‘We work in value chains and really want to address gender, but we do not know how

Agri-Hub Ethiopia organised its first event in 2012 about the theme of Gender in value chains. The workshop on 7 February, in the Kaleb hotel in Addis Ababa, was attended by 38 people (20 women, 18 men) from universities, BDS providers, NGOs and producer organisations.  Participants mentioned: ‘We work in value chains and really want to address gender, but we do not know how to’. By providing practical tools, this workshop addressed a felt need.

The workshop had an interactive character and was very dynamic. During the first exercise, the arguments for gender-sensitive value chain development were listed:

• It is ‘fair’ to make value chain development benefit men and women equally and to make it contribute to greater gender equality.
• But it is also smart economics: women often play important (but invisible) roles in value chains; and therefore they are an important factor in upgrading a value chain.
• Women are crucial for poverty alleviation, as they are more likely to use increased income for the well-being of their family.

Subsequently, in 8 sub-groups, participants practised four tools to make different phases of a value chain intervention gender sensitive: selection of a value chain, value chain mapping, analysis of costs and benefits and monitoring of impacts. The tools were taken from a brand new toolkit, which is made available on the Gender in Value Chains Ning platform.

According to the participants, the tools were in general “comprehensive, practical, easy to use, and helped to gain insight.” As one participant put it: “Gender has been on the agenda for a long time, but translation to practice is still lacking. Today, we have learned some tools that can be helpful in transforming our practice.” Others mention that the tools can be used to convince their colleagues of the importance of looking at gender aspects.

Participants also realised that this one-day workshop was not enough. The proposed coaching track, which the Agri-Hub Ethiopia intends to start as follow-up of this workshop, was received very positively: “A great idea to provide assistance to people, while they are trying to apply what they have learned during this workshop.”

The workshop was facilitated by Angelica Senders of Fair & Sustainable Advisory Services together with Ethiopian gender expert Lenesil Asfaw. For more information, please contact Wikke Tuinhout of F&S Ethiopia: wikke.tuinhout@gmail.com.

The film of 45 minutes can be watched on Dailymotion:

United through markets – Africa door moovon

January 13^th, 25 Agri-ProFocus member organisations came together to discuss a common knowledge agenda for food security. It was the first official meeting of the Agri-ProFocus Food Security platform. Which choices should we make to contribute to improving food security and sustainability?

During the Agri-ProFocus Core Group Meeting of July 2011, the participants decided to develop a joint knowledge agenda on the theme ‘ Food Security and Climate Change’. The challenge, so far, has been to find out how.

Frans Verberne (ETC Foundation) and Simone van Vugt (WUR-CDI) produced a discussion paper that gives a good overview of the actual state of affairs. The next step, then, was to develop a questionnaire to make an inventory of the food security-related activities of Agri-ProFocus’ members and their resulting knowledge questions.

During the event of January 13^th, the outcome of this inventory was presented by Jan-Willem Eggink (Agri-ProFocus). In addition, 5 members gave short presentations of their experiences and suggestions for further research on food security:

ICCO on Food Security
HIVOS on Revitalising Rain fed Agriculture in India
IICD on ICT for food security
ETC on Local Food Security Plans
CIDIN on farm-firm relationships

The wide variety of activities and knowledge questions spurred a lively marketplace of specific knowledge, experiences, capacities and tools. A joint knowledge agenda, however, could not easily be defined. Therefore, the organising committee proposed to formulate 3-5 food security-related themes, based on the answers in the questionnaires and the discussions from the meeting. Around each of these themes, communities of practice will be developed.

For those of you who are interested in food security issues: you are heartily invited to subscribe to the Agriculture, Food security and Climate Ning page.  The platform will use this interactive website as a tool for knowledge exchange and brokering. On the Ning, subscribers can post any news, documents and links they want to share and also start discussions or post a specific question in the forum section.

In addition, a 10-minute feature film was made about the entire Fair, showing how farmers and banks came together and learned how they could profit from cooperation.

As Lut Vandamme, Microfinance Advisor at the Belgian NGO Broederlijk Delen and one of the Fair’s co-organisers from the Agri-Hub Uganda, says: “There was a very good interaction. Finance could give their response to farmers’ particular need. People could not only ask for more information, but also go into discussion and deal-making. So there we saw the barriers being reduced.”

Among the interviewees are the Hon. State Minister of Finance Aston Kajara, Mr. Claver Sserumaga from the Bank of Africa and Mr. Herbert Rusa from Award winner HOFOKAM. They all explain how the Fair has benefited them. The interviews can be watched both on the Agri-ProFocus website and on Youtube. A written report of the Finance Fair in Uganda is available on the Agri-Hub Uganda.

Want to know more about upcoming Agri-Finance Fairs? The next Fair will take place on 21 and 22 February in Rwanda. Mail us on info@agriprofocus.nl if you want more information, or visit the Agri-Hub Ning at www.apf-rwanda.ning.com.

Please also sign up for our Youtube channel and be the first to see all our videos!

Agri-ProFocus member organisation Hivos takes a stand in its latest position paper on food security. Hivos advocates a renewed focus on small-scale agricultural producers, which they see as “critical to solving the global problem of food insecurity and poverty”.

The paper is called: ‘Small, competitive and resilient: How small-scale producers contribute to food security’. Its key argument is that small-scale producers harbour the biggest potential to meet food security demands for the future. Therefore, investment in these producers by government, research and civil society organisations should drastically increase.

In this, particular attention should be paid to the position of women, who “are gatekeepers of food security, yet struggle with limited access to productive resources and opportunities.”

In its conclusions, Hivos calls among others for government protection of smallholder staple production; more private sector actors engaged in sustainable production and inclusive business relations; and financial institutions to increase their outreach to rural men and women.

The full position paper can be downloaded from the Hivos website:
http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Small-Producer-Agency/News/Small-competitive-and-resilient-How-small-scale-producers-contribute-to-food-security.

As a result of an inspiring writeshop in November 2011, several Agri-ProFocus member organisations cooperated to publish a booklet about the experiences of farmers and cooperatives in the Great Lakes Region of Africa (Rwanda, Burundi and the Kivu provinces of DR Congo). The booklet specifically focuses on how producer organisations innovated and better positioned themselves in agricultural value chains to benefit the livelihoods of their members.

From eleven producer organisations in the Great Lakes Region, representatives brought in case studies of problems and successes they had experienced. These case studies help to expose issues, to understand them and draw lessons that could benefit members and technicians of other rural organisations that want to better serve their members.

The described cases of producer organisations’ progress in supporting their members for the one part stemmed from better agricultural input at a more advantageous price. This, combined with advice and information on agriculture, helped to increase the yield per hectare as well as profitability of the crop.

The Rwandan organisations writing for the booklet all are partners in the IPER programme, which is at the heart of the Agri-Hub Rwanda. An interesting case for example is from Cooproriz Abahuzibkorwa from Mukunguli, which set up a system of warranty in cooperation with the IMF and the Kenya Commercial Bank, that would allow farmers to stock their produce for a few months after harvest, so that they would receive a higher price. The stock serves as a warranty for the bank, which gives a credit for the time between harvest and selling.

The booklet was put together and edited by Agri-ProFocus members Agriterra, KIT, WUR-CDI and IFDC under the coordination of Agri-Hub Rwanda. Written in French, it will be a valuable resource for producer organisations from the area and other French-speaking countries. A digital PDF copy of the book can be downloaded from the link below.

Download here: Les organisations paysannes innovent pour se positionner dans les chaînes de valeurs agricoles: Recueil des expériences des producteurs de la région des Grands Lacs d’Afrique Centrale

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Hands up in Uganda

The Ugandan Fair took place in Fort Portal and attracted 17 different financial service providers and over 350 farmers, many of whom were representatives of producer organisations. Among the guests was even the Ugandan Minister of Finance.

Posing the question of who actually did business during the Fair to the audience resulted in a hall full of hands up. Many farmers made a choice for a certain provider and had made appointments for follow up talks.

On the one hand, banks confirmed that their knowledge about accessibility and appropriateness of their current product range for the smallholder agricultural sector was unknown. With the gained insights, they would re-assess current conditions in an effort to customise product conditions and increase accessibility. Determinately, the Bank of Africa stated: “Banks do not fear financing agriculture”. On the other hand, the event also brought to the fore that farmers still have a lot to learn about how banks work.

After the Fair, farmers and farmer groups confirmed their increased knowledge of the market offer regarding financial services and stated at the same time that they felt empowered and more confident in applying for services, including those of commercial banks.

High demand in Kenya

The Finance Fair in Kenya had a whopping 800-900 farmer visitors, even though the weather around Eldoret was a little unsupportive, and farmers had to be brought in with buses in order to get to the event. Especially the second day of the event proved to be extremely interesting, with discussions taking place between farmers and bank representatives at the open forum. “The dynamics were good,” says Agri-ProFocus network facilitator Roel Snelder. “The first day we saw intense conversations in the exhibitors tents; the second day we witnessed fierce competition in the voting.”

The banks and service providers (24 in total, with all major local banks represented) admitted to definitively having profited from the event. The estimate is that around 500 deals were brokered ranging from farmers opening accounts, to appointments made for presenting business proposals for agri-loans at a later date. A number of banks had to bring additional personnel in on the second day, because they could not handle the demand! Reportedly, banks stated they would start to adapt their products and they want to have a closer cooperation in the upcoming years on similar occasions.

Awards

Both Finance Fairs also handed out awards. In Kenya, Equity Bank ran away with the most popular bank award; Kenya Commercial bank with the best (dairy)  loan product and Amiran greenhouses got the prize for best stand. In Uganda, the winners were HOFOKAM and Centenary Bank.

Read more on the Agri-ProFocus Ning platforms: http://apf-uganda.ning.com/profiles/blogs/banks-do-not-fear-farmers-hofokam-and-centenary-awarded-by-farmer

How best to help groups of smallholder farmers to develop their entrepreneurial skills? This question is the point of departure for a new book called ‘Learning and earning: How a value chain learning alliance strengthens farmer entrepreneurship in Ethiopia’.

This book wraps up a unique alliance between farmers, NGOs, businesses, banks and researchers, called the Ethiopian Learning Alliance (ELA), which lasted from 2007-2010. The Agri-ProFocus members and their Ethiopian partners chose a ‘Learning Alliance methodology’, focused on learning by doing, to strengthen skills of a group of 18 Ethiopian farmer marketing organisations and 14 local NGOs supporting them. The process steps include understanding value chains, organizing as a group, accessing finance and business services, and business planning.

Now, the Learning Alliance approach has been embodied in all Agri-ProFocus Agri-Hubs, uniting stakeholders and developing value chains and markets with entrepreneurial farmers as a primary objective. The book explains the value of the approach by showcasing achieved results and lessons learned by farmer groups during the process.

For example, Abdi Boru Farmers’ Marketing Association picked up technical and organizational skills throughout the Learning Alliance, and that has helped change their attitudes and learn about new opportunities. “None of us realized that farming was a business”, comments Tesfaye Debebe, secretary. To increase profits, the association started to focus on selling teff, improving the crop’s quality and targeting the Addis Abeba market.

The main conclusion of the book is that “improving market relations means changing support relations. The successful farmers and NGOs in the Learning Alliance linked up with business partners and research institutes, thereby broadening the support base for farmer entrepreneurship.”

The book was written by John Belt (KIT), who is knowledge facilitator on Ethiopia for Agri-ProFocus, together with Agri-ProFocus network facilitator Wim Goris. Other contributors were professionals from Agriterra, Cordaid, ICCO and SNV as well as Ethiopian members IIRR and FFARM.

The Ethiopian book launch, organized on the 29th of November in Addis Ababa, was attended by over 80 people, including the Dutch ambassador in Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Hans Blankenberg. Click here for the Prezi presentation (3MB) by author John Belt (KIT) and click here for photos and video registration of the official launch ceremony. Read also the report on Agri-Hub Ethiopia.

Have you grown curious? Download the book now!

The two and a half day’s vibrant workshop in Sikasso led to excellent results:

• Committed parties to engage in the APF Agri-Hub
• 5 themes chosen to work on during the coming year
• 5 action plans with concrete activities and responsibilities, including time schedules

The themes chosen for joint action and learning are:

• Access to finance/financial services
• Marketing and market access
• Access to input and agricultural equipment
• Capacity building of producer organisations
• Land tenure

The report on this workshop is expected to be ready in the last week of November. All other documentation will be placed on the interactive platform http://apf-mali.ning.com this week.

Some of the participants sent their thanks to the organising committee on the platform:
“Through me, the GIE Faamuyaso would like to share that they are very happy to have participated in the workshop. It was a very fruitful space for exchange between partners that did not know each other yet. Outside of the official sessions, new relations were established. In the coming days, I hope to feed this space by training activities and support of GIE. Bravo and thank you.” (Mamadou Sangare)

“Thanks to the organisation committee for holding the very successful multi-stakeholder workshop in Sikasso. The international network that was launched will actively contribute to making agricultural entrepreneurship a reality in Mali. We (AMEDD) did not fail to share experiences with the members of the professional network in support of actors in agricultural entrepreneurship. See you soon!” (Adama Nama Sanogo)

So please do not hesitate to join our internet platform and become part of a vibrant Agri-Hub in and around Sikasso!