Latest News
The Financial Times highlights Farm Africa’s work to transform the lives of farmers in South Sudan
An article in the Financial Times explores the changing relationship between businesses and NGOs and how collaboration between sectors can help in overcoming the challenges posed by food insecurity.
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).
114 farmers' groups up and running in Central Uganda
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The first nine months of Farm Africa’s Upland Rice and Legumes project have been a great success! 114 farmers’ groups have been set up across three districts of Central Uganda, meaning thousands of farmers are now working together to learn new skills and improve their harvests. Farm Africa has provided quality, disease-resistant seeds and group members have been learning modern farming techniques that can increase the size of their harvests. Many farmers have already seen their harvest increase by over 30%.
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.
Farm Africa runners take the London Marathon by storm!
Last Sunday, 15 fighting fit Farm Africa runners took on one of the greatest sporting challenges the UK has to offer – the 2012 Virgin London Marathon. Cheered on by a loyal bunch of supporters, the runners were the quickest set of Farm Africa supporters on record, with five runners clocking up a time of less than 4hrs!
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
Good Luck to Farm Africa runners in 2012 London Marathon
Massive GOOD Luck to everyone running today for Farm Africa in this year’s London Marathon! So far they have raised a whopping £21,000 for us! We are so thankful to you all for putting yourselves through such an ordeal.
And if you aren’t running but would like to donate, you can do so via the fundraising pages of all our runners:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KarenMorgan
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Munir
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CharlieMacMarathon
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/theo
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/matthewcrisp
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/sarahstokes
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TristanvanStrien
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HenryRudd1
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KatyGodfrey
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SophieBambridge
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JaneElizabethHoward
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkBowmanSABMiller
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PaddyCarter-marathon
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=JoeHurr&faId=197847&isTeam=false
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlexRothwell
Kenyan government’s enthusiastic welcome for Sidai Africa
FARM-Africa’s newly established social enterprise, Sidai Africa, has been given a ringing endorsement by the Kenyan government’s Director of Livestock Production, Mr Julius Kiptarus.
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.
Call for tenders for Independent Progress Review
Independent Progress Review (mid-term evaluation) of Farm Africa and Self Help Africa’s Programme Partnership Arrangement with the Department for International Development, 2011-2014
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.
Village savings schemes transforming women's lives in Ethiopia
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.
Woman from Farm Africa project dazzles UN women's conference
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.”
Kenyan youth project thriving
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”.
New skills help Ugandan farmers to thrive
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.
