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Financial Management Workshop for Global/Regional Grant Recipients, Bangkok

Posted by RimaAlcadi Wednesday, November 1, 2017 0 comments


FMD has successfully concluded the Financial Management Workshop for global and regional grant recipients, held in Bangkok from 25 to 27 October 2017. The Workshop was attended by 34 invitees managing Global/Regional grant recipients, representing 87 ongoing projects in 67 countries.

As acknowledged by Ruth Farrant, FMD Director, "The attendees keenly participated in the discussions and activities, and provided feedback on their experiences. Overall, the attendees expressed great appreciation for the initiative, considering it an unparalleled opportunity to exchange knowledge with IFAD staff and with their peers to ensure the effective and efficient execution of their projects. IFAD, on the other hand, was able to gain vital practical insight into common portfolio strengths and weaknesses."

IFAD was represented by staff from AUO, ETH, LEG, FPD, ACD and QAG, who went to Bangkok to deliver presentations and interact with the recipients. The presentations delivered on day 1 are provided below, for the benefit of IFAD staff and other current and/or future recipients who were unable to participate in the event.















El FIDA y organismos y agencias internacionales reafirmaron la necesidad de brindar más atención al sector rural en América Latina y el Caribe

Posted by RachaelKenny Tuesday, October 31, 2017 0 comments

Por Salvador Santiesteban

El Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), junto con otras agencias de las Naciones Unidas, organismos e instituciones financieras internacionales, debatieron el pasado 9 de octubre en la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo en Mendoza, Argentina,  sobre los nuevos paradigmas que están reconfigurando el mundo rural en América Latina y el Caribe y reafirmaron la necesidad imperiosa de brindar más atención al sector rural.

El seminario fue inaugurado por el Gobernador de Mendoza, Alfredo Cornejo, quien destacó en sus palabras de bienvenida la "necesidad de una intervención más específica e inteligente de organismos públicos y privados, por lo que es de gran utilidad todo lo que hayamos hecho, y podamos hacer, en conjunto con el FIDA."

El evento cobró especial relevancia en una región como América Latina, cuyo considerable crecimiento económico en el último decenio no ha sido suficiente para que 175 millones de sus habitantes salgan de la pobreza, ni  para que otros 70 millones encuentren alivio a su situación de extrema pobreza. Uno de cada dos latinoamericanos que vive en zonas rurales es pobre. Mientras que en las ciudades de América Latina la incidencia de la pobreza es del 24%, en las áreas rurales este porcentaje casi se duplica, con un 46%. El drama de la pobreza rural es, además, prácticamente invisible.

"A pesar de estos retos, América Latina es la región del mundo que menos invierte proporcionalmente en el sector agrícola. En este encuentro, el FIDA y sus socios han reafirmado la necesidad de revertir esta tendencia y brindar más atención al sector rural", comentó Joaquín Lozano, Director de la División de América Latina y el Caribe del FIDA. "Vivimos una etapa decisiva en materia agrícola y en el combate a la pobreza rural, en medio de un momento crítico del desarrollo rural de los países de América Latina y el Caribe", añadió Lozano.

Durante el seminario se hizo hincapié también en la necesidad de dar un giro a la narrativa que hoy en día marginaliza a las áreas rurales, de forma que se aprovechen  las oportunidades que brinda el proceso de urbanización para fortalecer la vinculación entre áreas urbanas  y rurales. En esa línea se expresó Daniel Pizzi, rector de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, quien destacó la necesidad de aceptar el desafío de dar una discusión relacionada al desarrollo de la ruralidad y las miradas transversales que intervienen ese desafío, "que no sólo incluyen a la agricultura sino también a la infraestructura, el cambio climático y la organización social, entre otros temas."

Hugo Beteta, Director de la Sede Subregional en México de la Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) destacó las grandes brechas que se suelen esconder detrás de los grandes promedios, por lo que recomendó que el FIDA incluya en todas sus estrategias un abordaje a la desigualdad. En opinión de Beteta, "el lugar, el género, la etnia y la clase donde se nace determinan en buena medida el destino de una persona: de hecho, en América Latina, el origen de una persona es destino."

La desigualdad y la exclusión centraron buena parte de los debates. Tras destacar la sólida relación de trabajo entre el FIDA y la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO), Julio Berdegué, Subdirector General y Representante Regional en América Latina y el Caribe de la FAO, constató cómo la región ha perdido ritmo en la reducción de la pobreza rural en los últimos años, con apenas cinco países capaces de mantener los indicadores. Berdegué destacó que el porcentaje de personas pobres rurales que son en realidad indigentes rurales creció del 50% al 61% en los últimos años, por lo que considera que la pobreza que persiste no es tanto un problema de carencia como de pobreza por exclusión social. Una exclusión que, en palabras de Ana Touza, Asesora Regional del Programa Mundial de Alimentos (PMA), tiene un rostro femenino, rural, indígena, sin tierra, sin acceso a la educación y sujeto a la inseguridad alimentaria.

Edith Obschatko, Especialista en Políticas Agropecuarias del Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), consideró que la definición actual de población rural es demasiado simplista y destacó a la ruralidad como parte esencial de la identidad de cada país. Esta observación cobró especial relevancia en un momento en el que la comunidad internacional, y los donantes en particular, están concentrando  una mayor atención en los países de renta baja, a pesar de que el 72% de las personas pobres del mundo viven en países de renta media. En este sentido, Héctor Bravo, Jefe de Gabinete del Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario (INDAP) de Chile destacó la importancia de focalizarse en pequeños productores de pueblos originarios y en aquellas estructuras que incluyan a las municipalidades para implementar programas como un compromiso para reducir la pobreza rural.

En el caso de la Argentina, uno de los principales exportadores mundiales de alimentos, un tercio de los 3,5 millones de habitantes de zonas rurales son pobres. Si bien el Gobierno ha hecho de la reducción de la pobreza una de sus prioridades y se han logrado avances significativos, ésta sigue siendo especialmente severa en las comunidades indígenas y fuerza también a muchas jóvenes rurales a migrar. Aylen Azzaro, participante del Programa para el Desarrollo Rural Incluyente (PRODERI), financiado por el FIDA e implementado por la Unidad para el Cambio Rural (UCAR), recordó los desafíos que todavía encuentran muchos habitantes de las áreas rurales para acceder al agua.

Las palabras de cierre correspondieron al Ministro de Economía, Infraestructura y Energía de Mendoza, Martín Kerchner, quien consideró fundamental que todos los actores implicados en el desarrollo rural tengan una ruta muy clara para poder ejecutar su cometido.
En la segunda parte del seminario,  Promover y financiar la transformación rural inclusiva, las principales instituciones financieras internacionales de desarrollo en la región compararon sus respectivas definiciones del sector rural, el tipo de agricultura que fomentan, y sus diferentes estrategias financieras. Asimismo, se examinaron los cambios en la demanda y oferta de productos financieros para evaluar la eficacia de los instrumentos actuales e identificar innovaciones. 





IFAD and International organisations and agencies reaffirm the need to devote more attention to the rural sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

Posted by RachaelKenny 0 comments

By Salvador Santiesteban

On 9 October 2017 IFAD  met with other United Nations agencies and international financial organisations and institutions at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Discussions revolved around the new paradigms that are reconfiguring rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, and participants reaffirmed the urgent need to devote more attention to the rural sector.  

The seminar was inaugurated by the Governor of Mendoza, Alfredo Cornejo, whose words of welcome emphasised "the need for more specific and intelligent interventions by public and private agencies and, therefore, the tremendous benefit of everything that has been done, and that can be done, in partnership with IFAD."

The event was particularly relevant to a region such as Latin America where, despite considerable economic growth in the last decade, 175 million inhabitants continue to live in poverty and another 70 million suffer from extreme poverty. One out of every two Latin Americans living in rural areas is poor. While the rate of poverty in Latin American cities is 24 per cent, in rural areas this rate almost doubles to 46 per cent. The dramatic impacts of rural poverty are, furthermore, practically invisible.
"In spite of these challenges, Latin America as a region invests less, proportionally, in the agricultural sector. During this meeting, IFAD and its partners reiterated the need to reverse this trend and devote more attention to the rural sector", commented Joaquín Lozano, Director of IFAD’s Latin America and the Caribbean Division. "We are facing a decisive moment for agriculture and in the fight against rural poverty, and this within the context of a critical moment for rural development in Latin American and Caribbean countries", added Lozano.

During the seminar the need was also emphasised to transform the narrative that is currently marginalising rural areas by taking advantage of the opportunities arising from the urbanisation process to strengthen the links between urban and rural areas. Daniel Pizzi, President of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, commented on this by highlighting the need to examine the development of rurality and all its cross-cutting elements, "which include not only agriculture, but also infrastructure, climate change and social organisation, among other issues."

Hugo Beteta, Director of the Subregional Headquarters for Mexico of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) highlighted the significant gaps that are most often eclipsed by general statistical averages; therefore, he recommended that all of IFAD’s strategies include an inequality-based approach. In Beteta’s opinion, "the place, gender, ethnicity and class into which a person is born determine to a great extent their fate. In fact, in Latin America, a person’s origin is their destiny."

Inequality and exclusion were the focus of a significant part of the discussions. After highlighting the solid working relationship between IFAD and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Julio Berdegué, FAO’s Deputy Director General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, affirmed that the region has lost ground in rural poverty reduction in recent years, with only five countries remaining consistent in their indicators. Berdegué highlighted that the percentage of rural poor people who are destitute has increased from 50 per cent to 61 per cent in recent years. He therefore believes that persistent poverty is not so much an issue of deficiencies as it is one of social exclusion, an exclusion that, in the words of Ana Touza, Regional Adviser for the World Food Programme (WFP), has the face of a woman and is rural, indigenous, landless, without access to education and vulnerable to food insecurity.

According to Edith Obschatko, Agricultural Policy Specialist from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the current definition of the rural population is too simplistic, and she highlighted that rurality is an essential part of each country’s identity. This observation becomes especially relevant at a time when the international community, and donors in particular, are giving greater attention to low-income countries, in spite of the fact that 72 per cent of the world’s poor live in middle-income countries. In this sense, Héctor Bravo, Chief of Staff of Chile’s Agricultural Development Institute (INDAP) highlighted the importance of targeting small-scale producers among native populations, and within a framework that includes municipalities, to implement programmes that are committed to reducing rural poverty.

In the case of Argentina, one of the world’s main food exporters, one third of its 3.5 million rural inhabitants are poor. Although the Government has made reducing poverty one of its priorities, and significant progress has been made, poverty continues to be especially severe in indigenous communities and it forces many rural young people to migrate. Aylen Azzaro, a participant in the Inclusive Rural Development Programme (PRODERI), financed by IFAD and implemented by the Unit for Rural Change (UCAR), noted the challenges that many inhabitants of rural areas still face in accessing water.

In his closing words, Mendoza’s Minister of Economy, Infrastructure and Energy, Martín Kerchner, emphasised that it is critical that all actors involved in rural development have a very clear path to fulfil their mandate.

In the second part of the seminar, Promoting and Financing Inclusive Rural Transformation, the principal international development financial institutions compared their respective definitions of the rural sector, the type of agriculture that they promote, and their different financial strategies. They also examined changes in the demand and supply of financial products to evaluate the efficacy of current instruments and identify innovations. 
  




IFAD - Universities win-win partnership grant opportunity: unlocking the analytical potential of Master's students for better IFAD projects

Posted by Francesca Aloisio 0 comments

by Francesca Romana Borgia

Documenting good practices, gathering data, updating baselines, and analysing documents are great ways of deepening the knowledge and performance of IFAD operations, but often projects lack time and the time and resources to do it. Meanwhile, hundreds of students around the world are enrolled in universities studying Development and competing for jobs in an industry where field experience is key.

Based on the interest expressed by IFAD projects to host students to help them collect and analyse data, IFAD entered into a strategic partnership with a network of universities. The Global Association of Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) was competitively selected from over twenty universities and university consortia that applied for the grant financing for this initiative. This network comprises 34 universities/higher education institutes that are located both in the Global North and Global South. The Masters attracts both young and seasoned students with previous work experience who bring their own expertise to the research. The grant design allows IFAD projects and partners (IFAD grant recipients or implementers of IFAD projects) to agree with the student on a specific deliverable (e.g. an action plan, baseline, database, etc.) that will be presented at the end of the three to six month field experience.

The IFAD-Universities win-win grant benefits both IFAD operations and universities in four different ways:
  • IFAD project teams benefit from additional analytical work carried out by passionate and competent students
  • Universities can offer their students the opportunity of having field experience with an international specialized UN agency/IFI
  • students can get hands-on experience and exposure to the work of IFAD
  • IFAD as an institution gets more visibility and impact as a learning institution and attract qualified students who are at the beginning of their development careers. 
The IFAD grant funds a scholarship of up to US$5,000 to students who are citizens of borrowing members of IFAD studying in Global South universities of the Global Association and aims at building local talent. Since its kick-off in 2016, twenty-six students have been matched to IFAD projects and partners requests for research. So far, twelve have already completed their field experience, mostly in projects located in East and Southern Africa, five are still in the field and nine more will reach field destinations between now and the end of the year.
Pictures courtesy of: Andres Felipe Morales. Andres is the first person from the left in the bottom right-corner picture
Among those who had recently finished their dissertation there is Andrés, a Colombian citizen enrolled in the MDP at the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Andrés spent three months in Jordan hosted by the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation, which implements the Rural Economic Growth and Employment Project (REGEP). He developed a feasibility study and an action plan to strengthen the linkages between producers of oregano and sage and tourism sector in Jordan. The IFAD project director, Dr Samia Akroush, considers Andrés' work very helpful for both the project and the communities and reported as a success "…the development of research tools for data collection and action plan developed of value chain linkages of small farmers with the eco-tourism sector".

In Africa, Bolanle flew from her home country, Nigeria, to Kenya where she spent four months hosted by the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International, a recipient of an IFAD grant that implemented the Sorghum for Multiple Uses Value Chain Project. Bolanle researched the impact of the project on the food security of smallholders in Kenya. Her supervisor mentioned that Bolanle's study Informed the organization Africa Harvest and will aid future design and implication of projects. It is a clear indication of what worked best and what needs improvement or adjusting given the impacts achieved by our interventions.
Bolanle and the AHBF team in Kenya. Bolanle is wearing a light blue top and is the second from the right
Bolanle and Olufemi, fellow students from the University of Ibadan, had the chance to present their research at the International Conference on Sustainable Development, held last September in New York. The Conference was organized by the Earth Institute at Columbia University, where the Secretariat of the MDP Global Association is hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Development headed by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs.
MDP students and the ICSD in NY, including Olufemi and Bolanle
Three of the students who had benefited from the IFAD grant and completed their field work will be in IFAD Headquarters on 6 December 2017 to share their experiences.

For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions in English, French and Spanish and visit http://mdpglobal.org/ifad-mdp/

Contact universitygrant@ifad.org for more information.

The Amhara Regional State irrigation scheme inauguration

Posted by Ricci Symons Monday, October 30, 2017 0 comments

By Samir Rayess Calvo

H.E. Dr Kaba Urgessa (State Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and Ato Aytenew Endeishaw (Deputy Head of Bureau of Agriculture in Amhara Region), inaugurated the irrigation scheme at Amhara Regional State.

 The second phase of the Participatory Small-scale Irrigation Development Programme (PASIDP II) became effective on 13th February 2017. Building on the lessons from the previous phase, PASIDP II aims to develop 18,400 ha of small-scale irrigation schemes and 60,000 ha of adjacent watersheds, directly benefitting 108,750 households in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR regions. By improving their prosperity, food security and nutrition, farmers enhance their resilience against external shocks, including those induced by adverse weather and climate change. PASIDP II places great effort on enhancing smallholders’ access to markets by ensuring schemes’ financial viability and developing agribusiness linkages through training in agribusiness skills for all the participating farmers. Furthermore, the programme has increased efforts in making the irrigation schemes climate resilient through a landscape approach to watershed management, ensuring that irrigation command areas and downstream private and public facilities are protected. In this regard, the programme benefits from a USD 11 million grant sourced from IFAD’s Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) Trust Fund.

On the 13th October 2017, a mission comprising PASIDP II staff, Steering Committee members of PASDIP II and IFAD visited the project area in the Amhara Regional State. On this occasion, the irrigation scheme in the Special Zone of Oromia in Amhara region (Jille Timuga Woreda) was inaugurated by H.E. Dr Kaba Urgessa (State Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and Ato Aytenew Endeishaw (Deputy Head of Bureau of Agriculture).  The scheme, was the first scheme to be finalized in the second phase of the programme. A total of 240 watershed committee members and 97 Irrigation Users Association members are the backbone of the scheme’s operation and sustainability, ensuring adequate conservation of the adjacent watershed and operation and maintenance of the scheme’s physical infrastructure. Obtaining water resources from Sewer river diversion, the scheme will irrigate 97 HA of land, benefiting 115 households (from which 23 are female-headed).

Thanks to the financial support from ASAP, the Regional Project Coordination Management Unit specialists have provided training on watershed management to 11 community watershed members, 8 Kebele (local administration) watershed committee members and 6 woreda (district) technical committee members.

H.E. Dr Kaba Urgessa  (State Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and Ato Aytenew Endeishaw (Deputy Head of Bureau of Agriculture) inaugurating the irrigation scheme

H.E. Dr Kaba Urgessa acknowledged the commitment of the regional government and particularly the villagers who hosted the field visit, and encouraged the stakeholders to develop irrigation in the area and work towards prosperity. The Deputy Head of Bureau Agriculture promised to provide all the necessary support needed and appreciated the commitment from all actors in the area.

The inauguration was followed by an interactive session in which the zonal head and PASDIP II irrigation engineer gave a brief presentation about the scheme, acknowledging the active involvement of all actors throughout the development of the scheme. Key stakeholders and irrigation users engaged in a fruitful discussion, appreciated the presence of the State Minister in the field visit and committed to strengthen their efforts to develop sustainable irrigation schemes. The Programme National Coordinator provided guidance for the key actors in the woreda and farmers to work towards the innovative features of the second phase of the programme, highlighting the importance of considering farming as business and rehabilitate the surrounding watershed in the area to sustain the irrigation schemes.

Field visit and interaction with farmers

At the end of the field visit, the Zonal Head offered the traditional costume of the area as a present to the key stakeholders, including IFAD, in recognition of their support to the farmers in the area.


 H.E. Dr Kaba Urgessa and Aytenew wearing the present given form the Zonal Head

Workshop Breathes Life Into Botswana’s Agricultural Services Support Project … as New Beginnings Beckon

Posted by David Paqui Tuesday, October 24, 2017 0 comments

Experiences from the IFAD-ESA Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop in Swaziland

Author: Tirelo Ditshipi - (with contributions from Francesco Rubino)

The Agricultural Services Support Project (ASSP) in Botswana, a five year project in the Department of Crop Production, the Ministry of Agricultural Development & Food Security was envisaged as model project to support existing government efforts towards improved food security and improving rural livelihoods.

As  its name suggests, the support aspect  is meant to fill existing gaps in programmes such as the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD),  in addition to introducing new technologies and strengthening capacity building in the ministry’s structures.
To enhance these technologies, the project also provided equipment and assisted the implementers of the project  in performing their duties through the provision of transport  and office equipment.  
Additionally, through the institutional strengthening component, the project went a step  further by enhancing the ministry’s training capacity  on Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management & Learning,  helping to align the project’s mandate to that of the Ministry’s. 


While the project  made great strides in terms of capacity building, it emerged from the recent Sub-Regional Monitoring & Evaluation Workshop (May 16-19) in Manzini (Swaziland),  in which five countries participated, that Botswana has and could learn valuable lessons on what needs to be in place for the success of the project. The underlying factor  was that Monitoring & Evaluation is the backbone of the project and that it influences the outcome of an effective Knowledge Management &Learning system and that  these need to be established  during the initial phases of the project. Despite thee being just a few months until the project’s closure, following a one year extension, such lessons will prove to be quite useful in terms application to future projects. In this regard, ASSP will be a reference point in what needs to be done and in place to set up a Monitoring & Evaluation system and eventually influence the strengths of other areas of the project.

As Knowledge Management & Learning Officers we realized that more can be done on that area in the Sub-Region IFAD funded projects. Particularly that Knowledge Management is at times not fully explored, with the risk of being at times underplayed by a strict focus on communications. The main reason behind this gap is the difficulty most officers face in the establishment of Knowledge Management systems for their projects, as a result of the lack of capacity and understanding of what needs to be done to set up the systems. A difficulty that ASSP has faced in its project implementation, as well

One other key lessons for the ASSP project, as evidenced by presentations from participating countries was the importance of data collection as a way of building on stories to tell and share either positive or negative for future reference. Fortunately for the ASSP project, through the Division of Agricultural Information & Public Relations, in-house channels through both print and broadcast are available to tap into. It is through such channels that the conservation agriculture initiative and the use of Agricultural Service Centres (ASCs) for farmers’ access to services could be examples of sharing lessons and proving that lives have been transformed through such interventions.

In addition to having a good foundation on intersecting  areas such as Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management & Learning it is important that component drivers understand that there is a shared responsibility in making these work together.  An important lesson,therefore, is that technical experts in every project need to understand the importance of data collection, storage and sharing for optimal use and visibility of the project, a responsibility that has to be owned by all participants in a project to ensure its success. 


As a Knowledge Management and Communications specialist myself, it has become evident that I have to constantly remind my team of the importance of documenting their efforts in their respective areas for archiving and visibility of the project for improved impact.
Documentation and case studies are a reflection of a project’s success, or even failures, that are key in moving forward by assessing what can be done differently moving forward. In this regard, as Botswana prepares for a new project with new components and exploring different sectors, a good base needs to be established. As an immediate intervention, ASSP will archive all the information particularly on stories from the field and radio interviews on the project and its various components to showcase its impact.

A documentary on ASCs and their effectiveness in attempting to address inaccessibility of facilities for farmers by acting as one stop shops has already been conceptualized with the Broadcasting Unit in the Information Division.Three centers have already been visited and have provided  clips, with subsequent interviews planned.

Regarding the project’s beneficiaries of conservation agriculture, selected farmers and beneficiaries of the Waste Water Irrigation Scheme, profiles must be compiled for ease of reference in and traceability of the beneficiaries in the future.  Targeted messages on the interventions or technologies that ASSP utilized, including different techniques of conservation agriculture such as basin preparations or ripping have to be produced.  In addition, ASSPs regional collaborations should be strengthened with organizations like the African Conservation Tillage Network, for example, by starting to contribute to their monthly newsletter on conservation agriculture in the region.

In conclusion, the Monitoring & Evaluation sub-regional workshop has in many ways provided answers on how to “get it right” and continued collaboration with participating countries is key. ASSP took a keen interest in collaboration with groups that have made significant progress in Knowledge Management, such as, RLEEP in Malawi who have compiled their stories from the field and PROSUL in Mozambique whose project is similar to the one currently being designed for Botswana and the Wool and Mohair Promotion Project in Lesotho. ASSP will take advantage of the established social--What sap group: IFAD Monitoring & Evaluation - Southern Africa group, for sharing lessons which is already proving to be a useful platform.

Strengthening farmers organizations: the journey of participants from 6 African countries through knowledge and innovations

Posted by RachaelKenny 0 comments

9th October 2017, Nairobi - Kenya

Procasur Africa's Learning Route: Linking smallholders to commercialization Practices: The case of Farmers Organizations in the Kenyan dairy sector brought together 21 participants from 6 different countries implementing six different IFAD funded projects - Cameroon (Agricultural Development Support Project-PADFA) and Du Conseil d’Administration), Kenya (Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries), Malawi (Sustainable Agricultural Production Programme and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development), Rwanda (Rwanda Dairy Development Project-RDDP and Nyagatare Dairy Farmers Union-NDFU), Ghana (Rural Enterprises Programme-REP) and Madagascar (Program for Vocational Training and Improvement of Agricultural Productivity-FORMAPROD and Malagasy Dairy Board MDB). Each country bringing diversity and innovative analysis to play. Thanks to the structure of each group, bringing a mix of  project staff, government  representatives, leaders of  farmers organizations and small scale farmers the participants had the opportunity to see the two case studies from the Kenyan dairy sector through a variety of  analytical frameworks.

During a  Learning Route participants get together in a practical and interactive setting that promotes direct and active learning, and allows the  host country,  in this case  Kenya, to share their best practices, innovative tools, techniques, and approaches as they promote smallholder commercialization initiatives. During the past week, the different IFAD funded projects put all their analytical focus on dairy value chains, and how the host organizations have successfully contributed towards integrating smallholder farmers into commercialization through the cooperative model. Through a mix of both theory (workshop presentations) and practical field experiences from selected cases in Uasin Gishu and Nyandarua counties of Kenya each participant had  the opportunity to look at the different innovative possibilities for their own projects.


In Kenya the participants will have the opportunity to use different analytical knowledge management and team building exercises from which they  will not only take t the theoretical outcomes but also the knowledge of how to work in a group towards innovative outcomes.   On day one they were taken through an induction process where together with Procasur  they established the learning objectives and had the possibility to be introduced to the whole team.

The morning was opened by a distinguished guest,  Dr. Kiptarus: Director of livestock production: State Department of Livestock Kenya. Who welcomed the participant to the Learning Route. During his opening speech he  provided the group with key highlights about the dairy sector in Kenya. Dr kiptarus key points included  his emphatic remarks about  commercialization of agricultural activities  as  the engine of economic development in Africa and particularly in Kenya given that smallholders farmers constitute 80% of marketed agricultural products. His speech  also gave the participants important facts about the  dairy sub-sector and its rapid  growth while reminding them that the current growth does not match the projected demand for dairy products. Mr Kiptarus also made a call for innovative approaches that will guarantee transformation of the dairy sector from subsistence farming  to  viable sustainable commercial oriented enterprises. This was the first speech of the morning  and it already  set the tone for participants to think  deeper about farmer organizations and how if they are  run efficiently through systems that will link smallholder farmers to commercialization they can be the engine of agricultural development.

Currently, the government of Kenya is investing in promoting production, production efficiency, and sustainable use of land resources and creation of market linkages for farmers. By doing this, the government has put in place interventions that focus on policy and regulatory environment, strengthening of farmer organizations, increasing of livestock productivity and increasing market linkages for milk and dairy products.

During the first day Gerald Katothya introduced himself as the technical coordinator of the Learning Route. Gerald described the Learning Route process as a platform that exposes participants to practical aspects of a process with the aim of understanding what makes it work and learn from it. The Learning Route in Kenya aims at improving the understanding of the visiting participants on how to strengthen farmer organizations capacities aimed at integrating smallholder farmers into commercialization modes. This goals are to be achieved through activities and tools like the case analysis framework. Which is to act as a guide for  understanding the internal organization and governance structures of farmer organizations and other coordination mechanisms that link farmers to commercialization, dairy commercialization service delivery models and interventions applied by dairy development programs to strengthen farmer organizations.

Already before lunch all participants found themselves involved in  an interesting  dialogue with Norbert Tuyishime. Norbert  shared the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) experience as a regional farmer organization engaged in policy and political dialogue processes. The EAFF supports its member countries through apex farmer organizations to participate in discussions around regional policies and protocols, participation in agricultural budget analysis processes and influencing  on the regional trade policies and standards.

Catherine Kilelu, Project Manager for the Wageningen University 3R project in Kenya, was able to share with the participants of the Learning Route 3R’s experiences and their trade and investment approach to commercialization of the dairy sector by supporting dairy smallholder farmers to conduct farming as a business, integrate farmers into markets and strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of the smallholder farmers. 3R also promotes the adoption of dairy technologies. She noted that, though the Kenyan dairy sector is very advanced compared to peers in the region, it still faces by a myriad of challenges  and so there is space for innovations. Some of the challenges Katherine mentioned include: high cost of production, milk quality and safety issues, gender and social exclusion and climate change, among others. In order to build entrepreneurial capacities for dairy smallholder farmers 3R believes there is a need to: develop relevant business models, develop youth led dairy models, develop dairy business models, develop quality based milk payment system, establish practical training centres and promote low emission resilient production systems. The model is also advocating for the promotion of technologies that are promising for both the youth and women.

Procasur as an organization that acts as a knowledge broker for the South and its main mandate is to identify best practices and facilitate knowledge sharing. During the Learning Route, Procasur expects the participants to share experiences and learn from the Kenyan cases through a process of analyzing the innovative solutions and evaluating them against what is applicable in their context. The ideal is to establish together with every team what can be adopted and adapted when back in their countries.

The learning Route participants first destination was Kinangop (Nyandarua county) in the central region of Kenya each IFAD funded project was  called to present their projects, share their experiences on the LR topic and their expectations of the training through an activity called the experiences fair.At the end of the session ,many participants shared how, for them, the value of the activity is in discovering how the challenges affecting smallholder farmers in Africa are often similar and crosscutting in the region. Often revolving around high cost of production, climate change, and challenges with accessing finances, lack of training, poor infrastructure among others.

In this Learning Route where all participants are members of IFAD funded projects, each project was able to communicate to the different countries the efforts IFAD is making, in collaboration with other partners and including respective country governments, to contribute to poverty reduction, food and nutrition security. Common and cutting across interventions include among others: capacity building and training, adaptive research, commercialization, market linkages creation, capacity enhancement in good agricultural practices and enhancement of competitiveness
Finally, we want to share some of the main expectations that were expressed by the participants of the Learning Route during the first day of our journey through knowledge:

  • Sharing of experiences and establishing reasons for success and or failure with the case studies
  • Understanding some of the sustainable funding mechanisms for farmer organizations in Kenya
  • Understanding the process of reducing the cost of production at farmer level
  • Understanding how farmer organizations in Kenya deal with governance and management issues
  • Gaining an understanding on how farmer organizations were being supported through public private partnerships
  • Gaining an understanding on the innovative approaches used by framer organizations to ensure their growth and sustainability
  • Finally, understand how farmer organizations are organized in Kenya achieving effective service delivery to members including facilitating the access to markets and marketing allied complementary activities.



PROCASUR, the participants and the hosts of the LR  are committed to facilitate and contribute during the next days  to the activities and the development of each country's innovation plan  allowing the lessons learned in Kenya to be adapted and replicated in different countries and contexts.