Influencing Policy in Africa
Changing policies that hold people back
The focus of FARM-Africa’s work is at the grassroots working alongside farmers, livestock keepers and forest users to help them improve their lives. As we work with communities we learn together what holds them back from improving their lives.
In some cases it may be knowledge or new technology but in other cases it can be the policies of their own government which impact on their lives, or even the indirect impact of some northern government policies.
FARM-Africa always works alongside governments and we use our projects to discover what works and what does not work. With this learning we can build a body of evidence from which governments can learn and improve the way they support their own people.
For example, FARM-Africa has worked with the Government of Ethiopia to demonstrate that when local people are given responsibility for managing their own forests and a clear legal right to make use of the forest they will protect it and manage it in a sustainable manner. Previously the government policy excluded local people from their own forests, believing that this was the best way of protecting them. As a result the forests were overused and not used in a sustainable way.
Our community forest management approach is now embedded in the national forest policy of Ethiopia and fragile forests are being protected, thanks to the work of FARM-Africa and its partners.
FARM-Africa has worked on several policies that if improved could open up new opportunities for people to change their lives. These include the veterinary policies in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. FARM-Africa has joined forces with other NGOs working with rural communities in Tanzania to develop progressive policies that will ensure better veterinary care is delivered to livestock keepers. The Community Animal Health Network (CAHNET) is helping to share learning on veterinary and livestock trade policies across the Horn of Africa.
Other policies on which FARM-Africa is engaged are animal breeding in Kenya, charcoal making in Ethiopia and influencing the development primary school curriculum and related policies in Tanzania.
