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Major new partnership between Lloyd’s Charities Trust and FARM-Africa is announced

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FARM-Africa, an NGO which has spent the last twenty-two years working to alleviate poverty in rural Africa, is one of three new charities that has been selected as a partner of Lloyd’s Charities Trust, the grant making charity for the Lloyd’s market.

FARM-Africa will use the grant to support its household Recovery Programme in Southern Sudan, which aims to lift over 90,000 people out of extreme poverty. The programme will provide households with access to clean water, high yield seed, agricultural tools, livestock and knowledge of how to care for them.

Nick Gooding, Chairman of Lloyd's Charities Trust and Senior Cargo Underwriter, XL London Markets: “We are delighted to announce that Coram, FARM-Africa and Samaritans are Lloyd's Charities Trust's three new partner charities for 2007-2010. A donation totalling £450,000 will be provided to the charities over three years with the money to be used by the charities to develop specific projects with the theme of supporting those at risk.”

Dr Christie Peacock, CEO, FARM-Africa: “Thanks to this exciting new partnership between FARM-Africa and Lloyd’s, thousands of families in Southern Sudan who face an uncertain future now have the potential to improve their own lives. With the dedication and support of the Lloyd’s market, FARM-Africa can help give vulnerable families the skills to feed, clothe and educate themselves and provide their children with a more secure future.”

This Southern Sudan Household Recovery Programme is designed to kick-start poverty reduction in the project area and will help to lift communities who have virtually nothing, to improve their standard of living in a sustainable way so that they no longer need to depend on aid hand-outs.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa and the rate of poverty in Southern Sudan is massive. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimate that 90% of the population survives on less than US$1 per day.

Development in action goes live with FARM-Africa

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The NGO FARM-Africa is part of a radical new development project that launches today in partnership with its sister organisation AMREF (The African Medical Research Foundation), The Guardian and Observer newspapers, Barclays and the community in Katine.

Katine - It Starts with a Village is an ambitious new project that will bring together different strands of development to help the people of Katine village in north-east Uganda improve their lives through improved access to health, education and livelihoods.

FARM-Africa is an NGO which has spent the last twenty-two years working to alleviate poverty in rural Africa, and is the livelihoods partner in this project will support the local people of Katine increase their incomes through improved agricultural practices.

During the three years of the project FARM-Africa will help the community to increase their incomes through the formation of rural innovation groups (farmers' groups) which will be used to help local farmers share knowledge of how best to increase agricultural productivity through new techniques and technologies. The communities' concerns about the environment and coping strategies to reduce the impact of climate change will also be discussed.

Training will be a significant focus of FARM-Africa's work with farmers receiving training on veterinary services agribusiness and marketing to increase the profitability of local agriculture for the community.

Dr Christie Peacock, CEO of FARM-Africa, said, "Our involvement in this unique project offers the public an opportunity to directly engage with the work of FARMAfrica and fits into our organisational strategy to scale-up lessons learnt at the grassroots to increase the impact of poverty alleviation across Africa."

The aim of this project is to improve the lives of those living in Katine and has the potential to produce a model that could be scaled-up or replicated with potential to reduce poverty for millions of rural Africans.

The three-year project will bring the public face-to-face with development through the Katine website- www.guardian.co.uk/katine - where a number of short films can be found, showing areas of life in the village, regular blogs and public debate around the issues of development will also take place on the site.

This is development in action and the findings will be documented by the Guardian team and local African journalists working with media NGO, Panos.

For more information go to www.guardian.co.uk/katine or visit www.uk.amref.org or

www.farmafrica.org.uk

FARM-Africa joins the UK Food Group to mark World Food Day

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Dr Alastair Bradstock, Policy and Research Advisor at FARM-Africa, is one of number of policy experts who will marking World Food Day 2007 by discussing the theme of The Right To Food at an event hosted by The UK Food Group. This event coincides with the publication this week of the World Bank World Development Report 2008 which this year focuses on agriculture.

Dr Bradstock will be presenting some of FARM-Africa’s policy experiences in “Getting Policies Right for Small-scale Farmers” as part of the day of celebrations hosted by The UK Food Group in London.

“Getting Policies Right for Small-scale Farmers” describes how four different FARMAfrica projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa successfully influenced national policy in the natural resources sector. Each project will be presented as a case study using the Overseas Development Institute’s Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) framework to analyse the evidence and experiences.

Dr Bradstock’s presentation will demonstrate that NGO projects can influence national policy agenda’s in Africa by drawing on FARM-Africa’s experiences with Land Reform in South Africa, Veterinary Services in Tanzania, the Forestry Sector in Ethiopia and Livestock Policy in Kenya.

World Food Day must focus attention back to Africa’s rural smallholder farmers who in FARM-Africa’s view hold the key to tackling poverty on a macro level. FARM-Africa believes that boosting smallholder production in rural areas will lead to an increase in self-sustaining growth and employment across a range of agricultural and nonagricultural areas.

FARM-Africa shortlisted for the 2007 Alcan Prize for Sustainability

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September 26 December, 2007; London, UK

FARM-Africa has been shortlisted for the US$1-million 2007 Alcan Prize for Sustainability by Alcan and International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF). FARM-Africa was selected as one of 10 shortlisted organizations from entries received from 53 countries around the world.

Dr Christie Peacock, CEO of FARM-Africa said, "We are thrilled to be on the shortlist for the 2007 Alcan Prize for Sustainability. Of course, winning the Prize would be a great achievement, however it is an honour to be short-listed and awarded a US$15,000 Training Grant. This recognition validates the work we do, provides important visibility for our efforts and the Grant allows for capacity building within the organization to achieve continued success."

Alcan Inc., a global leader in aluminum and packaging, created the Alcan Prize for Sustainability in 2004 to recognize outstanding contributions to the goal of economic, environmental, and social sustainability by not-for-profit, non-governmental, and civil society organizations. “On behalf of Alcan, I would like to congratulate FARM-Africa. This is one of the most geographically diverse shortlists since the creation of the Alcan Prize for Sustainability in 2004,” said Dick Evans, President and CEO of Alcan Inc. “The diversity in this year’s group of finalists also extends to the outstanding work these organizations are doing around the world. They are a fine representation of what the Alcan Prize for Sustainability is all about,” he added.

To ensure credibility and objectivity, Alcan engage IBLF to manage the Alcan Prize for Sustainability. Following the closing date for entries, IBLF coordinated Assessment Panels in India, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom and South Africa to review entries and select the shortlist. This process engaged more than 100 sustainability experts to act as Assessors representing business, academia, government, and the NGO community. The Adjudication Panel composed of international experts in sustainability and Chaired by David Runnalls, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Institute for Sustainable Development, fully endorsed the 10 short-listed organizations and the Assessment process. Alcan does not have a voice in the Assessment or selection of Alcan Prize candidates.

The Adjudication Panel will now conduct an in-depth review of the shortlist and select the winner of the Alcan Prize. This is the first year where all shortlisted organizations will receive Alcan Training Grants. These US$15,000 Grants, formerly awarded at the judges’ discretion, will allow a senior representative of each organization to participate on an appropriate learning opportunity, for example, the Post-graduate certificate in Cross Sector Partnership from the University of Cambridge. The Alcan Prize winner will be announced when the Adjudication Process is complete.

FARM-Africa transforms the lives of poor rural people in Africa. Our work over more than 20 years has proved that with just a little assistance, Africa’s farmers can dramatically improve their lives. FARM-Africa works in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Southern Sudan. Through grassroots projects we help rural communities to grow more food; keep their livestock healthy and manage their natural resources sustainably. Our three key areas are Community Forest Management; Pastoral Development; and Smallholder Development and Land Reform.

Alcan Inc. (NYSE, TSX: AL) is a leading global materials company, delivering high quality products and services worldwide. With world-class technology and operations in bauxite mining, alumina processing, primary metal smelting, power generation, aluminum fabrication, engineered solutions as well as flexible and specialty packaging today's Alcan is well positioned to meet and exceed its customers' needs. Alcan is represented by 68,000 employees, including its joint-ventures, in 61 countries and regions, and posted revenues of US$23.6 billion in 2006. The Company has featured on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index consecutively since 2002. For more information, please visit: www.alcan.com.

FARM-Africa’s staff to present a ground-breaking paper at the Development Studies Association conference

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Ali Hassan, FARM-Africa Kenya’s Programmes Manager, will be addressing an audience of development specialists from around the world this week when he presents a paper discussing how mobile phones are revolutionising animal health in rural Kenya at the 2007 Development Studies Association Conference connecting Science, Society and Development, 18-20 September 2007.

The paper is based on the experiences of animal health workers regarding the introduction of mobile phones to support a decentralised animal health system as part of FARM-Africa’s Kenya Dairy Goat and Capacity Building Project.

The document is entitled “Keeping Up With Technology: The use of mobile telephony in delivering community-based decentralised animal health services in Mwingi and Kitui Districts, Kenya” and is authored by James Kithuka, Jacob Mutemi and Ali Hassan Mohamed, members of FARM-Africa’s expert staff in Kenya.

Ali Hassan Mohammed will be presenting the paper at a panel discussion around the role of mobile phones in development reflecting the immense growth in the ownership of mobile phones in developing countries, particularly among African rural communities. This has led to mobile phone technology increasingly being used as a tool to overcome barriers to rural development.

Ethiopian Forestry Cooperative Scoops Prestigious Green Award on World Environment Day

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A forestry cooperative group in Danno, Ethiopia, has received a prestigious green award from the President of Ethiopia on World Environment Day. The group is part of a Participatory Forest Management Project supported by the NGOs FARM-Africa and SOS Sahel.

The national awards were given to those who have made an exceptional environmental contribution in Ethiopia.

The Danno Cooperative, based in Chilimo Forest, received the Civil Society Green Award at the National Palace in Addis Ababa for the significant impact it has made on rehabilitating a degraded area of forest where illegal logging had been common. They encouraged the regeneration of indigenous tree species and put a halt to the destruction of this fragile ecosystem.

In his speech, President Girma Wolde Giorgis said that World Environment Day was an appropriate occasion to acknowledge those who have contributed to environmental conservation in Ethiopia. The country has recently seen serious flooding that took the lives of many and left thousands homeless in the east and south of the country. The President asked that all Ethiopians to join hands to make the country and the world a better place to live in.

The Participatory Forest Management Project aims to encourage the Ethiopian Government and local communities to manage forests in partnership. This project assists communities to build alternative livelihoods that are not damaging to the local environment for those people living in and around the fragile forest. The project began in 2002 and has implemented field projects in Bonga, Chilimo and Borana forests.

FARM-Africa and St. Helen's Farm join forces to make a difference in Africa

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The international charity FARM-Africa and St. Helen's Farm, the UK's largest supplier of goats' milk products, have announced a partnership to help to support the charity's work in improving the lives of poor Africa farmers and their families.

St. Helen's Farm has launched a limited edition range of cartons bearing FARMAfrica's message which will be on sale in Sainsbury's and Tesco throughout May and June. St. Helen's Farm will donate one pence from every carton sold to support the work of FARM-Africa.

FARM-Africa works to reduce poverty in eastern and South Africa and works in partnership with farmers to help them to manage their natural resources more effectively and build sustainable livelihoods on their land.

Mike Hind, Sales & Marketing Manager at St. Helen's Farm comments: "St Helen's Farm has admired the work of FARM-Africa for a number of years and has previously helped with sponsorship and offered support, in particular, to the Dairy Goat Project. We are delighted to be supporting the charity again and look forward to working with them in the future."

Tum Kazunga, Corporate Partnership Manager, at FARM-Africa said," FARM-Africa is delighted that St Helen's Farm has given their vote of confidence to our charity once again with this exciting partnership. This on pack promotion will give FARMAfrica a great opportunity to connect with St Helen's Farm's customers and to show them that in the right hands their support goes a long way."

For further information on FARM-Africa please contact Ngaio Bowthorpe on 020 7067 1252 or go to www.farmafrica.org.uk. For more information on St. Helen's Farm please contact Claire Murgatroyd or Martin Jackson on 01772421 442.

International Conference on Participatory Forest Management, Biodiversity and Livelihoods in Africa is Officially Opened

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His Excellency Ato Girma W/Giorgis, President of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, opened the International Conference on Participatory Forest Management, Biodiversity and Livelihoods in Africa, today - March 19, 2007.

The conference has brought together experts and practitioners to discuss, debate and present recent findings on a range of issues associated with the establishment of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) as a successful approach to managing forest resources effectively.

The expected outcomes of the conference include information sharing, cross learning, relationship building, improved and increased promotion and recognition of PFM, and unified policy lobbying for PFM. In addition, inputs based on experiences of different countries during the last day discussion on Challenges and Opportunities of PFM in Ethiopia, are expected to significantly contribute to PFM development in Ethiopia.

The conference focused on PFM as linked to sustainable livelihoods, equity and local governance, policy and institutions, as well as biodiversity conservation and climate change.

Appreciating the timeliness of the conference, the president stated the need for sustainable natural resource management for sustainable development. For this, the Government of Ethiopia has issued various policy statements and proclamations to mainstream environmental sustainability. He further expressed his hope that relevant actors will take up the lessons from this conference to strengthen the development of PFM in Africa.

Participants are coming from different parts of the world including Australia, Cameroon, Cote d' ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Tanzania, Mali, Sudan and the UK. Participants from Ethiopia include Regional Bureaus, research centres and non-governmental organisations. A total of 200 individuals are expected to participate in the three-day conference.

The conference is taking place in the hall of the Government of the National State of Oromia, Addis Ababa and will last for three days, 19-21 March 2007.

It was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ethiopia, in collaboration with the Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Regional Governments, the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC), Federal Environmental Protection Authority, the Participatory Forest Management Programme of FARM-Africa and SOS Sahel Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Foresters' Association, Non-Timber Forest Product Research and Development Project, GTZ, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Ethiopian Coffee Forest Forum, and Forum for Environment; and funded by the European Union.

Further information on the conference can be found on the FARM-Africa and SOS Sahel Ethiopia Participatory Forest Management Programme's website at: www.pfmp-farmsos.org.

Processing Plant set to boost Uganda’s cassava production

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Following tremendous increase in the productivity of cassava over the last four years after years of decline, the Ugandan Government is set to open a cassava processing plant on the 19th of January 2006 in Nakasongola district. The State Minister for Micro-finance, Hon. General Salim Saleh, will officially launch the Plant.

Amongst the beneficiaries of the processing plant will be members of a local farmers’ association, the Nakasongola District Farmers Association (NADIFA). The association received funding from FARM-Africa’s Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund (MATF) in 2003, to promote cassava varieties resistant to the African mosaic virus. The result has been remarkable improvement in productivity from 3 metric tonnes per hectare to over 16 metric tonnes per hectare within 2 years. Over 1,500 farmers have had access to improved varieties such as NASE 1-12 and TIME 14. The Plant, to be managed by NADIFA, comes at an opportune time for the farmers of Nakasongola district, whose cassava produce will find a ready market.

Speaking about the launch, NADIFA project co-ordinator Ronald Magado says, “The Plant is the culmination of lots of hard work from NADIFA members and support from MATF. Its operations will boost the economic wellbeing of Nakasongola farmers not only through buying their cassava crop for processing, but also other produce such as maize.”

Despite the development of new farming technologies, most smallholder farmers still employ inferior and often inappropriate production and post-harvest technologies. This results in low productivity and low incomes for rural families, perpetuating poverty.

Since 2002, MATF has played a key role in promoting the dissemination and uptake of agricultural technologies similar to the cassava project throughout East Africa. This has been through the support from The Kilimo Trust and The Rockefeller Foundation. So far, 51 projects have been supported in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to the tune of over £2 m, continuing to improve the welfare of many small-scale farmers.