought together around 150 young people with entrepreneurial aspirations, many of whom already ran their own businesses, and representatives of development organisations and banks, fund managers, academics and members of the media. E Approximately 60% of the population in Africa is under the age of 35. Of those who are not students, a third are unemployed, another third are ‘vulnerably employed’ and only one in six is in wage employment. At the same time, the average age of farmers is alarmingly high at around 60 years old. If the continent is to have any hope of feeding itself and eradicating malnutrition young people will have to play a major role in future. ©IITA/Adebayo O. T. 29 SUPPORTING AFRICA’S RISING ENTREPRENEURS CTA has become increasingly well known for pioneering competitions which encourage and support young entrepreneurs in ACP countries. Over 250 participants joined the 2-day discussions. These fo- cused on the need to support young entrepreneurs in the agri- cultural industry, as well as the importance of capacity building and access to finance. The event, which was co-organised by CTA, the African Develop- ment Bank (AfDB), the International Institute for Tropical Agri- culture and the African Agribusiness Incubation Network, also provided AfDB with an opportunity to provide an update on its Enable Youth Programme. Immediately prior to the event, a 2-day youth agribusiness development coaching and innovation competition – AgriPitch Challenge – was organised by AfDB. During the competition, coaches led 20 young entrepreneurs, shortlisted from an online evaluation of over 100 business proposals, through the innova- tion development process and trained them how to create and grow sustainable start-ups. The winner of the competition was Green Afro-Palms, a Ghanaian company that provides palm oil production machin- ery and contributes to value chain development. One of the run- ners-up was FarmDrive, a Kenyan company which facilitates ac- cess to credit for smallholder farmers. FarmDrive took off after participating in a CTA Hackathon, a competition which provides young computer programmers with the opportunity to showcase their skills and develop products. The second runner-up was J-Palm, a Liberian company which produces oil palm-based con- sumer and industrial products. All three winners were invited to participate in the AfDB’s annual meeting in India in May 2017. CTA has become increasingly well known for pioneering com- petitions which encourage and support young entrepreneurs in ACP countries. One of the most successful events at the 2017 African Green Revolution Forum, held in September in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, was CTA’s Pitch AgriHack. This was preceded by a training programme for 34 young entrepreneurs on financial management and investment readiness, and a training exercise on successful business modelling. A day-long pitching event provided the 25 finalists with the opportunity to present their services to an international panel of judges, potential investors and other participants. The win- ners of the various categories included efarms, a Nigerian online networking platform; Farmart Ltd, an online food market platform based in Ghana; Bayseddo, a Senegalese agricul- tural financing platform; and AgroCenta, an online market- place for agricultural produce in Ghana. With support from its partners, CTA is now collaborating with the winning teams to help them develop their services.  30  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 The Caribbean imports 60% of the food it consumes, with this figure rising to 80% for half of the region’s countries. he high dependence on relatively cheap imported foods has had a neg- ative impact on the nutrition, health and economies of Caribbean nations. It has also had a knock-on effect on local food systems, reducing opportunities for local pro- ducers and making it harder for agribusinesses to compete with imported foods. If they were to operate more effectively, they would not only be able to respond to domestic demand, but could increase exports within the region and to other parts of the world. During recent years, the Overcoming Technical Barriers to Trade (ACP-EU TBT) programme has provided support for the Caribbean Agri-Busi- ness Association (CABA) to promote certifica- tion schemes, such as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), for selected food pro- ducers. The project is a collaboration with CTA, built on two agribusiness forums held in 2014 and 2015 on the subject of “Enhancing regional BOOSTING CARIBBEAN FOOD EXPORTS T ©CTA 31 BOOSTING CARIBBEAN FOOD EXPORTS Certification under a globally recognised and transparent accredited system is critically important for companies seeking to enter into agreements with specialised markets, such as the tourism and hospitality sector. ISOLINA BOTO, HEAD OF CTA’S BRUSSELS OFFICE trade and adding value to Caribbean agri-food products.” The forums shared success stories among agribusinesses from across the region. The 3rd Caribbean Agribusiness Forum, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in January 2017, was more like a business meeting, involving 10 companies which had recently been trained in certification under the CABA-sponsored Collective Regional Export Strategy. The Export Strategy is helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to collaborate when search- ing for markets and procuring inputs and services. One of the strategy’s elements involves the launch of a common regional brand, or mark, so the companies can share the high cost of building a brand. “Certification under a globally recognised and transparent accredited system is critically im- portant for companies seeking to enter into agreements with specialised markets, such as the tourism and hospitality sector,” says Isolina Boto, Head of CTA’s Brussels office and co-organiser of the forum. “Most hotels, resorts and cruise ships require certification of their suppliers, and they themselves often have to be certified under regulations related to their respective sectors.” As a minimum re- quirement, most buyers now expect suppliers to have HACCP certification. The companies who participated in the forum produce a wide variety of products, includ- ing sweet potato fries, jams and jellies, frozen cassava, salted trout, spices such as nutmeg and mace, bottled water and chilli pepper sauces. All of them serve local consumer markets, with some of the larger agribusinesses exporting to diaspora markets in North America and Asia. The forum discussed the companies’ experience with the CABA-sponsored, EU/TBT-funded HACCP certification programme; showcased products to buyers and evaluated each company’s most promising export products; agreed on a strategic plan for the Caribbean Agri-Business Export Company (CABEXCO), which was established to market products made by the companies who took part in the forum; and officially launched CABEXCO. The companies shared experiences of their history, operations, markets and future goals with experts and buyers from as far afield as Canada and the Netherlands. Proper quality management systems, good labelling and good traceability were identified as key for business development. In this context, CABEXCO was promoted as a potential umbrella organisation for SMEs in the Caricom agribusiness sector. Under CABEXCO these SMEs will be able to jointly procure raw materials and services, and the organisation will market its members’ prod- ucts and reach out to new buyers.  With help from CTA, CABA has been able to build two e-commerce platforms (www.cabacaribbean.com &  www.mycaribbeanshop.com). CABA also has a social media platform (www.talkagri.com) and a programme that certifies basic agricultural skills (www.agri-educate.com). 32  FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS 2 MODEL GARDENS FOR HAITI mallholder farmers have limited access to irrigation, inputs and credit, and suffer from the lack of transport, storage and processing facilities. Many rural Haitians are trapped in poverty. Indeed, it is poverty, rather than the poor availability of foodstuffs that is the main cause of food insecurity and undernutrition. “We decided to set up a project targeting farming families to help tackle the nutritional challenge,” says Judith Ann Francis, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Science and Technology Policy. “The project has involved setting up model gardens with a diverse range of nutritious local crops and livestock, because you need to have a diverse diet to tackle malnutrition.” CTA has collaborated with the University of Haiti’s College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, which conducted the rapid scan mentioned above, and Meds and Food for Kids (MFK), an international organisation with experience working with farmers in Haiti. At the inception meeting, held in July 2017, it was agreed that the two organisations would design and evaluate integrated crop and livestock farming S Haiti is one of the world’s poorest countries. A rapid scan of policies, programmes and interventions related to nutrition and agriculture, carried out by the University of Haiti in collaboration with CTA in 2015, revealed that 38% the population is food insecure and almost a quarter of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition. The situation is particularly difficult for those living in rural areas. ©Ron Savage 33 MODEL GARDENS FOR HAITI Considerable care has been taken to choose appropriate crops and most farmers are now planting three main groups of plant-based food in their home gardens. models for two school gardens and three community gardens. These could then be replicated, on a smaller scale, by farming families in rural areas. The project also intends to develop educational material on nutrition and promote a programme to set up more home gardens. Under the project, 150 smallholder farmers – 90 women and 60 men – received a five-chick- en layer unit for egg production, as well as chicken feed, and funding for crop production. The crops themselves were chosen after consul- tation with the farmers, who were encouraged to divide their home gardens into six subplots. One subplot is dedicated to the poultry unit, while four plots are used for the cultivation of crops, one for each season. The final plot is left fallow for grazing goats and hens. The position of the plots can be rotated to help boost fertility and control crop pests and diseases. Five smallholder farmers and six staff from the three MFK community model gardens re- ceived training in nutrition and crop and poultry production. They then organised three training sessions, with approximately 40 farmers each. The project has produced written training materials on crop and chicken production in both French and Haitian Creole. Considerable care has been taken to choose appropriate crops and most farmers are now planting three main groups of plant-based food in their home gardens. These include body-building foods rich in protein, such as beans and peas; energy-rich foods, such as maize, yams and cassava; and leafy vegeta- bles, such as moringa, which provide farming families with micronutrients. Although most of the produce from the home gardens is for household consumption, some farmers have a surplus to sell. This means the project is helping to improve incomes as well as nutrition. In order to spread the word about the potential of model gardens, an initial learning journey was organised with 80 participants in December 2017, and more learning journeys are planned for February-March 2018. A mid-term report found that most beneficiaries were expecting the project to lead to positive changes in their lives. To attract public and private investment in model gardens policy roundtable events are planned for mid-2018.  PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES The 1st Pacific Week of Agriculture, held in Vanuatu, was a resounding success. It helped to advance the agenda for developing agritourism throughout the region. CTA is co-funding a project which aims to strengthen the capacity of governments, the private sector and food producers to improve health and nutrition in the Pacific. In the Indian Ocean, a sustainable fisheries project managed by CTA has developed a collaborative approach which has helped to improve the relationship between policymakers and fisherfolk. 3 PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES3 CO-MANAGEMENT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN Fish are immensely important to the inhabitants of the Indian Ocean. Around 130,000 people are directly employed in the fisheries sector and a larger number are involved in related activities, such as boatbuilding, processing and marketing. or islands like the Seychelles and the Comoros, the marine harvest represents about 10% of GDP. Yet, despite the sector’s economic and nutritional importance, many fisherfolk and their families struggle to make ends meet. Until recently, fisherfolk had very little influence over fisheries policy. This is now beginning to change thanks, in part, to projects like CTA’s “Promoting inclusive, sustainable and responsible fisheries value chains in the Seychelles and the Indian Ocean Commission region.” Launched in 2017, the project is helping to improve the relationship between government authorities and fisherfolk. “Not long ago, fisheries management was entire- ly in the hands of policymakers, and this meant there was a lot of resentment from fishing com- munities,” says Vincent Fautrel, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Value Chains. “In the Seychelles, the government is now much more willing to collaborate with the private sector, but both parties lack the skills and the tools to engage effectively.” F 35  ©Abalobi Under the project, an international consulting firm was hired by the Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA) and the Federation des Pêcheurs Artisans de l’Ocean Indien (FPAOI) to carry out a needs assessment and develop curricula for training modules, which they organised for the Seychelles and FPAOI members. The first training on fisheries co-management was held in Mahé, the Seychelles, in September. This provided fishermen with the opportunity to express their concerns and engage in dialogue with the authorities. Further modules are planned for 2018. Another significant component of the project used participatory three-dimensional modelling (P3DM) to establish a multi-stakeholder dia- logue to improve the co-management of coastal resources. The focus was on the 2015 Fisher- ies Co-management Plan for the artisanal trap and line fisheries around Praslin and La Digue, two islands in the Seychelles. Some 65 partici- pants spent three days constructing a 3D model of the local area. This was the first time that fish- erfolk, farmers, government policymakers and students shared their knowledge and listened to one another’s points of view. Such collabora- tive activities will help to make co-management a reality rather than simply an aspiration. Shortly before the project began, CTA, SFA and FPAOI attended an ICT fisheries workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, organised by the Uni- versity of Cape Town. Scientists from the uni- versity agreed to adapt a suite of mobile apps, known as Abalobi – these had already been developed for fisheries in South Africa – for use in and around the Seychelles and other Indian Ocean islands. It is hoped that the apps will become fully operational in 2018. Among other things, the apps will enable fishermen to directly market their catch to hotels and restaurants before coming ashore. “So far, the project has largely focused on the Seychelles,” says Fautrel. “However, we’re viewing it as a lab where we can test out differ- ent ideas and activities, and we are hoping that the lessons learned in the Seychelles will be scaled up to other islands.” To this end, CTA is providing support to FPAOI. According to Keith André, the chairman of FPAOI and the Seychelles Fishermen Hook and Line Associ- ation, CTA’s support encouraged the World Bank to provide the regional network with an additional US$1.7 million over a period of 7 years. The money will predominantly be used to fund learning journeys and meetings.  So far, the project has largely focused on the Seychelles. However, we’re viewing it as a lab where we can test out different ideas and activities, and we are hoping that the lessons learned in the Seychelles will be scaled up to other islands. VINCENT FAUTREL, CTA’S SENIOR PROGRAMME COORDINATOR FOR VALUE CHAINS 36  CO-MANAGEMENT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES3 OPPORTUNITIES FOR PACIFIC AGRI-TOURISM If you heard the word ‘agritourism’ five years ago, you would probably have wondered what it was. Now, agritourism – linking food production with the tourist industry – is firmly on the policymaking agenda in the Pacific and Caribbean. This owes much to the pioneering work of CTA and its regional partners. gritourism was the key theme at the inaugural Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA), an event which CTA had championed for several years to replicate the success of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture. The PWA took place in Vanuatu in October 2017, attracting ministers of agriculture, senior government officials, farmers, fisherfolk and private sector organisations, as well as regional and international development agencies. It was organised by the government of Vanuatu in collaboration with the South Pacific Commission (SPC) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “We are very happy with our engagement on agritourism policy setting in the Pacific and it has led to significant changes in promoting local products and supporting businesses along the value chain,” says Isolina Boto, who leads CTA’s work on agritourism. Agritourism offers small island states an opportunity to reduce food imports, increase domestic production and promote food that is more nutritious. The PWA concluded with a regional meeting of Pacific agricultural ministers. For the first time, they adopted a set of recommendations on agritourism development. A 37  ©Alison and Don OPPORTUNITIES FOR PACIFIC AGRI-TOURISM Among other things, these called for greater policy, market and technical support to strengthen links between agriculture, tourism and other sectors. The recommendations also highlighted the important opportunities in the Pacific for adding value, creating jobs and generating wealth. Shortly after the PWA, the 27th South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Council of Tourism Ministers adopted its own recommendations on agritourism. This represented a significant breakthrough, as tourist ministers had never placed agriculture on their agenda before. CTA and its partners organised three events during the PWA. The first focused on “New opportunities in the agritourism sector in the Pacific”. This provided an opportunity for Vanuatu and Samoa – two of the trailblazers in the field – to share their experiences of agritourism. Participants also heard from representatives of a wide range of organisations. “The linkage between agriculture and tourism can open up new market opportunities, and serve as a chance for farmers and fishers to showcase their culture,” said Ron Hartman, International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) country director for Indonesia and the Pacific. Chris Cocker, the chief executive of SPTO, which organised the event in partnership with CTA, IFAD and the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organization (PIPSO), called for greater innovation in the use of local products in the tourism sector, as well as less reliance on imported goods. “A lot of tourists are looking for an authentic experience that teaches them about the culture they are visiting,” he said. That means local dishes made by local chefs from local produce. Creating the right enabling environment has been at the heart of the Agritourism Policy Setting Workshops supported by CTA and its partners. The first was held in Vanuatu in October 2016, the second in Samoa in December 2016 and the third in the Solomon Islands during 2017. These workshops led to concrete policy measures and major fundraising projects. Fiji and Tonga are planning to hold their own policy setting workshops in early 2018. The workshops are helping to develop a framework which ensures that key ministries – including those for agriculture, tourism, trade and health – work closely with the private sector to promote agritourism. In Samoa, for example, policymakers will promote greater use of not just local food products, but also handicrafts and services. Other initiatives include setting up organic markets, training chefs to use local foods and providing awards to hotels and restaurants which source their raw materials from local farmers.  CHRIS COCKER, SPTO CHIEF EXECUTIVE A lot of tourists are looking for an authentic experience that teaches them about the culture they are visiting. 38 PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES3 IMPROVING NUTRITION IN THE PACIFIC The populations of the remote and scattered islands in the Pacific traditionally depended on crop production and fishing to sustain themselves. Now, however, the old way of life – and the health of Pacific islanders – is threatened by declining agricultural production, overfishing, increasing dependence on imported processed foods and the effects of climate change. y 2050, the population of Pacific Islands is expected to double, putting further strain on food and health systems. Forty per cent of the 9.7 million Pacific Islanders have been diagnosed with a non-communicable disease, accounting for three-quarters of all deaths in the Pacific and absorbing 40-60% of health care expenditure. A major four-year project – co-funded by CTA and the International Fund for Agricultural De- velopment (IFAD) and implemented in part- nership with the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) – is strengthening the capacity of governments, farmers and private sector organisations to develop new strategies to improve the health and nutrition of some 40,000 relatively poor farmers and fisherfolk. “The ‘Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific Islands’ project seeks to address nutrition, value chain and agribusiness development, and income generation, all at the same time,” says Judith Ann Francis, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Science and Technology Policy. The project also aims to influence government policy and attract more public and private investments. A series of side events at the 1st Pacific Week of Agriculture, held in Vanuatu in October 2017, were designed to further the aims of the project. Some 33 people from the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa took part in a learning journey, which comprised three workshops – the learning journey on agritourism is described on page 40 – as well as a field trip and interactive B ©CTA 39  IMPROVING NUTRITION IN THE PACIFIC We planned the learning journey as a way of engaging our key target group – farmers, processors and other value chain actors – together with scientists and representatives of the public and private sectors. JUDITH ANN FRANCIS, CTA’S SENIOR PROGRAMME COORDINATOR FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY discussions. “We planned the learning journey as a way of engaging our key target group – farmers, processors and other value chain actors – together with scientists and representatives of the public and private sectors,” explains Francis. One of the side events was a half-day seminar on “Promoting Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship in the Pacific”. This was attended by over 64 par- ticipants, including representatives of IFAD, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the South Pacific Commission (SPC), the Na- tional Bank of Vanuatu, World Vision, youth groups and the private sector. During two panel discussions participants explored, and drew les- sons from, various initiatives aimed at advancing youth entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs from as far afield as Kenya and Trinidad had the opportunity to share their own success stories. The seminar discussions led to the Port Vila communiqué, which made five recommen- dations to policymakers. The recommenda- tions called on government ministries to work together to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and stressed the importance of improving access to financial and business support services. The communiqué also stressed the need to invest in education and training, and strengthen partnerships between govern- ments, development partners, financial agencies and young people. The seminar was followed by a workshop on “Priority Value Chain Coordination/ Agricultural Innovation Platforms”. Organised by CTA, IFAD and PIPSO, the workshop attracted 41 participants. Discussions were held on how to build the capacity of farmers; value chain analysis; and mechanisms for spurring innovation to improve efficiencies in priority value chains. The workshop launched the online value chain coordinating/agricultural innovation platform. “We believe this will be a very useful mechanism for building relationships and improving trust among those involved in value chains,” says Francis. She adds that if the platform is to work effectively at a national level and build synergies among key stakeholders, the specific needs and capacities of each country must be addressed. In 2017, the Promoting Nutritious Food Systems project also held three 2-day national work- shops in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanua- tu. These interactive workshops were attended by 150 people, half of whom were women, from the public and private sector. Recommenda- tions from the workshops were shared with relevant ministries and government agencies. To give one example, the Fiji workshop recommendations were submitted to the Ministry of the Economy and they have been incorporated in the Fiji National Development Plan 2017-2021, which was launched in October 2017 during COP23 in Bonn.  40 PROMOTING ENABLING POLICIES3 THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF DRONES CTA was among the first organisations to recognise that unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – or drones – could help smallholder farmers become more productive, more sustainable and more profitable. he full potential of drones has yet to be realised, but they are already widely used, particularly on large and medium-sized landholdings, for mapping and surveying farm boundaries, carrying out crop inventories, measuring biomass development, inspecting infrastructure and helping to draw up farm profiles. During 2017, CTA partnered with AIRINOV, a pioneer in drone-based crop analytics, to provide training for young drone operators from eleven ACP countries. As part of a cost-sharing agreement, participants also received hardware and software to ensure that the drones were fully operational once back in their home countries. Feedback suggests that many of the operators have established, or are in the process of establishing, successful commercial operations. For example, in Rwanda, the trained operator is providing drone services to smallholder farmers. Meanwhile, in Tanzania, the partner organisation has recruited several new staff to meet the growing demand for its UAS services. (See also the Igara Tea story on page 12). T ©CIAT/Neil Palmer 41  THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF DRONES CTA invested in various activities using social media to promote the acceptance of drone technology in ACP countries. 2017 was also a very active year in terms of conducting studies and producing publications on drones.At the beginning of the year, CTA published a working paper entitled, ‘Small unmanned aerial system mapping versus conventional methods: Case Studies on Farmland Surveying’. This publication analyses the costs and benefits of con- ventional surveying compared to drone-based operations. An Africa-wide survey carried out by CTA in partnership with NEPAD in October 2017 confirmed that the benefits of using drones for agricultural purposes are well accepted by ACP agricultural stakeholders. Approximately 13,000 individuals – mainly readers of CTA e-publications or members of CTA-managed Communities of Practice – were invited to participate in the survey. Of the 1,432 respondents who had a basic knowledge of drones, 90% worked in Africa. Nearly 85% said that they viewed the use of drones in agriculture favourably and believed they could play a vital role in modernising the industry and helping increase yields and efficiency. However, those with a less favourable view were concerned that drones might not adequately address the needs of smallholder and subsistence farmers. During the course of the year, Spore, CTA’s flagship magazine, published five articles covering different aspects of drone use and regulation. Thesefocused on initiatives in Nigeria, Benin, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya. CTA also submitted an article on drone regulations and good practice which was published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in November 2017. CTA invested in various activities using social media to promote the acceptance of drone technology in ACP countries. Dedi- cated spaces on Twitter and Facebook account for significant followings – CTA’s drone-related pages have 30,000 followers on Twitter and 160,000 on Facebook – and they have generated a high level of engagement. A landmark, continent-wide policy recommendation was released by the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) on 26 January 2018. This calls on member states to harness drones for agricul- ture as an emerging technology of relevance for the development of the continent. “This gives some indication of how significant the experts believe drones could be for agricultural develop- ment on the continent,” says Giacomo Rambaldi, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for ICTs.  Small unmanned aerial system mapping versus conventional methods: Case Studies on Farmland Surveying: https://goo.gl/UWCyU2 42 PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS Two regional flagship projects in Africa are providing farmers with the means to cope with drought and adopt climate-smart practices. The project in Eastern Africa is developing a new approach to building the resistance of livestock value chains. The project in Southern Africa will provide over 200,000 smallholder farmers with ICT-enabled weather information, crop insurance and drought-tolerant varieties of maize. As usual, CTA has played a significant role in climate policymaking, co-organising events at the UN climate summit in Germany. 4 CLIMATE-SMART STRATEGIES FOR PASTORALISTS rought has always been a feature of the Eastern African ecosystem, so why are pastoralists no longer able to cope? One explanation is that they lack assets that would allow them to recover from drought. Pastoralists’ main source of wealth is their livestock, which they are unlikely to trans- form into less risky assets. This prevents them from integrating fully in non-livestock markets. The Climate, Livestock and Markets (CLIMARK) project, which became fully operational in 2017, represents a new approach to building the re- silience of livestock value chains in Kenya and Ethiopia. The 2-year project, which aims to reach 100,000 pastoralists, has three main components. The first is designed to link pastoralists to end buyers and encourage the establishment of new enterprises related to the livestock trade along the value chain; the second promotes livestock insurance to help mitigate the risk of livelihood loss; and the third is providing pastoralists with more accurate information about the weather. “The marketing component aims to reduce the influence of brokers and middlemen so that pas- toralists get a better price,” explains Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, CTA’s Senior Technical Adviser for D An increase in the frequency and severity of droughts, coupled with unpredictable weather patterns, is threatening the survival of some 20 million livestock keepers in the Horn of Africa. Not only do they face frequent food shortages, their very existence is under threat, with nearly every drought leading to a humanitarian crisis. 44 PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS 4  ©Nagarjun Kandukuru CLIMATE-SMART STRATEGIES FOR PASTORALISTS In future, when pastoralists come to the markets to sell their cattle, they will also have access to services such as animal drugs, feed and insurance schemes. The project is also helping women and young people to establish small enterprises to service the livestock sector. SABDIYO DIDO BASHUNA,CTA’S SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVISER FOR VALUE CHAINS AND AGRIBUSINESS Value Chains and Agribusiness. During 2017, the project partners successfully mapped out key markets and trade routes and agreed on business models for linking pastoralists to meat processors and live animal exporters. “In future, when pastoralists come to the markets to sell their cattle,” says Dido, “they will also have access to services such as animal drugs, feed and insurance schemes. The project is also helping women and young people to establish small enterprises to service the livestock sector.” CLIMARK is encouraging pastoralists to take out index-based livestock insurance. Pay-outs are triggered whenever the rains fail or poor forage conditions prevail. Thanks to an outreach programme conducted in partnership with Oromia and Takaful insurance companies, and work by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the uptake of insurance among pas- toralists increased significantly, particularly in Ethiopia. Almost 3,000 pastoralist households had purchased new insurance policies from Oromia insurance company by November 2017. This represented a 49% increase in insurance coverage compared to the corresponding period before the project. At a steering committee meeting, held in Nairobi in October, the partners agreed to launch a new information service for pastoralists. aWhere, an organisation which specialises in analysing data and providing agricultural intelligence, is developing a system for CLIMARK, which will include information on everything from rainfall predictions to forage quality. Information on market prices and diseases will also be available through the system.If pastoralists are forewarned about drought, they will be able to respond by selling their livestock before the drought begins. The information they receive via CLIMARK will help pastoralists decide when to sell and which markets will serve their needs best. One of CLIMARK’s strengths comes from the partnership between a diverse range of organisations, with CTA, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, ILRI, private insurance companies and aWhere all playing a part in the project’s implementation. “The lessons learned from the project will be shared with policymakers and help to inform national policymaking in future,” says Dido.  45 COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE CTA’s regional flagship project for Southern Africa – Scaling up Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions for Cereal and Livestock Farmers – is designed to help farmers in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe cope with climate change. When the three-year project comes to an end in 2020, some 200,000 smallholder farmers will have benefited. aim is to ensure that smallholder farmers, who provide 80% of the food in Africa, are able to grow enough food even in the worst conditions, and still have a surplus to sell in the marketplace. To commence the project, a meeting was held in Lilongwe, Malawi. Its main purpose was to discuss precisely what the project would deliver and which organisations would be responsible for specific activities. “This was particularly im- portant because we have created a project which involves many partners who wouldn’t tradition- ally collaborate with one another,” says Ajayi. These include farmers’ organisations, insurance companies, farmers’ unions, research agencies, government departments and a private sector telecom company, Econet Wireless. W e are well aware of the climate change problem and we know a lot about what is causing it,” says Oluyede Ajayi, CTA’s Senior Pro- gramme Coordinator for Agricultural and Rural Development Policy. “The big question now is: what can we do to help farmers, especially small- holder farmers, gain access to the solutions?” One of the solutions lies in providing farmers with the resources and information they need to cope with the adverse effects of climate change. In order to do this, the project is delivering a ‘bundled solution,’ which includes a variety of services ranging from ICT-enabled weather in- formation to crop insurance and the provision of drought-tolerant varieties of maize. The overall 46 PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS 4  © CIMMYT/Anne Wangalachi COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE The data gathered will enable the project to customise bundled information and climate- smart solutions appropriate to individual farmers. Furthermore, this database will become an important asset for the partners when it comes to leveraging additional resources and income. In all three countries, the project’s field implementing partners have begun the process of digitally registering and profiling smallholder households. The data gathered will enable the project to customise bundled information and climate-smart solutions appropriate to individual farmers. Furthermore, this database will become an important asset for the partners when it comes to leveraging additional resources and income. Between June and November 2017, almost 11,000 farmers were registered by the project in Zimbabwe, and over 1,400 in Zambia. In addition, 135 insurance agents received training in Zimbabwe and 3,591 smallholder farmers in Zambia attended seed fairs organised through the project. The project began somewhat later in Malawi, but by the end of the year good progress had been made in training farmers in climate-smart agricultural practices and developing training manuals and partnerships with service providers. All too often development projects fizzle out once the donor support ceases. “We want to challenge this narrative,” says Ajayi. “One of the best ways of doing that is to establish a solid investment case for partners who were there before the project and will be there afterwards. That’s why we’ve been keen to involve private sector seed and insurance companies. They want to know how this project will affect their bottom line. Because they’re involved, and have a financial interest in the project, there’s a much greater chance that the project’s influence will continue beyond its lifetime.”  47 Agriculture is both a cause of climate change and one of its victims. On the one hand, agricultural activities are responsible for an estimated 14% of greenhouse gas emissions and almost half of all methane emissions. On the other hand, climate change is already having a significant impact on food production, reducing crop yields in some parts of the world. f we are to successfully adapt to climate change and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming, agriculture must be part of the solution. At the 23rd annual meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Bonn, Germany, in November 2017, a consensus was reached about how to promote climate-smart agriculture. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, this represented a major step towards addressing the need to adapt agriculture to climate change, while meeting rising demand for food. The annual COPs and Subsidiary Body of Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) sessions have become important events for CTA in terms of building its visibility and ensuring that there is strong representation from its African, Caribbean and Pacific partners. INFLUENCING GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICY I 48 PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART SOLUTIONS 4  ©UNclimatechange INFLUENCING GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICY The people who will be most affected by climate change in future are the youth of today, so it’s very important to engage them in climate change discussions and activities. OLUYEDE AJAYI, CTA’S SENIOR PROGRAMME COORDINATOR FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY In 2017, CTA co-organised side events at COP23, in addition to a conference on index- based agricultural insurance, timed to coincide with discussions of the SBSTA and held in Bonn six months earlier. “There is an aspiration among various global bodies to scale up agricultural insurance schemes to 400 million farmers by 2020,” says Oluyede Ajayi, CTA’s Senior Programme Coordinator for Agricultural and Rural Development Policy. “We felt that if this was to happen we needed to create greater awareness about the issue during negotiations and prior to the COP.” The conference on ‘Scaling up Agricultural Adaptation through Insurance’ was co-organised by CTA, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and the development bank, KfW. It attracted over 60 people, including climate change negotiators, private insurance agents, researchers and representatives of farmers’ organisations and donors. During the COP, CTA was involved in three side events. The first, co-organised with the Climate Smart Agriculture Global Youth Network (CSAYN) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, focused on the opportunities for increasing youth engagement in climate-smart agriculture. “The people who will be most affected by climate change in future are the youth of today, so it’s very important to engage them in climate change discussions and activities,” says Ajayi, who acted as Chair for the event, which helped to showcase the collective activities of CSAYN. Participants were also able to share their experiences and success stories. The other two events in which CTA was involved were part of the ‘Agriculture Advantage: The case for climate action in agriculture’ initiative. This was a collaborative effort involving a range of organisations working on agriculture and climate change. During the course of the two-week COP, over 500 delegates attended these events, whose purpose was to set an agenda for transforming agricultural development in the face of climate change, create a collective case for investment in climate activities in agriculture, and expand partnerships to scale up climate-smart agriculture. In many parts of Africa indigenous communities have developed a good understanding and knowledge about how the climate can affect their farming activities. This indigenous knowledge has been handed down through the generations, but it has not been well documented. That is why CTA commissioned Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Climate Change Management in Africa. Launched in South Africa at the 4th Global Science Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture, the book investigates how farmers have used indigenous knowledge to help them adapt to climate change. Drawing on the knowledge of over 30 experts, it is essential reading for anybody involved in policy making in Africa.  49 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CTA’s ‘Capitalising on Experience’ project is helping organisations and individuals reflect on their achievements, analyse lessons learned and inspire others to do better in future. This was a year of profound change for CTA’s publications department. To save costs, CTA has encouraged readers of Spore to order electronic, rather than printed, versions of the magazine. A major exercise in website consolidation means that CTA’s electronic profile has been greatly enhanced. 5 EXPERIENCE CAPITALISATION All too often, development projects come to an abrupt end without those involved having time to analyse the lessons learned and ensure that their activities have a lasting impact. large grant project managed by CTA and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), ‘Capitalizing on Experiences for Greater Impact on Rural Development,’ was launched in 2016 to tackle this problem. “The main aim of the project is to help organisations and individuals reflect on their experiences, draw up key lessons, write their stories and inspire others to do better in future,” explains Jorge Chavez-Tafur, CTA Associate Programme Coordinator for Knowledge Management. Working in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the project began in East Africa before moving beyond ACP countries to South-east Asia – India and Nepal – and Latin America. Having identified organisations and projects which are keen to benefit from experience capitalization, CTA and its partners convened two workshops in each region. A 51KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT5  ©Frederick Acquah During the first workshop – the project is ongoing – participants are asked to choose the experiences they wish to focus on before carrying out a detailed analysis of the lessons learned. During the second workshop, participants write and present their stories before preparing an ‘action plan’ for the upcoming months. By the end of 2017, most of the workshops had been completed and the 3-year project was moving onto the next phase, which involves the dissemination of the stories. An example of the sort of stories being produced under the auspices of the project comes from a workshop in Tanzania during which the Kenyan Livestock Producers Association (KLPA) was able to reflect on an agribusiness trade fair which it had organised in October 2016 in Laikipia county, Kenya. The fair attracted over 6,000 farmers, providing them with access to information, services and training. Around 70 companies, including manufacturers, businesses involved in the livestock trade and financial institutions, attended the fair to promote their products and services. The story which emerged from the workshop shows that agribusiness fairs like this can increase farmers yields and incomes, reduce the sale of counterfeit goods and help service providers increase their business. These are precisely the sort of lessons that could encourage other organisations to mount similar ventures. “Our project is not just a one-off,” says Chavez-Tafur. He and his colleagues are hoping that those involved in the workshops will carry out similar exercises in future and use their newfound skills to help other organisations use the experience capitalisation methodology to evaluate their own projects. A training manual and an e-learning course on experience capitalization provides guidance to those involved. A Community of Practice has provided an electronic platform for 380 members to share their experiences. Like the workshops, this is enabling individuals and organisations to identify specific innovations and practices that can help to further rural development and influence project design. The Community of Practice will help to improve the ability of development practitioners to analyse, document, use and share the lessons learned from their projects. An important resource is the experience capitalization website. This not only shows what the project is about, but also provides a platform for people to exchange information and ideas.  E-learning course: http://www.fao.org/elearning/#/elc/en/course/EXCAP. Please visit: http://experience-capitalization.cta.int/ The story which emerged from the workshop shows that agribusiness fairs like this can increase farmers yields and incomes, reduce the sale of counterfeit goods and help service providers increase their business. 52  EXPERIENCE CAPITALISATION CHANGING THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE “The way CTA operates has changed dramatically over the last 20 years, and this is now reflected in the way we communicate,” says Thierry Doudet, Head of CTA’s Knowledge Management and Communication Programme. “We used to have a huge publishing operation, with most of the material being sent out as hard copies. Now, our publishing operation is predominantly electronic.” n early 2017, CTA contacted all subscribers who received both print editions and e-versions of Spore, inviting them to keep just the e-version. “I received enthusiastic replies about the e-version, but some people still wanted to keep the printed version, particularly those who had difficulty accessing the internet,” explains Murielle Vandreck, CTA’s Programme Coordinator for Publications. A second email was sent later in the year to print subscribers who already had an email address, inviting them to switch to the e-version. Some declined, but many more accepted. The exercise had a significant impact. In January 2017, there were 42,000 print subscriptions and 6,500 e-version subscriptions. By November, there were 20,000 print sub- scriptions and 18,000 e-version subscriptions. “This is a major cost saving,” says Vandreck, who aims to repeat the exercise in 2018 to fur- ther reduce costs. One of the attractions of the e-version is that it is richer in content than the printed version, with a bi-weekly newsletter, and it allows readers to archive information, as well as access and share it whenever they want. A similar process is being followed for CTA’s other publications. Vast numbers of books used to be shipped out of warehouses to CTA’s clients and subscribers in ACP countries and the costs of printing, storage and shipping accounted for a significant slice of the communications budget. The aim now is to print on demand and make publications available to download for free from I 53KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT5  All rights reserved. We want people to have a good user experience, even in countries where access is slow and data is expensive, and that’s influencing the way we design and build our websites. THIERRY LEWYLLIE, CTA WEB PROGRAMME COORDINATOR CHANGING THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE CTA’s website. In 2013, there were only 100,000 downloads from CTA’s website. By 2017, this number had risen to over 500,000. The ACP countries leading the way with the highest download rates include Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Kenya and Burkina Faso. At the same time, CTA has undergone a major exercise of website consolidation, a process which was nearing completion by the end of 2017. “Our online presence used to be very fragmented,” says Thierry Lewyllie, CTA’s Web Programme Coordinator. “In 2012, we had 118 websites. There was tremendous visual fragmentation and the whole operation was expensive to manage.” By 2016, Lewyllie had reduced the number of websites and social media accounts to 40 and by April 2018 there will be just one portal giving access to all resources. Access to the internet is patchy in many developing countries and this is an important consideration for CTA. A connectivity survey of Spore readers found that 30% did not have regular internet access, with 42% of those without access saying they had no computer or smart phone and 20% stating that there was no internet connection in their area. Furthermore, the reliability and speed of the internet can vary greatly. It tends to be better in towns than in the countryside. “The way people access information online has changed and the mobile landscape is extremely fragmented,” says Lewyllie. “We do not have any control over the size of screens or the input mechanism they use. Because of this, we have to separate our content from its layout, so it can adapt to different contexts and constraints. We want people to have a good user experience, even in countries where access is slow and data is expensive, and that’s influencing the way we design and build our websites.” This mobile transformation also forces CTA to develop a content strategy that treats all its platforms as equally important. 54  HOW MAPPING CHANGED BEHAVIOUR A study of the Samoan experience of participatory three- dimensional modelling (P3DM), a practice which has been widely promoted by CTA, has shown that it has led to better natural resource management, helped local communities become more resilient to climate change and brought about significant changes in the relationship between governments and local communities. 3DM is a mapping progress which enables local communities to ‘populate’ geo-referenced relief models with their own knowledge about physical features, such as rivers and villages, and the way in which their territory is used, for example for hunting, fishing and growing crops. The maps help to enhance a sense of belonging and local knowledge and many communities have used them to assert their rights, identify resources and opportunities, and devise new strategies for managing the land. Giacomo Rambaldi, who has led CTA’s work on P3DM, was contacted in 2016 by Barbara Dovarch, a PhD candidate from the University of Sassari, Italy. She was keen to look at the effectiveness of P3DM and Rambaldi suggested she carry out her fieldwork in Samoa. Here, a 5-year project funded by the Global Environment Facility and carried out by the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, had used P3DM to sensitise local communities to climate change. P 55KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT5  ©CTA The P3DM process provided local communities with the opportunity to express their own understanding about their land and take a more active role in resource management. The building of the models also enabled young and old people to talk to one another and exchange knowledge aboutnature, culture and history. Rather than being initiated by the local communities and their partners, as normally happens, P3DM was introduced by a government department as a way to reach communities and gain their trust. Dovarch found that prior to the introduction of P3DM, community representatives tended to adopt a very passive attitude during consultations with the authorities. “Government officials usually adopted a lecturing style in meetings with community members, using PowerPoint presentations and information leaflets, often without success,” noted Dovarch in her report. However, the P3DM process provided local communities with the opportunity to express their own understanding about their land and take a more active role in resource management. The building of the models also enabled young and old people to talk to one another and exchange knowledge about nature, culture and history. According to community members who spoke to Dovarch, the process encouraged the government to change the way it behaved towards local people. Now it is much more willing to ‘listen’ rather than ‘teach’. Government officials moved away from ‘consultations’ towards active participation, which helped to build trust on both sides. As far as the government officials were concerned, the P3DM process – in Dovarch’s words – “completely changed the attitude and approach of communities towards their own environment and land management.” The government of Samoa was initially exposed to P3DM techniques through CTA’s ICT4Ag activities. Since then, it has not only contributed to the development of 19 P3DM models over a 4-year period, but also committed itself to playing an important role in popularising the technique in other parts of the Pacific region, beginning with Tonga. Dovarch described her findings in a CTA working paper in the ICTs for agriculture series, Participatory 3D modelling in Samoa: Triggering behavioural changes in climate change resilience.  56  HOW MAPPING CHANGED BEHAVIOUR CTA headquarters, Wageningen ©Chris Addison DIRECTOR’S OFFICE BRUSSELS OFFICE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION (KMC) PROGRAMME 58 LIST OF STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017 Michael Hailu, Director Isolina Boto, Manager of the Brussels Office Thierry Doudet, Programme Manager Paul Neate, Sr Programme Coord/ Communication Thierry Lewyllie, Programme Coord/Web Bertil Videt, Programme Coord/ Marketing & Communication Olivier Hersperger, Assoc. Programme Coord/ Web content Mirjam Bos, Administrative Assistant Gabriela Gonçalves Bahre, Data Assistant Husna Yagoub, Data Assistant Lia Baruffa, Project Assistant Experience Capitalization project Deborah Kleinbussink, Executive Assistant/Board Secretary Mona Regad Administrative & Research assistant Angeles Salvador, Project Assistant (based in Wageningen) Stéphane Gambier, Sr Programme Coord/ Communication Krishan Bheenick, Sr Programme Coord/ Knowledge Management Murielle Vandreck, Programme Coord/ Publications Anne Legroscollard, Associate Programme Coord/ Communication Evelyne Kort-Nerincx Administrative Assistant POLICIES, MARKETS & ICT (PMI) PROGRAMME LEARNING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION (LME) UNIT 59LIST OF STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017 Lamon Rutten, Programme Manager Ibrahim Khadar, Unit Manager Raya Dekkers, Administrative Assistant Oluyede Ajayi, Sr Programme Coord/ ARD Policy Vincent Fautrel, Sr Programme Coord/ Value Chains Giacomo Rambaldi, Sr Programme Coord/ ICT Benjamin Addom, Programme Coord/ICT Armelle Degrave, Associate Programme Coord/PMI Marion van Boven, Project Assistant Carolina van Loenen, Project Assistant Chris Addison, Sr Programme Coord/ Data4Ag Annemiek Leuvenink, Project Assistant Juan Cheaz, Sr Programme Coord/ Ag. Policy & Value Chains Judith Ann Francis, Sr Programme Coord/ S&T Policy Souleymane Zeba, Sr Programme Coord/ Ag. Policy & Value Chain Ken Lohento, Programme Coord/ICT Caroline Andriessen, Project Assistant Pavlina Ivanova, Project Assistant Merche Rodriguez, Project Assistant Arnoldine Stals, Project Assistant Tarikua Getachew Woldetsadick, Associate Programme Coord/LME 60  LIST OF STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017 CORPORATE SERVICES PROJECT STAFF MEMBERS Pascal Deleu, Human Resources Officer, acting Head Corporate Services Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, Sr Tech. Adviser Value Chains & Agribusiness Isaura Lopes Ramos, Project coordinator GODAN Action Christine Webster, Sr Procurement and Grants Officer Julia Nijhof, Human Resources Assistant Igor Biskupic, ICT Coordinator Serge Adolph, Accounts Payable Assistant Adrianus Biemans, Caretaker Manuela van Betuw, Receptionist Martijn Van der Burgt, Sr Finance Officer Gian Nicola Francesconi, Sr Tech. Adviser Cooperative Business Development Christèle Coutureau, Associate Human Resources Officer Aurélie Reynier, Administrative Assistant Louis Kolkman, IT Technician Peter Albers, Account & Budget Officer Marco Van Maurik, Accounts Payable Assistant Ellen van Dijk, Accounts Payable Assistant Thomas Mendo-Essiane, Messenger/Driver Carol Kakooza, Project Coordinator MUIIS project (Uganda) FINANCIAL CONTROL Seema Shahi, Internal Auditor/ Financial Control Kim Swerts, Financial Control, Business Process Review Advisor 61LIST OF STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017  Chipo Msengezi, Project Coord/GODAN Action project Marion Girard Cisneros, Associate Programme Coord/ Web Content Management Jorge Chávez-Tafúr, Assoc. Programme Coord/KM, Experience Capitalization project INTERNS Oluwabunmi Ajilore, Jr Programme Associate/ ICT4Ag Antonella Piccolella, Jr Programme Associate/ PGIS Matthew Adetunji Marc Bappa Jana Dietershagen Serge Kedja Christel Kenou Silvana Summa, Jr Associate Coord/Intranet Lars Lubbers Laurianne Ollivier Yvon Saroumi Anna Sellars Ebenezer Toga Lebo Mofolo, Jr Programme Associate/ Policy Development Briefings Mariam Kadzamira, Jr Programme Associate/ Climate Change Samson Vilvil Fare, Associate Programme Coord/ARD Policy 62  LIST OF STAFF MEMBERS IN 2017 STAFF MEMBERS WHO LEFT CTA IN 2017 Lamon Rutten, Programme Manager (mid January) Oluwabunmi Ajilore, Jr Programme Associate/ ICT4Ag (mid February) Isaura Lopes Ramos, Project coordinator GODAN Action (mid April) Paul Neate, Sr Programme Coord/ Communication (end June) Silvana Summa, Jr Associate Coord/Intranet (end July) Kim Swerts, Financial Control Officer, Business Process Review Advisor (end July) Carolina van Loenen, Project Assistant (end July) Annemiek Leuvenink, Project Assistant (end August) Juan Cheaz, Sr Programme Coord/ Ag. Policy & Value Chains (beginning of September) Martijn Van der Burgt, Sr Finance Officer (mid September) Souleymane Zeba, Sr Programme Coord/ Agric. Policy & Value Chains (end September) Samson Vilvil Fare, Associate Programme Coord/ ARD Policy (end January) Antonella Piccolella, Jr Programme Associate/ PGIS (mid March) Marion Girard Cisneros, Associate Programme Coord/ Web Content Management (end April) Pavlina Ivanova, Project Assistant (beginning of July) INTERNS WHO LEFT CTA IN 2017 Matthew Adetunji Serge Kedja, Lars Lubbers Laurianne Ollivier Yvon Saroumi Anna Sellars Ebenezer Toga CTA is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of CTA and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. WWW.CTA.INT A ll ri gh ts r es er ve d.