The article highlights the work of Farm Africa and local farmers in South Sudan to transform cassava from a local subsistence crop into a cash crop by increasing production and standards and connecting farmers to a reliable market through South Sudan Beverages Ltd (SSBL), a subsidiary of the global company SABMiller in South Sudan.

Farm Africa is helping around 2,000 farmers to grow a bigger, higher quality cassava crop, as well as connecting them to SSBL. 

The project is expected to bring direct and significant long-term market opportunities for around 2,000 smallholder farmers by the end of 2013, who will see their combined net income increase by between US$600,000 and US$1m per year. With dependents, the project will benefit around 12,000 people. Adding in other supplier beneficiaries and employment effects (both in terms of direct employees, as well as across other agricultural labour, distribution, retail, transportation and other sectors), we estimate that up to 15,600 people could benefit.  

To read the article please go to the FT (registration free).

A select number of farmers have also been training to become specialist seed producers, to ensure the farmers’ groups have an affordable, ongoing supply of good quality seeds to use on their land. These farmers have been learning about quality seed production, agronomy and pest and disease management, and now they are starting to plant their seed crops.  So far, 19 hectares of groundnuts and 17 hectares of beans have been established and more are set to be planted soon. 

Many more farmers want to get involved in the project and Farm Africa is hoping to have another 86 farmers’ groups up and running by the end of the year.  With your support we can make this happen – click here to find out more and donate to our appeal.

This year our team included runners from the company SABMiller, who have chosen Farm Africa as their charity of the year, a vet, two intrepid runners who completed the epic run dressed as a cow and a Leopard and a host of other fundraising heroes.

Dr Matthew Crisp, one of Farm Africa’s running team said “This is the third time I've run for Farm Africa. I run for them because they are so positive and seem to be able to get to the root of a problem - in this case hunger - and come up with solutions that really work. 

“As always the marathon has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. All along the route there were people calling my name!"

Rosie Rendall, a Farm Africa volunteer said “I love watching the London Marathon; it’s a great opportunity to get out there and show our runners how much they mean to us. We cheered out hearts out!”

So far, the runners have raised a fantastic £25,000 and they are still going! Thanks to all of our runners, they are absolute superstars!

If you are interested in running the London marathon for Farm Africa, Please visit www.farmafrica.org.uk/get-involved/running-events or contact the Community and Events team on 0207 0440 430 or events@farmafrica.org.uk

During his speech at an official launch ceremony in Nairobi, Mr Kiptarus emphasised that Sidai would provide an important service for rural Kenyans, saying that Sidai Africa was:

“embarking on a journey that will make livestock farming a rewarding venture for thousands of farmers across Kenya. The company is rolling out an ambitious network of livestock services across Kenya. Through these centres, livestock farmers will have access to quality products, professional veterinary services and linkages that impact on their returns and growth.”

But it is not just the scale of Sidai’s ambition that makes their plans so bold. Sidai is unique in its plans to locate many of these centres where they are most needed: remote rural areas where they will be serving pastoralist communities. Pastoralists form the majority of Kenya’s livestock keepers. But, until now, these communities and their herds have been largely neglected by commercial suppliers of livestock services who instead have concentrated on the traditionally profitable commercial dairy and poultry sectors based in and around Nairobi, the Rift Valley and the Tanzania border area.

By bringing quality livestock products and services to the majority of Kenya’s livestock keepers for the first time, Sidai is playing a hugely important role in unleashing the previously untapped potential of Kenya’s livestock. And by enabling pastoralists to get the most out of their livestock, Sidai is directly improving the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable pastoralist communities living in remote and drought-prone areas.

Speaking at the launch, Sidai’s Chairman, Dr Christie Peacock, spoke of Sidai’s frustration that “pastoralists are all too often treated as victims of disasters and recipients of aid handouts, rather than capable livestock owners.”

She also set out Sidai’s vision that “livestock keepers wherever they live deserve the services of professionals, not quacks” and that they should “have a right to be supported to prevent disease rather than only treat it when it appears and is all too often too late.”

The network of livestock service centres are franchises which Sidai is setting up right across Kenya. Sixteen have already been established and Sidai has ambitious plans to establish 150 in total over the next three years.

Click here for Sidai Africa’s website.
 

Farm Africa and Self Help Africa are inviting expressions of interest from individuals and organisations with the relevant expertise to undertake an Independent Progress Review of our consortium Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) with the Department for International Development (DFID).

The Call for Tender and Terms of Reference can be downloaded here.

Our Rural Women’s Empowerment Project is transforming the lives of women in remote rural regions of Ethiopia. These women all too often have very few assets of their own and very limited opportunities to make money compared to their male counterparts.

But all this has been changing in recent months thanks to Farm Africa’s work to establish Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLAs). A total of £79,000 in savings has already been built up among these remote rural groups, which means that more than 13,000 women are now able to save and access credit for the first time.

Each member of the savings and loans group pays a small fee to join the group which helps to build the group’s shared income. Members can also apply to the group for small loans to help them set up small businesses. These loans are repayable after three months with 10% interest.

The scheme is having dramatic results. A savings culture is being built in these remote areas with rural women gaining the confidence to set money aside for the first time to save and make plans for their future.

One woman who has seen her life transformed as a result of her learning about savings and loans is Aster Wotango, Chairwoman of the Aheba Womens’ Group. She explains that in the past members of her communities had no culture of savings. When they needed credit, women were forced to borrow at rates often as high as 50%. But since the savings and loans group was established in her village she has been able to borrow some money from the group to buy four hens so she could earn some income from the sale of eggs. She is now able to save 4% of her income, which she is able to use to help pay for essential household goods and medical expenses.

Other members of the Aheba Women’s Group have borrowed money to establish similar small enterprises in butter, cornflour, spices, coffee, peas, cheese, injera, local beers, avocadoes and mangoes.

An Ethiopian woman recently electrified the audience at a UN conference when she was asked to describe to assembled UN and African Union officials, donors and ambassadors how her life had been turned round thanks to a Farm Africa project in a remote region of Ethiopia.

The UN event had been arranged to celebrate International Women’s Day. Senior delegates were asked to share stories and experiences of how their work was empowering rural women to end poverty and hunger in their communities. The meeting was drawing to a close when Etenesh Daniel was asked to offer her own experiences as a woman whose life had been transformed thanks to empowerment work.

Delegates were visibly inspired by Etenesh who had them standing on their feet in a spontaneous round of applause after she explained without the slightest sign of nerves how learning to build savings had changed her life. A UN press release described Etenesh’s passionate address as “the highlight of the symposium”.

Excerpt from Etenesh’s testimony:

“After training by Farm Africa I started to envision viable economic options. With only two goats provided by the project, which then gave birth to more goats, I increased my income and simultaneously engaged in additional business activities with the loan from FARM’s Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA). In the beginning, my husband opposed my involvement but after observing the change brought to our family he decided to join VSLA himself and now we compete with one another to see who saves more. We brought our income together and managed to buy an ox and a cow and planted ginger, which will hopefully boost my income even more as we harvest. There is enough food in my family and I can afford to buy clothes for my children as needed.”

Farm Africa’s Youth Empowerment through Sustainable Agriculture project has now been in place for just over a year.

The project is already having a real and lasting impact on the lives of young Kenyans. It is teaching schoolchildren the key agricultural skills they will need if they are to develop and thrive once they leave school (75% of Kenyan adults are directly engaged in agriculture but all too often Kenyan schools lack the funds and seeds to teach their students the skills they will need when they leave school).

And the project is also giving young Kenyans the information they need about sexually transmitted disease, especially AIDS, so they can make more informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health (High levels of sexually transmitted infections, particularly HIV, in young adults has adversely affected Kenya’s rural economy. Farmers have had to switch to less-labour intensive farming and families affected by HIV are being forced to leave parts of their land idle and unproductive).

The project is located in Trans-Nzoia East District in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province.

Teaching Kenyans how to build sustainable agricultural businesses
So far ten schools - and an additional ten youth groups - have been identified and selected to take part in the YESA project. These groups have a combined membership of 879 which means that Farm Africa has greatly exceeded its outreach target for the project of 500!

Students and young people involved are already busy learning basic agricultural husbandry skills which will be essential if they are to become productive and successful farmers in later life.

Groups operating in schools are making excellent progress with greenhouses already established at each of the ten project schools. The greenhouses are spacious (8 metres by 15 metres) and were chosen to promote learning in schools as they offer stable climactic conditions for growing in an area where weather conditions can fluctuate. The greenhouses also reduce the risk of pests and disease and offer space for cultivation in an area where agricultural land is limited.

In addition to the greenhouses, nine of the ten schools have also successfully established their vegetable nurseries with four schools having already moved their crops from the nurseries into the greenhouses. And three schools have also been successful in setting up outdoor demonstration plots where they can trial growing local vegetables such as capsicum, butternut squash and aubergines.

Of course, what really matters is high-quality training if the school groups are to learn the types of skills vital for their future wellbeing. To ensure effective learning, Farm Africa has established Young Farmers Clubs in the schools. Young Farmers Clubs patrons are first given training in greenhouse skills and management before they in turn train the school groups.

The out-of-school youth groups are also making excellent progress. Each group has already selected their preferred produce to grow as part of the process of setting up their own agro-enterprises and they have also established demonstration plots. The agro-enterprises selected by these groups include passion fruit, poultry, local vegetables, fish farming and mushroom production. One of the groups, Uwezo Tuigoin, selected poultry management and has been busy receiving training in local poultry production, suitable poultry housing, local poultry breeding and selection, and common diseases in local poultry.

Other out-of-school groups are concentrating on building small businesses from different forms of agricultural produce. For example, one group – “Ngonyek” - is learning about fish farming. The group has excavated a pond with the help of a fisheries officer and is now beginning to stock the pond with fingerlings which will grow into fish.

Equipping Kenyans with the skills to establish enterprises
Just as important as teaching young Kenyans how to grow or deliver agricultural produce is teaching them how to put in place the building blocks for businesses that can sell the produce and earn them a sustainable long-term income.

Thirty-eight young Kenyans from nine of the youth groups have already been trained in leadership and teamwork skills as well as financial record-keeping and business-planning.  Farm Africa project staff are working with these groups to finalise business plans.

Teaching schoolchildren about Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Teaching young Kenyans how to grow and sell food is vital for their future development and livelihoods. Just as important in guaranteeing their future welfare is teaching them about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS so they can make informed choices in later life.

In the year since the YESA project started, each school involved has identified and trained a front line counsellor responsible for co-ordinating sexual and reproductive health learning at the group level within their schools. This has resulted in the project raising awareness of Sexual and Reproductive health with 274 youths in the out-of-school groups as well as with 306 students in the school groups.

Each of the ten out-of-school youth groups involved in the project has selected a trainer (known as a front line counsellor). They are then trained in all aspects of sexual and reproductive health including: sexually transmitted infections like HIV; sexual health rights; family planning; drugs and substance abuse; and youth to youth communication skills. These trainers are also given training manuals and other informative materials before they reach out to and support their friends and peers during group meetings.

To back up these initiatives 5,164 fliers with information on sexually transmitted diseases have been distributed to students within 20 separate groups for distribution within the wider community. In addition, a further 22 copies of DVDs which address sexual and reproductive health issues are being used during talks on sexual and reproductive health. Three videos on sexually transmitted infections and the dangers of risky behaviour and early pregnancy have also been shown to seven separate school youth groups involved in YESA.

The project is now planning to make its advice on sexual and reproductive health more appropriate still to the needs of young people by establishing a Youth Friendly Centre in Kachibora. The centre intends to offer services on sexual and reproductive health in an environment that feels safe and secure for young people.

Outreach to students on Sexual and Reproductive Health is also being achieved through school sports days and gala events. Sketches and songs - aimed at raising awareness among young people of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS – are performed at these events. One of the groups participated in a World AIDS Day where they performed a short play on the theme of “Getting to zero new HIV infections”.

Farm Africa’s Upland Rice and Beans project in Uganda started operation in July 2011. The project aims to address two key problems being experienced by farmers:

• A real shortage of basic tools which means farmers have to spend unnecessarily long periods of time simply preparing their land for cultivation.

• A lack of collective organisation among farmers leading to ineffective marketing of their produce. Before the project started, many farmers told Farm Africa that they were seeking training on producing higher yields from their land. But farmers also emphasised they wanted training on marketing their produce. This means helping farmers to organise themselves into groups. In groups they are better able both to access market traders and to market their produce more effectively.

Since the project’s inception, farmers groups have been formed in the three main project districts: Luwero, Nakasongola and Nakaseke. Progress so far has been impressive.

Community Based Trainers
So far, 72 Community Based Trainers (CBTs) have been elected by farmers. CBTs are elected because they are highly respected and are seen as leaders by their communities. Of the 72 CBTs elected so far, 40 have been trained on: agronomy and new agricultural methods; integrated soil fertility management (ISFM); pest management; group work and group dynamics. Community Based Trainers are a vital component in the process of extending key new skills and learnings out into their wider communities.

Farmers Groups

CBTs extend this knowledge out to farmers through the farmers groups. So far, 52 farmers groups have been established. These groups consist of a total of 1378 farmers, with 606 males and 772 females.

From the 1378 farmers involved in the project, at least 700 have been trained so far in basic practices such as: planting in rows, spacing, weeding, knowing when to apply fertiliser. Famers are also learning the importance of using fallow land and how to choose plots which have good drainage and irrigation potential. Training is conducted by CBTs who in turn have been trained by Farm Africa’s project staff.

Demonstration Plots for next planting season (March-June 2012)

Demonstration plots are where farmers can experiment and observe how new seed varieties and planting techniques perform. They are normally set alongside plots where traditional seeds and techniques are used, enabling farmers to see instantly whether the new seeds and techniques lead to healthier, faster-maturing crops and more abundant harvests.

So far, 50 plots have been set up through the project area and the process of identifying other land for more plots is ongoing.

Village Savings and Loans Associations

These Associations (VSLAs) allow farmers to manage their money in a simple but effective way. Savings and loans provide them with sufficient credit to set up sustainable businesses which they can use to earn much needed income for food, school and medical expenses. So far 432 farmers have been introduced to the VSLA scheme, of which 237 are female and 195 male.

Yields from Demonstration Plots

From the 50 plots set up so far, 3960 kg of beans, 4675 kg of peanuts (also known as groundnuts) and 105 kg rice have been harvested. Only one demonstration plot has trialled rice cultivation due to the season being unfavourable for rice-growing.

Case-study:  Muddu Awulira Farmers Group

This group was originally formed in 2005 with 30 members. Since it started work with FARM-Africa in 2011 its membership has grown to 80.

The group is currently trialling groundnuts as well as beans.

The demonstration plot is doing very well and members have learned new methods such as the importance of planting in rows and regular weeding. In fact, the members are so impressed with the results they have seen on the plots, they are keen to start growing beans and groundnuts at home. They intend to plant up to an acre each at home and to use the produce to feed their families and to sell surpluses at local markets.

Next steps for the Muddu Awulira Farmers Group will be learning how to most effectively market their produce.

In 2008 Britain’s National Farmer’s Union (NFU) launched its Africa 100 Appeal to celebrate the organisation’s centenary. The appeal raised £200,000 which the NFU donated to Farm Africa.

Thanks to the NFU’s incredibly generous donation, Farm Africa has been able to set up its cassava project in Western Kenya. The project aims to breathe new life into cassava cultivation in Western Kenya following recent decimation of this staple crop by the Mosaic virus.

The project is having a huge impact and is transforming the lives of smallholder farmers and communities for the better. 

Success has been based on a simple idea: changing the cassava seed to grow new and improved varieties which are both resistant to disease and which can also stand up to the increasingly arid climate of Western Kenya.

The project  has made the success of the new cassava variety plain for all to see. By establishing demonstration plots for the new cassava alongside plots where the traditional cassava is grown, farmers can see not only how the new cassava variety matures far more quickly, but also how it produces healthier and larger tubers, convincing them to use the new seeds.

These videos powerfully demonstrate the impact the new cassava is having on communities in Western Kenya. They show project workers, and farmers, explaining how the new varieties produce three to four times more food than the traditional varieties.

Footage shows gasps of joy as farmers dig up their new cassava and discover far healthier and larger tubers. And as a project worker explains in one of the videos,

“Cassava has the potential to change the lives of our people”.

Watch the videos here.

In 2010 FARM-Africa launched a project to help farmers in South Sudan grow and sell more of the local staple crop, cassava.

Our project is designed to achieve far more than simply help farmers to grow more food. The main aim of FARM-Africa’s Cassava Project is to help farmers produce consistently higher yields so that cassava surpluses can be sold at local markets. As more and more cassava is grown and sold by the farmers, so they can earn much needed extra income.

Ultimately, this extra income can be ploughed back into smallholdings so that farms become long-term businesses capable of generating sustained, long-term income and employment opportunities.

To ensure that farmers develop the commercial skills necessary to make the project a success, FARM-Africa is running the project in partnership with the South African brewing multinational, SABMiller.

SABMiller is playing a vital role in the project by providing a guaranteed market for the farmers’ cassava. The company buys cassava from the farmers before extracting the starch which is then used to brew beer at SABMiller’s operation in Juba.

In addition, surpluses not sold to SABMiller are sold to local markets.

As a result of FARM-Africa’s innovative teaming up with the private sector, the cassava grown by South Sudan’s farmers has been transformed from a subsistence crop into a commercially viable cash crop.

And with this change comes another: the transformation of South Sudan’s smallholders from  subsistence farmers into local businessmen and entrepeneurs, capable of delivering our vision of a prosperous rural Africa.

Development of business skills

While SABMiller has been instrumental in providing investment and a secure market for cassava, FARM-Africa has been busy training the farmers in a range of skills they will need to make a success of their new businesses.

Specifically, FARM-Africa is working to strengthen the business and finance skills of farmers with an emphasis on collective marketing. We have worked recently to link up individual farmers into collective groups. Our experience tells us that when farmers market their produce collectively, they have greater negotiating power and are able to obtain higher prices at market.

We are therefore putting our farmers groups through training workshops designed to enhance cohesion and group dynamics. All groups involved in the project are now holding regular meetings with planned activities. These may include focusing on developing skills in book keeping and setting up of clear records of all sales.

We are also training farmers in the importance of producing high-quality cassava capable of meeting the demanding requirements of the market. Crucial to producing high-quality cassava is regular weeding and consistent spacing when sowing cassava. All eleven farmers groups involved in the FARM-Africa project have now been trained in these techniques.

As a result they are now able to grow increased quantities of higher quality cassava. This is important not only because it generates more food in the form of tubers. Cassava stems can also be used as cuttings which farmers can either plant to grow more food, or sell on along with their surplus tubers to earn additional income to meet school, medical and household expenses.  

Farmers groups are also serving as a useful forum for sharing information and increasing collective knowledge on potential threats to cassava growing. These include water-logging and termite attacks.

Read our report on a talk given recently at the Clinton Global Initiative by FARM-Africa’s CEO Nigel Harris. The talk focused on the importance of private sector investment in development and our partnership with SABMiller.

Friends of FARM is FARM-Africa’s network of fundraisers and volunteers. The network extends across the country and is the beating heart of FARM-Africa’s fundraising activities in communities across the UK. Many of the events organised to raise funds for FARM-Africa simply would not be possible without the incredible knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication of our tireless band of volunteers.

Friends of FARM, or “Foffers” as they are affectionately referred to in the FARM-Africa London office, have had an outstanding 2011. Throughout the year they have been busy doing what they do best: bringing our work to life in their communities across the UK and raising funds to enable African farming communities to look forward to a brighter future.

From the Scottish Borders in the north to Devon and East Sussex in the south, Friends of FARM have consistently gone the extra mile in 2011 to support our work by dancing, selling, singing and cooking their way towards raising more than £25,000.

Their work is vital, not only because it brings in much needed cash; but also because it raises the profile of our work to ever wider audiences within their communities. Some of them, such as Martin Taylor in Gloucestershire, have taken to the airwaves on local radio stations to highlight to people in their area the work we do to support farmers and their communities in eastern Africa.

Here is just a flavour of what some of our “Foffers” have been up to in 2011:

In July, long standing supporter Bill Acworth opened his beautiful Berkshire farm and welcomed his local community for a day of activities and learning. Participants got involved in a fascinating selection of activities, ranging from stone carving to clay oven making. Everyone savoured a sumptuous, locally sourced lunch and the day raised over £1,000. 

Sarah Scott has been holding a monthly ‘Coffee N Browse’ fundraiser at her local church, in Burbage, Marlborough. She has raised more than £600 this year alone.

In the Scottish Borders, Friends of FARM have raised an impressive total of more than £4,000 this year. They have held coffee mornings, staged a summer car boot sale and raised more money still at their ‘pick your own’ fruit business.

And Friends in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and in other communities across the country have held Harvest lunches, plant sales and music evenings.

And last, but by no means least, Friends of FARM Kent & East Sussex have been as busy and productive as ever. Tim Jury, who has been a Friend of FARM for over 20 years and who is the group leader for Kent & East Sussex, recently led a team of six other FARM-Africa supporters to Kenya to run in the Masai Mara Half Marathon. The event was incredibly challenging; but despite both the heat and altitude, the runners raised a hugely impressive £11,000. On top of all this, the Kent & East Sussex group also staged their annual barn dance, their annual horse ride over the South Downs and even found time for some carol singing too!

Asked why he took on such an epic challenge, Tim responded:

“Any reason for a visit to Africa needs little explanation but when one can visit some extraordinary people, see for myself the great work FARM-Africa is doing and run a once in a lifetime race across the Masai well how can you top that!

The whole experience was unforgettable the Kenyans are so friendly and hospitable and those working at the projects are committed to improving the lives of those beneficiaries they work with. The beneficiaries themselves are amazing and add much to the assistance FARM-Africa gives them by working so hard and sharing the lessons learnt with others.”

As well as organising their own fundraising events, Friends of FARM groups have been busy giving talks and telling people in their community about FARM-Africa’s work and encouraging others to get involved too. Our Give Poverty the Boot appeal for schools and churches has raised around £70,000 and much of this is thanks to our tireless Friends of FARM flying the FARM-Africa flag in their local communities.

If you would like to get involved in supporting FARM-Africa in your community please get in touch by emailing community@farmafrica.org.uk or calling us on 020 7067 1256.

Learn more about Friends of FARM.

Some of the many press articles on Friends of FARM activities in  2011:

Pupils give harvest help - Newmarket Journal

Brothers juice it up for Africa - Banbury Guardian

Safari run for charity supporters - Hastings Observer

Barcelona bike challenge to help tackle poverty in Africa - Your Tunbridge Wells.co.uk

Grandmother from East Molesey running Africa for charity - Surrey Comet

Sidai Africa’s Chairman, Dr Christie Peacock, has been elected to a prestigious Ashoka Fellowship.

Ashoka describes its fellows as “leading social entrepreneurs who we recognise to have innovative solutions to social problems and the potential to change patterns across society. They demonstrate unrivalled commitment to bold new ideas and prove that compassion, creativity and collaboration are tremendous forces for change.”

Sidai Africa Limited is a newly established social enterprise which provides livestock husbandry and vet services to farmers in remote parts of Kenya. In electing Dr Peacock to a fellowship, Ashoka has recognised her innovative work with Kenyan rural communities. Livestock are not generally viewed as assets and, as a result, their true value is not tapped. Christie has established Sidai to change this perception so that both livestock holders and livestock service providers come to be seen as professional businessmen and women. Sidai offers a sustainable solution to service delivery to remote rural communities.

This is to be achieved through the creation of a strong Kenya-wide network of Sidai-branded franchised service centres. Sidai has so far rolled out 16 Sidai franchises in North Rift, North Eastern Province, Kajiado and Narok.
Sidai is a subsidiary of the UK charity FARM-Africa and FARM-Africa Enterprises. FARM-Africa has set up Sidai as a social enterprise to further its charitable objectives in a financially sustainable manner.

Read more about Christie’s Ashoka Fellowship and Sidai Africa. 

Farm Africa staff have travelled to the Durban climate conference (COP 17) this week to discuss  a carbon-emissions reduction project FARM-Africa is developing in Ethiopia.

Our Ethiopia Programmes Manager, Tsegaye Tadesse, has travelled to Durban with two other colleagues. They will highlight initiatives aimed at tackling climate change through limiting deforestation. The team has been joined by a senior official from the Ethiopian government, Dr Girma Tesfaye, who is also Director of the Orioma Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, Farm Africa's partners in Ethiopia.

How is our project helping to tackle climate change?

Our carbon-emissions reduction project is part of an international scheme, “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD). The REDD scheme is aimed at financially compensating developing countries which reduce their carbon emissions through reducing deforestation.

Limiting deforestation is a key component of reducing carbon emissions, thereby tackling climate change. This is because trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, making them one of the most efficient systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide. Essentially, trees “lock up” carbon dioxide by storing it in their trunks, roots and branches.

How is our project reducing deforestation?

Farm Africa has initiated one of the world’s largest REDD projects over approximately 500,000 hectares of forest in the Bale mountains, home to Africa’s largest Afro-alpine habitat. Our REDD project falls within a larger programme, the Bale Eco-Region Sustainable Management Programme (BERSMP). By developing income-generating activities that don’t involve felling trees, the project is reducing deforestation. This means more trees which are able to “lock up” carbon, reducing damaging emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The project has developed income-generating activities for communities living in Bale’s forests, including coffee-growing, beekeeping and tree nurseries. The project is also promoting to forest communities fuel-efficient stoves. These stoves are proving successful in reducing overall demand for firewood and are another important component of our project’s strategy to reduce deforestation as a means of helping to tackle climate change.

Our Bale Eco-Region Project is run jointly with an Ethiopian NGO, SOS Sahel, and is part of a wider partnership with the Ethiopian government to reduce deforestation.

FARM-Africa is thrilled that renowned travel journalist, Simon Calder, has won the Christmas edition of Celebrity Mastermind.

Simon appeared on Celebrity Mastermind on Tuesday 27 December, BBC One at 5.35pm. On the show he said that he had chosen FARM-Africa to benefit from his appearance on the show.

Viewers in the UK can watch the show again on BBC iPlayer until January 3rd 2012.

Simon Calder is Britain's leading travel commentator but it wasn’t always like this. He began his career at Gatwick airport, where he cleaned out planes for Sir Freddie Laker and, later, frisked passengers (for a job, that is; not a hobby).

He then started to write travel guidebooks and travel articles.  Today Simon is Senior Travel Editor of The Independent. Simon also writes for the i, the Evening Standard, Conde Nast Traveller, BA’s inflight magazine, High Life and the Travel Trade Gazette as well as a host of other publications. 

Every Sunday evening between 7 and 9 pm, he gives travel advice, inspiration and help to LBC 97.3 FM listeners on The LBC Travel Show with Simon Calder (also broadcast online, on digital, on Sky 0112 and Virgin Media 973). Once a month, he presents Fast Track’s Travel Clinic on BBC Worldwide where he answers viewers travel questions and queries. He also keeps a Weekly Video Diary which can be found online at the Independent and on his personal website.

He is a regular guest on national TV, often seen on BBC Breakfast News, Daybreak, ITV News and Sky News. He is often interviewed on BBC radio, particularly for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Five Live!  

Commenting on Simon’s win, FARM-Africa’s CEO, Nigel Harris, said:

“FARM-Africa is thrilled that Simon has chosen us to benefit from his win on Celebrity Mastermind.  All funds raised by Simon will have an immediate impact on our work which last year alone benefitted 649,000 African farmers, providing them with the skills, knowledge and tools they need to grow more food and earn more income. Congratulations, Simon, from everyone at FARM-Africa.”

 Learn more about Simon Calder from his website.

Read the Independent's report on Simon's win.

On a recent visit to Western Kenya, Farm Africa saw just what a difference its Cassava Project is making in transforming the lives of farmers in the region.

Farm Africa travelled to Western Kenya with a team of representatives from the National Farmers Union (NFU). The NFU is supporting the Cassava Project through its Africa 100 Appeal, launched to celebrate the NFU’s centenary year.

New Cassava at a glance

• Improved cassava varieties mature in just 9-12 months whereas local cassava varieties can take up to two years to mature
• New cassava is resistant to disease such as the Mosaic virus which results in diseased plants, smaller tubers and smaller harvests
• New cassava produces larger tubers than old cassava, and more of them – sometimes up to 30 per plant.

The project’s central aim is to resuscitate traditional farming of the local staple crop cassava after it was recently blighted by the devastating Mosaic virus. (The disease was especially serious because the adverse effects it had on the variety of cassava traditionally grown in the area meant that the crop could no longer be grown on an economically sustainable basis by local farmers.)

Farm Africa is enabling farmers in the region to recover from the disease by introducing them to new and improved varieties of cassava. The improved variety is designed both to resist disease and to withstand the drought-like conditions which are increasingly affecting Western Kenya.

The new varieties also mature far more quickly than traditional varieties, enabling farmers to grow more. This in turn creates surpluses of the crop which farmers can sell at market to earn much needed additional income for their families. This additional income has a real and lasting impact on farmers’ families: it is used to pay for medical expenses and to clothe and feed their children, as well as to improve overall living conditions.

Farm Africa and the NFU visited a large number of households throughout Ugenya and Nyanza districts during their visit. Wherever they went, the NFU team was able to see how the Farm Africa project was convincing farmers to change over to the new cassava varieties: plots where the new seed variety had been planted were set alongside plots where the local, more traditional cassava was being grown. The difference made by the new varieties in growing larger, healthier and faster-maturing cassava was plain for farmers to see; and demand for the new seeds was unsurprisingly high.

Farm Africa is also creating demand for the new cassava varieties by demonstrating how the value of this basic staple can be increased by using it to as the basis for a wide variety of appetising new meals, including chips, crisps and cake as well as traditional favourites such as chapattis, stews and flour.

It was obvious, wherever the team went, that the new cassava was transforming and improving people’s lives. The experiences of these two individual farmers is typical of what is happening throughout the project area.

Michael  Obiero 
Michael contracted polio as a child which left him permanently unable to walk. Despite this disability, Michael is now a beacon farmer for the Africa 100 Cassava Project - thanks to his early championing of the new cassava varieties provided by Farm Africa.

Michael lives in Kochogo, about an hour’s drive from Kisumu in Nyanza district. He was quick to realise how the new cassava would help save his family and community from starvation as a result of increasing drought. His hard work and dedication has resulted in his farm becoming a great cassava success story. Looked up to as a leader among his community, Michael has inspired the work of the Kamicha farming group which now includes 35 households which are growing cassava.

Chairperson of the group, Charles Ouma, said:

“The NFU and Farm Africa have helped Michael to be where he is today. He is an innovator. Members of the group all wanted to come and meet you. They have seen the results of growing the new cassava and they want it to spread.”

Michael is determined to widen take up of the new cassava varieties, and its benefits, as far as he can. Local farmers have set up a demonstration plot where, besides learning about the new cassava, students can also learn other innovative technologies, including silaging, planting and harvesting.

John Yugi

John is a farmer from Kochogo. He has previously grown maize and, before that, sugar cane. He has recently seen harvests for both crops fail but his life was transformed after he attended a meeting given by Farm Africa’s local partners. At the meeting he learned about new varieties of cassava and – crucially – techniques for planting it.

The results are astonishing: he now has enough food to feed his family with a surplus to sell at local markets for additional income. The crop only requires three weedings per season and needs no inputs to ensure effective growth.

Whereas one acre of maize would typically earn John around 5400 Kenyan shillings or around £30, the same acre of cassava earns him 50,000 Kenyan shillings or £320.

John says: “I used to struggle to grow maize which meant I struggled to pay for my children to go to school. Now I can pay for their school fees, I can buy them the books and the uniforms they need.”

FARM-Africa CEO, Nigel Harris, recently spoke at a prestigious New York gathering of global leaders entitled “Sustainable Food Systems”.

The event was organised by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an organisation  established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States. The organisation’s mission, according to its website, is “to inspire, connect and empower a community of global leaders to forge solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Nigel used his address on “Sustainable Consumption” to an audience of leaders from the public and private sectors to focus attention on the positive impact the private sector can have on development when it provides investment and opportunity to smallholder farmers.

He started by observing that the vast majority of the world’s poor are smallholder farmers; and that if this is to change,  political, commercial and civil society leaders need to acknowledge that smallholder farmers represent an essential link within global food chains.

Nigel explained that greater private sector partnership with smallholders really could transform farmers’ lives, enabling them to move beyond subsistence-level farming and to become instead rural entrepreneurs, capable of building a prosperous rural Africa.

FARM-Africa’s Cassava project in South Sudan in partnership with SAB Miller

To demonstrate just how beneficial working in partnership with smallholders can be for the private sector and government actors, Nigel pointed to an innovative project established by FARM-Africa in South Sudan. The project is a partnership between four actors: the private sector (South African brewing multinational, SABMiller); government (South Sudan); civil society (FARM-Africa); and, most crucially of all, local communities (smallholder cassava farmers).

This public, private, non-profit partnership is brewing beer from cassava. SAB Miller purchases the cassava from smallholders, extracts the starch which will be used to brew beer at SABMiller’s operation in Juba.

The partnership has transformed the smallholders’ cassava from mere susbsistence crop into a commercially viable cash crop: not all the cassava produced will be bought by SABMiller – farmers are able to sell surpluses in the local market as well. This is transforming the lives of small holders in South Sudan who are now generating long-term and sustainable income from cassava.

The additional income can be used by smallholders to develop their lives, and those of their families and communities, by being able to pay for educational and health expenses as well as re-investing in their farm businesses.

Nigel concluded by stressing to his audience that the smallholder farmers he has met in eastern Africa have the potential to be an essential part of sustainable global food supply chains. But for this to happen, the private sector needs to follow the example of companies like SAB Miller in providing investment and creating opportunity.

Also speaking at the briefing were: Martha Stewart, Founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Stephan Habif, Vice-President R and D Operations North America, Unilever; and Jacques Diouf, Director General Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

FARM-Africa’s Director of Programmes, George Mukkath, was among a group of NGOs and private sector companies who participated in the media launch of SABMiller’s first ever cassava beer in Johannesburg this week. The event also involved discussions on the importance of linking smallholder farmers and the private sector in the supply chain.

George Mukkath was joined by Corin Mitchell, from The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, Suzanne Vlakveld from The Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company, Eric Schmidt from the International Fertilizer Development Centre and representatives of SABMiller in Africa who took part in the discussion.

FARM-Africa is working with SABMiller in South Sudan, helping to integrate local smallholder farmers into SABMiller’s South Sudan supply chain. Locally-sourced cassava  will be used in brewing in South Sudan after the first harvest in 2012.
 
FARM-Africa’s is working with local farmers to increase their cassava yields so that excess can be sold to the local brewery or to other local markets. By working in this way FARM-Africa is supporting farmers to convert cassava from subsistence to a cash crop.

Taking into account actors along the supply chain, farmers’ families and the affect on suppliers, distribution, retail and other agricultural labour, the project plans to benefit up to 15,600 people.

You can read more information on this project here.

Farm Africa has made excellent progress during 2011 with its Participatory Forest Management Project, situated in the Nou Forest in the Babati and Mbulu districts of northern Tanzania.

The project’s core objective is to improve both the livelihoods of those living in the forest and the condition of the forest. It places a particular emphasis on the participation in the project of the forests’ varied stakeholders.
This means involving local communities and district government officials in managing the forest and conserving its resources.

Forest Enterprise Groups driving project work

One of the project’s key recent achievements has been the establishment of 39 new Forest Enterprise Groups, drawn from communities living in the 13 villages taking part in the project. The 39 groups are at the heart of the project and are driving its work: they have a total membership of 606 members, of which an impressive 50% are women.

Each group has also elected from within its membership a chairperson, a treasurer and a secretary to lead the groups.

These Forest Enterprise Group are co-ordinating the training of their memberships in an impressive range of activities which allow people to earn income from the forest without felling trees. Together with local government forestry staff and Farm Africa project staff, all the groups were involved in assessing which non-timber enterprises were feasible for their particular village.

From the list of feasible activities, groups from each village have now chosen three activities to be trialled in the village. The activities they have chosen from are:

Mushroom farming; butterfly farming; eco-tourism; sisal farming; raffia weaving; energy-saving stoves production; fish farming; and sandalwood production.

In addition to its three chosen activities, each village is also participating in the core livelihood activities of beekeeping and running tree nurseries.

Tree Nurseries

Twelve tree nurseries have been set up so far. Two hundred and ten farmers are working in the nurseries, including 87 women. They have been trained in tending and rearing tree seedlings.

The farmers have also been trained in: fencing; soil mixing; potting plants; seedbed preparation; tree seedling sowing; collection of forest soil and manure for the production of potting soil.

In addition, Farm Africa has provided farmers with essential materials like polythene tubings, tools and initial tree seedlings.

Since April 2011 the 12 nurseries together have raised: 5,312 sustainable timber seedlings (mostly eucalyptus used for construction poles); 1,631 fruit tree seedlings; 673 ornamental tree seedlings (mango, orange and avocado); and 4,344 fence tree seedlings.

Between April and August 2011 the tree nurseries have sold 3,380 timber seedlings to members of the wider forest community. This equates to sales of 1,543,000 Tanzanian Shillings (£602).

Beekeeping

The project is working with 12 beekeeping groups, made up of 234 individual members.

906 Langstroth hives have been distributed throughout the villages. Langstroths are hives which can be placed on planks at waist height and are therefore preferred to traditional hives which hang inaccessibly high up in trees. Langstroths are also preferred as they can be re-used after honey has been collected.

Group members contributed 10% of hive costs prior to receiving them and have since paid a further 15% through a savings and credit scheme. To make beekeeping more sustainable, 26 local carpenters have been identified and trained in construction of Langstroth hives.

Farm Africa has also facilitated the bee keeping groups to work together to form the Manyara Beekeepers Association. This association enables groups to consolidate their produce and to sell it collectively. Collective selling improves access to markets and also offers the beekeepers collective bargaining power for the marketing of their produce.

The Manyara Beekeepers Association is also helping the beekeeping groups to work collectively to build up a brand for the local honey as a means of securing increased long-term income.

Raffia Weaving

Raffia is a type of grass grown next to streams. It has traditionally been used by women to weave both baskets and mats for household use.

In recent months 67 women and 16 men have been trained by Farm Africa Project Staff and government extension staff in the production of high quality and attractive designs. Weavers are also being connected to potential markets for their products such as tourist sites at the nearby Ngorogoro Crater and Manyara National Park.

Following their training, raffia weavers have made 143 different products which have generated 617,000 Tanzanian Shillings (£241) worth of income.

Fish Farming

One of the Enterprise Groups is trialling fish farming in Mongahay village. As well as providing alternative income, the group hopes that fish farming will also prove to be an additional source of food for the families participating in the activity.

So far, 34 families have been trained in basic fish farming techniques. These include: digging ponds, identifying different types of both fish and fish food, fish harvesting and storage.

Mushroom Farming

208 farmers have been trained recently in mushroom farming. Key aspects of their training include identification of edible and non-edible mushrooms as well as the diseases mushrooms are prone to. Training has also resulted in the identification of three sites within the forest which are particularly well-favoured to mushroom growing.

Butterfly Farming
Butterfly pupae can be sold for export to museums and exhibitions abroad. The sale of butterflies is therefore a source of valuable additional income for the farmers and Farm Africa is training farmers in the project area to catch butterflies in a way that does not harm or distress them. Farmers are also being trained in identification of different species as well as males and females, and the best host plants for butterflies. With this knowledge, farmers are able to start up their own businesses.

In 2010 Farm Africa trained 187 farmers from 11 separate butterfly farming groups, including 87 women.

Ecotourism

Five Forest Enterprise Groups have identified ecotourism as a potential alternative source of income and, supported by Farm Africa project staff and local district staff, have conducted a survey to identify attractive sites like waterfalls for tourists to visit. The groups have established a tourist trail route by ensuring that there is a clear path and are completing the labelling of different types of trees along the tourist path.

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