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.

To help support this, and many of our other projects, please make a donation today.

Context

Since 2003 FARM-Africa has run several different development projects in the Moyale district of northern Kenya. The project was established to reduce poverty among pastoralist communities and to promote pastoralism as a viable way of life.

Due to an increasing lack of rainfall in the region, FARM-Africa set up an additional project in 2010, the Moyale Drought Mitigation Project, which formed part of its broader work in the area. The project’s aim was to mitigate the effects of drought in the area and to provide much-needed livelihood security to pastoralist communities.

Drought in Moyale

But since 2010, the situation in Moyale has significantly deteriorated: the rain seasons of November-December 2010 and April-May 2011 both failed. According to the Moyale Meterological Department, 0mm of rainfall was recorded in March and only 11.5 mm in April, against an expected 48.6mm and 89.7mm respectively. This has resulted in the suspension of the project and the setting up of the Moyale Drought Response Project. The project was started in September 2010 and will run for three months.

Drought has exerted a severe strain on Moyale’s environment, the pastoralist communities that live there and their livestock:

Impact of drought

• Scarcity of water

Lack of water in the wet-season grazing areas has forced pastoralists to remain in the dry-season grazing areas where boreholes and shallow wells are the only source of water.

This in turn is putting a significant strain on the boreholes and wells.

As drought both leads to the deterioration of livestock condition and increases the possibility of death, livestock populations are putting water points under huge pressure.

Bore holes are currently operating at 18 hours a day (as opposed to a seasonal norm of 6-7 hours). Average waiting time at the water sources now varies between 3-6 hours.

Unsurprisingly pumps at the water sources are breaking down due to over-use and Water User Committees have identified a critical need for spare parts and servicing to maintain the boreholes.

Failure of any of these water-sources will result in a life-threatening crisis.

• Increased livestock mortality

Livestock are the main assets of pastoralists. To maintain the optimum value of these assets, regular feed is essential. But the failure of the last two rain seasons in Moyale has resulted in minimal regeneration of pasture. With little to eat, livestock condition is poor. This has two consequences:

Livestock mortality rates in Moyale and Sololo (the other district covered in the Drought Response Project) have jumped: mortality rates for cattle are 50-60%; 11% for camels; and 28% in small stock. Dabel and Amballo locations have been hardest hit.

Livestock value is declining. With livestock weak and in poor condition, cattle are not fetching good prices for the pastoralists at market. Traders are unwilling to purchase cattle which they fear will die in transit to market. Supply of livestock has increased while demand is increasingly depressed. The impact of declining livestock values on Moyale’s pastoralists has been compounded by rising commodity prices, pushing many of them into destitution.

What FARM-Africa is doing to support pastoralists affected by drought

Our Moyale Drought Response Project is focusing on eight locations in Moyale and Sololo Districts. Since its commencement in September 2011, the three month project has been focusing on the following activities to mitigate the effects of drought:

• Distribution of animal feed to all eight locations, targeting the 5000 livestock (especially breeding stock) most seriously affected. So far, 622 heads of livestock in Kinisa have each received one bale of hay; in Anona 626 heads of livestock have each received a bale of hay; and in Dambala Fachana 623 heads of cattle have each received one bale of hay. This is directly benefitting a total of 389 pastoralist households. Each household typically is comprised of six people. 

• Emergency water supply. Around 15,000 litres of water is being trucked twice per month to the areas hardest hit, Amballo, Dabel and Anona, for distribution among the community. In addition, primary schools with water tanks in these areas are also receiving around 15,000 litres of water per month.

• Construction and rehabilitation of water sources. Two emergency boreholes will be constructed and equipped in Amballo and Lataka. Two shallow wells will be rehabilitated in Anona and and Dabel, while water pans in Kinisa and Anona will be de-silted and protected. Unskilled work on construction and rehabilitation of these water sources will be undertaken by labour hired from the affected communities, bringing much needed income into the communities.

• Provision of engine fuel. Fuel prices have risen rapidly in recent months. FARM-Africa will therefore provide four locations with 40 litres each of fuel needed to supplement the changes needed for equipment used to draw water.

You can help to support this, and many of our other projects, by making a donation here.

Funded by:

Cordaid

JJ Charitable Trust

Rising world food prices

The World Bank’s index of global food prices, Food Price Watch, recently recorded a rise of 15% in prices in just three months between October 2010 and February 2011. Global wheat prices doubled between June 2010 and January 2011 while maize prices rose by 73% over the same period.

 The hike in prices is driving global food insecurity and is placing a severe strain on communities living in poverty and hunger. According to World Bank statistics, rapidly spiralling food prices have driven an estimated further 44 million people into poverty since June 2011.

 This volatility in global food prices is exposing increasing numbers of smallholders in eastern Africa to household insecurity and hunger. 

 Over 80% of people living in remote or rural areas of Africa rely on the food they grow and the animals they keep to survive.  Uncertainty caused by fluctuating global food prices means that it is now more important than ever to boost African farmers’ ability to increase food production.

 Helping farmers to increase crop yields is important for two reasons: it both reduces the exposure of farmers and their communities exposure to price hikes by ensuring they have enough to eat; and it also enhances their ability to sell surpluses of food to generate additional household income.

What FARM-Africa is doing to enable African farmers to respond to rising food prices

As global food security worsens, FARM-Africa is enabling African farmers to grow more food. We ensure farmers are equipped with quality, drought-tolerant seeds and the most innovative planting and irrigation techniques, helping farmers to maximise their food yields.

 And just as importantly, we are enhancing farmers’ linkages to markets and food supply chains, ensuring that surpluses can be sold at the highest price. This approach is helping African families to build long-term income, effectively breaking long-standing cycles of poverty.

Case-study

In western Kenya, almost 60 per cent of households are dependent on fish, either directly or indirectly, as a source of food or income.  Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and provides over 90% of Kenya’s total fish supplies. Wild fish stocks in this lake and other lakes in Kenya are dwindling, however, mainly due to overfishing and pollution.  As demand for fish outstrips supply, the price of fish is rising.  For many people who are already struggling to feed themselves, this shortage is hitting them hard.

 The Kenyan government has identified fish farming as a key sector for development as part of its economic stimulus programme. Fish ponds have been dug in 160 out of the 210 parliamentary constituencies in Kenya with the vision of helping smallholder farmers to generate income from aquaculture. The Government of Kenya has invested 4 billion shillings in this Economic Stimulus Programme, providing farmers with fish fingerlings, (young fish) and fish feed. 

FARM-Africa is supporting the Kenyan government’s drive to develop fish farming. Thanks to funding from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID), we have has established a string of franchised Aqua Shops across Western Kenya.

 The Aqua Shops act as hubs, supporting new fish farmers with essential materials such as fish feed and manure as well as technical advice so they can build and develop their businesses. They are also helping fish farmers by providing market intelligence and linking fish farmers to the most appropriate markets for their produce. Watch a video in which Project Co-ordinator, Susan Otieno, explains how the project is helping Kenyan fish farmers develop their businesses.

To date, approximately six hundred farmers have been trained and equipped to set up and run viable fish farming businesses.

Ten senior executives from the UK food sector have reacted with delight to news they have raised a quarter of a million pounds for the charity FARM-Africa, following the team’s gruelling charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The huge total raised so far is way in excess of the sum the team expected to raise for the charity which works with farmers and their communities in eastern Africa to tackle poverty and hunger.

The team included Tim Smith (Chief Executive of the UK’s Food Standards Agency); Mike Coupe (Group Commercial Director at Sainsbury’s); and Richard Macdonald (Non-Executive Director at Moy Park and Dairy Crest and a former Director General of the National Farmers Union).

Responding to news of the team’s overhauling of the £250,000 mark, Richard Macdonald said:

“I am thrilled the UK food industry and friends have managed to raise so much money. Climbing Kilimanjaro was tough but this is way beyond our expectations. All the money goes to FARM- Africa, a great cause, showing one end of the food chain supporting the other.” 

The team was determined to demonstrate the UK food sector’s strong support for African smallholder farmers who are such a vital link in the global food supply chain, and who are presently vulnerable to drought and increased lack of rainfall.

The money the team has raised will help underpin FARM-Africa’s work in transforming smallholder farmers across eastern Africa from subsistence level farmers into rural entrepreneurs. FARM-Africa is achieving this through enhancing farmers’ linkages to markets and through provision of drought-tolerant seeds that enable farmers to deliver increased yields in increasingly arid conditions.

Expressing the charity’s gratitude to the Food Sector team, FARM-Africa’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, Pam Williams-Jones, said:

“FARM-Africa is incredibly proud of the expedition team’s achievement in raising such an impressive amount to fund our work in supporting African farmers.

 “And what a fantastic team effort in training and taking on this epic journey to help raise awareness for the communities we work with. On behalf of those communities FARM-Africa offers its congratulations and heartfelt thanks for the staggering quarter of a million pounds raised so far. Thank you.”

It is still possible to sponsor the team. Information is available at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/foodforafrica

Photos of the team, including summit photos, are available on request.

The team’s blog site with updates and images from the mountain is available at: http://www.kiliclimb-farmafrica.org.uk/

Ends

For further information please contact:

Ngaio Bowthorpe, Head of Communications at FARM-Africa
FARM-Africa, Clifford's Inn, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1BZ
Direct line: +44 (0)20 7067 1252 Switchboard: +44 (0)20 7430 0440

Matt Whitticase, Communications Officer at FARM-Africa.
FARM-Africa, Clifford's Inn, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1BZ
Direct line: +44 (0)20 7067 1237 Mobile: +44 (0)7515 788456 Switchboard: +44 (0)20 7430 0440

The team:

Mark Carr, Group Chief Executive, AB Sugar
Mike Coupe, Group Commercial Director, J Sainsbury’s
Nigel Dunlop, CEO Moy Park and NED Warburtons
Iain Ferguson, NED Greggs plc, Balfour Beatty plc, Berendsen plc and former CEO Tate and Lyle
Andrew Cracknell, Director Anglo Beef Processors
Richard Macdonald, NED Moy Park, Dairy Crest Foods and former Director General NFU
Martyn Wilks, Executive Managing Director Dairy Crest Foods
Charles Reed, Group Managing Director, William Reed Business Media
Tim Smith, Chief Executive Food Standards Agency
Julian Marks, Managing Director, Barfoots of Botley Ltd

Notes to Editor:

FARM-Africa,is supporting African smallholder farmers to lift themselves out of poverty. As technical experts they ensure farmers are equipped with quality seeds and the most innovative planting and irrigation techniques, helping farmers to maximise their food yields. And just as importantly, they help link farmers to markets, ensuring that surpluses can be sold at the highest price. This approach helps African families to build long-term income, effectively breaking long-standing cycles of poverty.

Eighty per cent of all African families still rely on the food they grow and the animals they keep to survive. In times of low rainfall and poor harvests, the consequences can be severe: families are often forced to survive on just one meal a day and all too often are unable to send their children to school.

Three young Oxfordshire brothers are working hard to sell produce from their farm to raise funds for FARM-Africa.

The brothers – Tom, James and Oliver – are 15, 13 and 12. They live on Lessor Farm near Milcombe in the Banbury area and for the last few years they have been selling their produce at Wykham Park Farm Shop in Bodicote.

When they are not busy with their homework, Tom, James and Oliver have made money through lambing and selling juice made from their own apples under the label of “Three Brothers”.

By donating much of the money they make to specially chosen charities, the brothers are helping to transform the lives of those less fortunate than themselves.

Over the last three years the brothers have got to grips with the exhausting work of managing a flock of ewes. They have learned to foot-bath the flock regularly, worm them, vaccinate them and generally keep them healthy. They have also bought two rams from Thame Auction Mart and have been rewarded for all their hard work by making money from sales of the lambs. Starting with just 13 ewes three years ago, the brothers have overseen an increase in the size of their flock to 49.

Alongside their regular lambing duties, Tom, James and Oliver have also been hard at work developing their apple juice sales. The boys pick the ripe apples themselves before washing the fruit, crushing it to a pulp and then pressing it. They even design and print their own bottle labels! In 2010 the brothers managed to sell 120 litres of juice; and this year they have doubled the overall amount of juice made.

The boys were inspired to fund charities with their hard-earned cash following a family holiday to Cambodia. The holiday opened their eyes to how fortunate they were in comparison with children at a Cambodian school they visited. James, Oliver and Tom now donate a sum from the money they make to fund a computer technology teacher at the Tchey School in Siem Reap.

This year the boys have decided to support the work of FARM-Africa. They will donate a handsome 50p from every bottle of juice they sell this autumn at Wykham Park Farm Shop between Banbury and Bloxham(2).

They were inspired to support FARM-Africa after a friend of their father’s took part in a recent climb of Mt Kilimanjaro for the charity:

“Inspired, we decided to look at the website.  We thought that FARM-Africa’s system of helping poor people by providing equipment and know-how so that they can farm and feed themselves was a very good idea so we decided to help this charity too.  We are starting by donating 50p for every bottle of apple juice we sell this autumn at the local farm shop.  We asked FARM-Africa for posters so that people know who we are trying to help.”

 The brothers' local newspaper, The Banbury Guardian, has published an article on the boys' fundraising efforts. You can read the article here.

Project background

The project is helping to address rapidly dwindling stocks of wild fish in Lake Victoria which provides more than 90% of Kenya’s total fish supply. Reduced supply means the price of fish has risen steeply in western Kenya where almost 60% of households are dependent on fish, either directly or indirectly, as a source of food and income.

The Kenyan government has responded to reduced fish supply and rising prices by actively promoting aquaculture and small-scale fish-farming. To increase the scale of fish-farming, it has built 4800 new fish ponds throughout western Kenya.

FARM-Africa’s Aqua Shops Project, funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development, is designed to support the Kenyan government’s promotion of aquaculture. The shops, situated in the Samia and Nyakach districts of western Kenya, are not only supplying existing commercial and small-scale fish farmers with essentials such as fish feed and manure; they are also vital hubs offering technical advice, training and market linkages to 1,000 smallholder farmers interested in setting up their own fish-farming businesses.

Through its project FARM-Africa hopes to achieve more than address food security problems caused by shortages of fish in western Kenya. The project also seeks to have a real long-term impact by equipping Kenyan smallholder farmers with new skills in a form of agriculture likely to have a sustainable and long-term future: there is huge potential for significantly scaling-up production of farmed fish in Kenya.

As well as providing farmers with technical skills, the project is also teaching farmers how to link up their new businesses to important markets in nearby Kampala and Nairobi where surpluses can be sold to generate much needed additional income.

How our Aqua Shops are transforming the lives of Kenyan fish farmers

The shops are taking a leading role in providing information on best-practice to fish farmers to help them build profitable and sustainable aquaculture enterprises. To date, six fact sheets on fish pond liming, fish diseases, pond management, pond fertilisation, pond stocking and harvesting have been produced in relevant languages and are being distributed to fish farmers. To build trust with the fish farming communities, FARM-Africa has also produced posters which certify that aquashop operators have been fully trained and able to offer authentic adviceand training. The posters are displayed prominently on the fronts of all shops which have fully trained staff.

To underpin the long-term viability of our project, FARM-Africa has identified and contacted approximately 1,000 farmers likely to become fish farmers. The farmers are trained by both FARM-Africa project staff and the owners of the shops. Ultimately, to make the project sustainable, all training will be undertaken by the Aqua Shops owners.

In recent weeks 72 farmers have been trained in basic husbandry and organisational development techniques relevant to fish-farming, making a total of 544 farmers trained since the project began.

The farmers are organised into groups of up to 15 with a representative from each group being given regular refresher courses. The classes ensure that crucial knowledge is both properly understood and shared within the wider group, ensuring the long-term survival of key knowledge and skills within the community.

Official praise for the project

The Kenyan government has acknowledged the impact of the aquashops in raising food production and business capacity:

“Aquashops have really trained our people in as the farmers are now well versed with fish-farming. Through the aquashops, around 201 individual farmers in Nyakach district have been trained on fish-farm husbandry practices, group dynamics and entrepeneurship”.  Anne Mokoro, Nyakach District Fisheries Officer

To enable farmers to trial these new seed varieties, FARM-Africa is establishing new demonstration plots across Kapoeta. So far twelve such plots have been successfully established and we plan to open four more by early 2012.  Farmers using the plots are currently focusing on growing sufficient food for their households. But it is hoped that surpluses from the Kapoeta plots will soon be sold in local markets at Juba, Torit or even Lokichokio in Kenya as a means of generating additional income.

Case-study: FARM-Africa’s demonstration plot at Moruangilimo

Fifteen farmers are working on FARM-Africa’s plot in Moruangilimo. Before the plot was established these farmers struggled to find seeds for cultivation. They were also hampered by a serious lack of tools and had only basic sticks for preparing the land prior to planting. But now, thanks to FARM-Africa’s work in the area, they are using pangas, axes, hoes and rakes. One member of the group has even received an ox and plough from FARM-Africa and is receiving training in modern ploughing techniques. Watch a video of ox-plough training in Kapoeta.

The farmers are using their new plots to experiment with red sorghum, sesame, okra, cowpeas, tomatoes, groundnuts, maize and watermelon. These seed varieties have been provided by FARM-Africa.

FARM-Africa is also training the farmers at its Moruangilimo plot in new techniques designed to maximise crop yields. Previously the farmers simply used the same techniques handed down from their ancestors to cultivate their crops. But now the farmers are learning innovative new techniques, such as planting in rows to enable more effective weeding.

As long as the rains come, the farmers hope to produce a surplus which they can sell in Kapoeta town. Okra, one of the new crops being trialled at the plot, fetches the best price due to its versatility: it can be eaten fresh, dried or ground to a fine powder.

You can help to support this and many of our other projects by making a donation today.

Friend of Farm from Gloucester, Martin Taylor, recently spoke to BBC Radio about FARM-Africa’s work and its Give Poverty the Boot campaign. In the interview Martin talks about how churches can support Give Poverty the Boot during this Harvest Festival. Listen to the interview here.
 

Give Poverty the Boot!

We are asking clergy and congregations to support our work to provide African farmers with the key skills, technical knowledge and tools they need to sustainably increase and diversify the food they are able to grow on their land. This work includes helping farmers and communities develop agriculture which is climate resilient. Such innovative agriculture will help mitigate in the long-term against the increasingly severe effects of drought and extreme hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

To help churches raise money which will have a real long-term impact in reducing hunger in Africa, FARM-Africa has sent a pack full of information and creative fundraising ideas to approximately 13,000 churches across the UK.

To make fundraising as fun as possible we are asking clergy and church-goers to get their wellies on so they can get growing food to Give Poverty the Boot. Church congregations could have a competition to see who can grow the most food in one welly. Or members of the congregation could donate plants and vegetables from their gardens to a Harvest produce sale to raise funds. Clergy could even swap the usual collection plate for a welly to collect donations at their Harvest services to Give Poverty the Boot!

Click here for much more information on how you can Give Poverty the Boot!

 Leading UK Food Executives depart for Kilimanjaro challenge in aid of FARM-Africa

Ten leading executives from the UK’s food sector have set off from London to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, in aid of FARM-Africa.

Kilimanjaro is the world’s tallest freestanding mountain. It soars 19,341 feet above sea level and getting to the top is the equivalent of scaling Big Ben 61 times. Climbing Africa’s tallest mountain is a daunting undertaking, even for the team of top-ranking executives who are more than used to a challenge.

The team flew to Nairobi on 22 September and begin their climb of Kilimanjaro on Saturday 24 September. They aim to reach the summit on Friday 30 September.

Before leaving the UK, team members have been training furiously in preparation for the climb. Andrew Cracknell, Director of Anglo Beef Processors, has even fitted in climbs in the Alps and a walk up Mt Snowdon around his regular mile-long swims.

Each team member is strongly motivated by the opportunity of raising funds to support FARM-Africa’s work in supporting vulnerable rural communities in eastern Africa both to grow enough food to eat and to become the entrepreneurs of the future.

The team has already raised a staggering £218,000 so far thanks to a large number of individual donations, as well as a significant number of corporate contributions.

Before setting off, the team gathered in central London so that figures from the food sector could wish the team well at a pre-expedition dinner. The dinner was put on by leading chef Jason Atherton at his Mayfair restaurant, Pollen Street Social and was hosted by the well-known actor and global traveller, Michael Palin who is also Patron of FARM-Africa. During the dinner, Michael treated the climbers to a steady stream of amusing anecdotes and stories from his extensive travels in Africa and through the Himalayas.

The team members are:

Mark Carr, Group Chief Executive, AB Sugar
Mike Coupe, Group Commercial Director, J Sainsbury’s
Nigel Dunlop, CEO Moy Park and NED Warburtons
Iain Ferguson, NED Greggs plc, Balfour Beatty plc, Berendsen plc and former CEO Tate and Lyle
Andrew Cracknell, Director Anglo Beef Processors
Richard Macdonald, NED Moy Park, Dairy Crest Foods and former Director General NFU
Martyn Wilks, Executive Managing Director Dairy Crest Foods
Charles Reed, Group Managing Director, William Reed Business Media
Tim Smith, Chief Executive Food Standards Agency
Julian Marks, Managing Director, Barfoots of Botley Ltd

You can sponsor the team, and follow its progress on the mountain via the team blog: