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How Farm Africa's work is changing to meet a changing world

11 November 2015

How Farm Africa's work is changing to meet a changing world

Blog by Michelle Winthrop, Director of Programmes, Farm Africa
@M_Winthrop

What are the key ingredients for a great birthday party? Music - check. Good food - check. The right invitation list - check. Atmosphere? Absolutely. I think we’d all agree that’s the most important element. And as I travelled to Nairobi from Addis Ababa (where I am based) for Farm Africa’s 30th birthday party, I pondered on all of these elements and whether we’d get them right.

Our party was in two stages: the evening ‘do’ was an opportunity to reflect on the past 30 years in Kenya and East Africa more broadly. Yes, we danced, yes we ate (and drank a little too!). But the atmosphere was really powerful.

Early staff (including our very own Dr Christie Peacock CBE, former Chief Executive of Farm Africa and now Chair of Sidai) spoke about our motivations and approach back at the beginning of our journey. The Government of Kenya congratulated us on the role we had played.

Teresia's story

And most powerfully, Teresia, a smallholder farmer we have been working with for many years (pictured at the top of this page), gave her personal testimony about how Farm Africa had changed her life forever. She told of how she had been selected as the poorest of the poor by her community, and how Farm Africa had involved her in a savings and credit scheme, as well as got her started on goat rearing.

Eventually, Teresia was trained to become a community-based animal health worker, and from the savings she has accumulated over the years she has now started her own business. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, but we were all agreed that her story epitomised the ‘hand-up rather than hand-out’ approach that we’d been following over the last 30 years.

The first mile

Earlier that day, we held a seminar to launch our report Strengthening the First Mile, which highlights how a lack of appropriate of financial products is holding back the growth and development of small and medium agribusinesses, which we see as essential links in the chain helping smallholders to access markets for their products. So there was no music or dancing, but I think it’s fair to say there was a significant meeting of minds, and there certainly was a great atmosphere!

New challenges and opportunities

Much of the discussion centred around how the sector, and how smallholder farmers face new challenges and new opportunities every day. There is growing interest (especially from Europe) in sourcing ethically from smallholders in Africa, and an array of certification schemes and standards that farmers should be aspiring to achieve in order to tap into the opportunity.

In Kenya in particular there is a growing middle class, and a growing demand for high quality, safe produce. And growing international investor and retailer interest too. Yet climate change, and the weather uncertainty that accompanies it, means that farming at a small scale has become riskier: agricultural technology and innovation is ‘running to stand still’ to ensure productivity in an environmentally sustainable way.

Gladys Kipkorir, 23, harvests snow peas at her youth group's farm in Leltangat Village, Trans Nzoia East

The participants at the seminar were broadly representative of the new set of active stakeholders in the sector, and many of their contributions highlighted the need to adapt to this changing context. Participants ranged from Government of Kenya and institutional donors, with some NGOs (what you might call ‘old friends’ of Farm Africa’s), to major European food retailers, Kenyan agribusiness firms, financial institutions and tech firms trying to innovate in using ICT to reach and engage farmers. There was lively debate among participants, and between ‘old friends’ and ‘new friends’.

At the coffee break there was frenetic networking, deal-making, and exchange of business cards, and at the closing session everyone agreed that the seminar could have usefully gone on for two days. As I said, atmosphere is all.

An evolving approach

We were pleased that we could assemble such a great group of people, leading the way in efforts to transform the lives of smallholders, and frame a discussion that was so very relevant. And we’re even more pleased that in one way or another, we are working with each of these participants. The sector has evolved, and so have we.  

As I tended to my sore feet at the end of the night, I reflected on how our work is changing to meet a changing world. Despite that, however, our definition of success has changed very little. Teresia’s story about how she had gone from not even owning a chair for visitors to sit on in her house to sending her children to boarding school, remains just as relevant as ever.

With our ‘old friends’ and ‘new friends’ alike, we’re still helping farmers to transform their own lives permanently, just as we did for Teresia, a ‘hand-up’ rather than a ‘hand-out’.
 

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