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Completion workshop of the IFAD EUFF Programme in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

When the European Union launched its Food Facility (EUFF) Programme in 2009, it chose IFAD as the implementing partner for West Africa. Building on existing IFAD-supported projects and working closely with ECOWAS and ICRISAT, our colleagues have successfully implemented the 20 Million Euro programme – in only 18 month! The programme activities helped to strengthen the value chains of the production of certified seeds of rice, cassava, groundnut, yam and maize. What has started as an emergency relief programme to help the countries with the food crisis that affected the sub-region in 2008, turned out to be much more than that: By increasing the availability of high quality seeds and by training smallholder farmers in innovative production techniques, the work of EUFF Programme helped to grow food security in West Africa, not only in the short but also in the long term.

Earlier this week, the implementing partners met in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to discuss the final report and draw the lessons learned for future projects. While the final report and the capitalisation products will be available around the end of May, I have spoken to Ernest Aubee, Principal Programme Officer and Head of Agriculture at ECOWAS, Dr. Samba Traoré, who coordinated the implementation of the regional component at ICRISAT and Adriane Del Torto, Coordinator of the EUFF Programme in West Africa at IFAD, to give you a first assessment of the programme. Many thanks to the three for their time!

What are the main achievements of the EU Food Facility Programme in West Africa?

Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS:

Dr. Samba Traoré, ICRISAT:

Adriane Del Torto, IFAD:

What are the lessons learned of the EU Food Facility Programme in West Africa?

Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS:

Dr. Samba Traoré, ICRISAT:

There were several success factors that made it possible to implement this comprehensive programme in such a short amount of time. First, the strong engagement of producers and other stakeholders in the process. Second, the problem of bad quality seed was real and widely spread, so we could improve the yields within a short time. Third, capacity building helped to spread the knowledge, also beyond the direct beneficiaries. Fourth, we build on an existing project, which saved us the time of doing baseline research. And last but not least, the strong communication throughout the whole process was a major success factor. Because if you don’t communicate, you can’t scale-up.

Adriane Del Torto, IFAD:

What are the necessary next steps to sustain and build on the achievements made by the EU Food Facility Programme in West Africa, now that the programme activities have been completed?

Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS:

Dr. Samba Traoré, ICRISAT:

The sustainability of our work was very important from the beginning. This is why we used community technologies, supported the spread of knowledge and produced materials, such as training manuals or leaflets with descriptions of new varieties and their specific adaptive and quality traits. But now it is important to put a mechanism in place to enhance the region’s food security in the long term. We should not wait for a crisis to do that.

Adriane Del Torto, IFAD:

After a day filled with discussions, the workshop participants celebrated their achievements with some traditional Ivorian dance. And while the programme activities have been completed, everyone agreed that the issue of food security is still a timely one and that the work to grow food security in West Africa must continue.

By David F. Paqui
When I was a little boy in Benin and I was hungry but my mother was not home to prepare something, my saviour was “Gari”, a food derived from cassava. I would put water on it and after waiting a minutes it would swell. I ate and drank until my stomach was full. My first week in China as foreign student, left me hungry too, since most Chinese food contains added sugar. The “Gari” I had brought with me was again my salvation. When I visited my relatives in Ogun State in Nigeria, one of my cousins, Matthew, had “Eba”, which is also made from “Gari”, as his favourite food. Whenever he demanded it he would shout: “Eba makes me strong, Eba makes me strong”.

Even though it has played a prominent role in my nutrition, I had no idea cassava was such a powerful, or dare I say magic crop, until I had the opportunity to join the President of IFAD, Kanayo F. Nwanze, in the field during his official trip to Cameroon from 29 February to 3 March 2012. I discovered that cassava is changing the lives of an entire community of smallholder farmers in Minkoa, where the Roots and Tubers Market-driven Development Programme was implemented. This programme is supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with the contribution of two important research centres: the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Institute of Research for Agricultural Development (IRAD).

On 2 March 2012, the discovery of cassava as magic crop began during the visit to IITA and IRAD centres close to Yaoundé where I learned more about the continuing cassava revolution. In Africa, particularly in West and Central regions, each person consumes 80 kilograms of cassava each year. Cassava is also used for food, animal feed and industrial products, and requires less labour than other staple crops (21 per cent working days compared to maize, yam and rice). However, it requires considerable post-harvest labour because the roots are highly perishable and must be processed into a storable form soon after harvest. It is important to point out that IFAD has provided both centres with research grants. Mr Hanna of IITA said: “IFAD funding has helped researchers to develop and disseminate cassava varieties with multiple resistance and or tolerance to pest and disease constraints and to disseminate natural enemies under the IITA-biological control programme to tackle some of the pests.” The two research centres have supplied the beneficiaries of the programme IFAD supported Roots and Tubers Market-driven Development Programme with 4 million of news improved varieties of cassava.

I spoke to Immaculate Ngandje, a 50 year-old who is also a member of “Comité Villageois de Concertation (CVC)” of Batoke and a beneficiary of the IFAD-supported programme, she told me more about this magical crop. She said: “I used local varieties of cassava and produced only 23 to 25 trucks per hectare. From 2007, I started using the improved cassava varieties and I now produce 35 to 40 trucks per hectare. My income also has increased from CFA 90 000 to CFA 200 000 each month.”

When we arrived in Minkoa, a group of women were singing. The song was dedicated to cassava with the words: “cassava is food security, with cassava we can send our children to school, with cassava we can go to the hospital when we are sick, with cassava we can have a land and a house, with cassava we will have a car and with cassava we will have internet one day.” Many of those involved in the programme are women. Madame Susanne Nke, the President of CVC Minkoa illustrated the achievements of the IFAD-supported programme. She emphasized how the programme has improved the conditions of women through production, processing and marketing. She said that the CVC has used 64 hectares of land, among 16 in common and the remaining by village and individual members. The group has produced 430,000 cassava cuttings and sold 205,000 for the total amount of CFA 2.05 million and distributed 225,000 to the members. Thanks to the rehabilitation of rural roads, the members of the CVC Minkoa have access to markets and sold the cassava processed products for the total amount of CFA 15 million. But all this could not be possible without the contribution of research. Before, the cassava yield in Minkoa was 5 tonnes per hectare. Now with the improved varieties, the smallholder farmers produce up to 25 to 30 tonnes per hectare.
Madame Nke said, “the rural women of our villages must really reach full autonomy. The arduous nature of their work must be reduced. We want to move from the hoe to the tractor. To transform our lives we need modern equipment, water, electricity, telephone, and why not internet?” For me this visit was proof how through research, people are able to make a business of farming. And I think that these powerful women will be able to see the reality of internet one day. With the magic of cassava, anything is possible.

This field visit is a proof that agriculture can be a business and IFAD supported Roots and Tubers Market-driven Development Programme is making the difference in the like of the community of Minkoa. With the dynamism of the rural women of the area, I believe that magic cassava will really bring internet in Minkoa. CVC Minkoa keep up, you are the best!

Third day of the IFAD-EUFF capitalisation workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

The third day of the IFAD-EUFF capitalisation workshop is not only the final day of this workshop. It is also the end of a process that was initiated in September 2011 at the first capitalisation workshop in Bamako, Mali. The term capitalisation refers to a process to profit or benefit from a “capital” that we have, in the case of the IFAD-EUFF programme, the lessons learned and experiences of the colleagues working in the different projects. Over the last six month, the participants have worked on narrowing down a unique experience or factor in their projects that they want to share with others. Now it was time to draw the lessons learned and discuss the next steps.

Isaac Vifa, who has been working with the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme in Ghana for the last two years, took some time to tell me about his experiences:

What is capitalisation and can you briefly describe the process?

You have participated in the IFAD-EUFF programme capitalisation process. What are you central learnings of these six month?

How can capitalisation increase the impact of development programmes?

A big thanks to you, Isaac!

Other points that were raised during the feedback discussions:

• Failures are a learning opportunity: By sharing difficulties, limitations and the way we addressed them, others can learn from the experiences and avoid having to face the same challenges.
• Exchange matters: Sharing knowledge among different projects and between different country teams creates synergies, helps everyone to improve the work and to sustain what has been achieved.
• An addition, not an alternative: Capitalisation products proved a valuable addition to formal reports and scientific papers.

Steps to integrate capitalisation in knowledge-management strategy:

• Capitalisation should be included in the project design.
• Everyone involved in the projects should receive training on knowledge sharing and capitalisation.
• Knowledge-sharing is not only for knowledge-sharing experts, everyone can do it.

Second day of the IFAD-EUFF capitalisation workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

I’m sure, all of you are familiar with the following situation: You write an article/report/letter and you think you have addressed every aspect, answered every question and structured the information in a logical way. Then you give it to colleagues and they come back with inputs and comments. And in the end, you have an even stronger document.

This is exactly what happened today, at the second day of the IFAD-EUFF capitalisation workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The different country groups from Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire had prepared one or two articles in which they outlined experiences they made while implementing the projects. These documents will be published and will support other organisations working on similar issues, to gain new ideas or to replicate the successful approach. This morning, all participants came together in small groups and discussed the articles prepared by the other projects.ents where you ask yourself how you could have possibly not considered this. And in the end, you have an even stronger document.

The feedback was as diverse as the people in the room: “What kind of training was provided?”; “How many seed producers were selected?”; “You should insert subheads to make the document better readable.” and so on.

The result is a room full of participants who are working in their colleague’s comments in their paper. While this morning was dominated by lively discussions, now you mainly hear clicking of many keyboards. And while the workshop participants are working on their articles, I will share some of their experiences with you:

Senegal

Northern Mali is landlocked, has a fragile ecosystem and regularly faces drought. But at the same time, it is rich in natural resources and offers huge flood or non-flood plains – perfect to cultivate rice along the river Niger. Rice is not only the main cereal consumed in the region, but also offers an income source as a cash crop. With the support of IFAD, the Government of Mali established the Programme for Investment and Rural Development in Northern Mali (Programme d’Investissement et Développement Rural des Régions du Nord Mali, PIDRN). Supported with the funding by the EUFF, PIDRN increased the availability of certified seeds. The project developed small irrigated village seed plots which are managed by cooperatives. Traditionally rice seeds are produced in small plots within the rice paddies and are often exposed to drought periods. Producing rice seeds in village seed plots allows for better water management, better production monitoring and the scale-up of the production. The numbers of farmers engaged in seed production are increasing, but so is the demand for certified rice. In their article, the colleagues from Mali share not only a project outline and the lessons learned but also future steps to ensure the project’s sustainability.

Benin

In Benin, seed production is divided among a large number of actors. Without a joint platform, there was no dialogue, no joint approach and a lot of conflict about the different competences. The Government of Benin, together with IFAD and financial support from the EUFF, established a dialogue platform, to bring all actors together and create synergies in their work. The difficult undertaking was worthwhile. As a result, the availability of rice seeds and cassava cutting has increased significantly. Another experience the colleagues from Benin shared, was the use of biotechnology to ensure the quality of the cassava cuttings. A video documentary gives some background about the set up and results of this project.

Côte d'Ivoire

For Ivory Coast, the Project for Support to Small Scale Market Gardeners in the Savanes Regions (PPMS), shared the experience on the establishment of a process to produce certified rice and maize seeds. This process helped to ensure the use of quality seed and led to higher yields. With support of IFAD and the EUFF, the Project developed a four phase-certification process:

1. pre-inspection which includes the identification, accreditation and the training of seed multipliers as well as the choice of plots;
2. the field inspection to verify the quality of the pre-base seeds and the inspection of production conditions;
3. from the harvest of accredited farms samples were taken and analysed at the national seed laboratory,
4. depending of the results of the analysis, the producers receive a certificate of compliance or non-compliance by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ghana

The Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP), initiated by the Government of Ghana and IFAD, developes the crop production through research and extension. With additional funding provided by the EUFF, the project’s efforts to sustainable increase the production of seed yam and cassava stems by small-scale growers could be scaled-up. Traditional methods of multiplying and distributing planting often come with low yields, the multiplication and spread of diseased planting material and a large input to produce seeds/stems. To ensure that farmers have high quality crops and higher yields, RTIMP introduced the minisett technology, a methods to produce yam seeds with less input and better results and established a sustainable system for the supply of roots to Good Practice Centres through the strategic multiplication and distribution of improved cassava planting materials. In their two articles, the colleagues from Ghana, describe how they spread the improved methods of producing planting materials, outline the different production methods and share their lessons learned.

All articles will soon be available on FIDAfrique.

Sharing knowledge for better development programmes at the IFAD-EUFF capitalisation workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

How can we effectively introduce new seed production techniques? Which roles do farmer organizations play in helping smallholders to grow more food? How can agricultural research support seed production? These are some of the issues that the participants of the capitalisation workshop on the IFAD EU Food Facility project in West Africa discussed at today’s opening of the meeting – and you will find the answers below.

The EU Food Facility (EUFF) was created as an answer to soaring food prices in developing countries in 2007/2008. With the Facility, the European Union provided one billion euros for projects that:

• improve the access to agricultural inputs and services,
• maintain or improve the agricultural productive capacity and
• address the basic food needs in developing countries

“The first meeting of all implementing partners showed, how beneficial it is, to exchange knowledge and experiences. It has been an important part of our collaboration since,” said Adriane del Torto, IFAD’s EUFF coordinator for West Africa. All participants have brought one or two examples of capitalization products – success stories, videos, posters or other materials – which will be reviewed by their peers to improve and enrich the products, before they are officially released. “The sharing of knowledge in this way has helped everyone involved in the projects. We all have learned how to properly identify and explain what works in our programs. This could potentially help to raise funds and to scale up our projects with relevant and efficient activities. From the experiences that will be shared here today, some have successfully been replicated in other settings. In the long-run this will lead to better and more sustainable results in development programmes. And this is why we have organized this capitalization workshop,“ explained Adriane in her opening statement (scroll down for the video).

Following the o

pening ceremony, every project presented their cases, followed by a short Q&A, and as promised, here are the answers to the questions raised above: How did the projects manage to spread new, more efficient seed growing techniques within such a short time, was one of the questions that came up. The answer came from the Ghanaian participants, who used a proven knowledge-dissmenination technique for their