The Birth of Online Petition Farming

That's the message that bombarded my Twitter timeline a week ago under the hashtag, #DoAgric . And as requested, i stopped whatever office work i was doing and instead of heading to a farm, i clicked on the hashtag to get an idea of what was going on with this hashtag that had bombarded my timeline on a Monday, January 29th ,2014.

It didn't take me long to realize that ONE.org a  civil society organization, had created a campaign dubbed "Do Agric, It pays"  in a bid to push African governments to increase investments in the Agricultural sector. Its quite a sore state of agricultural investment in Sub Saharan Africa that since the Maputo declaration of 2003 by African Heads of State and their unanimous pledge to allocate 10% of the national budget to agriculture by 2008 ,only 8 out of the 54 countries in Africa have kept the promise. Kenyan government in itself has only allocated 4.6% of its budget in the agricultural sector.

Source NEPAD

It presents such a gloomy situation considering that agriculture accounts as a source of livelihoods for a majority of people in Sub Saharan Africa. And at the end of it all, we all need food to survive and replenish our bodies. I presume that this was one among the reasons that ONE.org chose celebrities to steer going the campaign.And  its through this that i realized that among the choices of its brand ambassadors was Dbanj and Koko Toure. I must admit that thanks to ONE.org and the hastag, i realized Dbanj had quite an active handle on Twitter. I know, you must be wondering what social media world i live in that i have no knowledge of the existence of Dbanj. Well, i rarely track down celebrities on social media platforms,well unless i hear some continuous buzz on them as a result of the work they do and at times, that could be them winning an Oscar :-)

My Two Cents.........

I couldn't resist visiting the website to get the full information and i happened to stumble upon this message,

Sign The Petition Now....
Dear African Leaders, We can grow a million jobs,Feed Africa and create a better future if you keep your promises to invest in agriculture and support smallholder farmers, especially women. 

I toggled back from the website to their twitter page and saw  Dbanj signing,I didn't think twice. If this award winning musician was getting down to the farm and becoming a real Koko master, then i a young farmer didn't have any reason not to do so.

In any case, i have been very active in signing these online petitions,with the last i remember being one directed to the South African  government to ban  Melissa Bachman entry to the country after she posted a photo of her smiling with a dead lion(her kill) on Twitter.I was very agitated and so i signed that petition with every inch of boiling anger in me. Yeah,this woman had done a bad thing bragging about her kill and the gloomy thought of my grand kinds not having the chance of seeing lions notwithstanding.I signed the petition and despite the petition having been signed more than 1300 times, four months down the line, i have no idea what happened. And so on goes other petitions that i have signed in the past.

So,

I am in no way trying to be skeptical but some things struck my mind.

The "Do Agric" petition will get a lot of attention from the online masses but not the involved governments. Apart from Jakaya Kikwete who i gather graced the launch occasion, where were other heads of state in the same/ representatives of the same? If we create the hype around the campaign using celebrities and influential people in the society without including the intended recipient of the same, I smell a failed petition and e-library stacking with names of they that signed. More like the recommendations that occur in conferences and end up lying somewhere in someone's bookshelf generously gathering dust.

By signing the petition,adding my voice and you presenting my name to the African Leaders, it doesn't/shouldn't end there.The continuity is what matters that a new breed of farmers is continuously brought up to light as we continue advocating for the increase in the agricultural sector investment. Flashy celebs posing for photos among herds of cows won't improve the situation in any bit. We need to go beyond that and be the change we want to see in this sector. Meanwhile, am reading through the "Ripe for Change: The Promise of Africa’s Agricultural Transformation" as i wait  for all these, Do Agric, celebs and
Koko masters to finish wearing their gumboots and join me in my papa's farm; because actions should definitely speak more louder than words and photographs poses :-)

@famzycool http://t.co/xUwPqBsel3 is this close enough?
— ONE (@ONEinAfrica) January 29, 2014

Feel free to share your comments below!


Related Articles/Further Reading:

1. A storify for Dbanj #DoAgric twitter chat
2. Slacktivism or This Generation’s Activism: Do Online Petitions Work? 
3. Ripe for Change: The Promise of Africa’s Agricultural Transformation

Undertanding what Family Farming entails..................

Toki Oshima Potryal of  Family centered farming

If you've been going through most of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO)  repository from last week of November 2013, you will notice the continued appearance of IYFF or as its called the International Year of Family Farming. Which in turn makes you wonder,what does family farming entail and  why did they  FAO designate 2014 to be the year of family farming?

Picture this hypothetical scenario.

Mary* lives on a 5 acre farm together with her parents and her five siblings. Mary's father acquired this land in Meru after the piece he had inherited from his father became too small for any productive farm activity to be undertaken. In this land which has been Mary's home for the last 10 years, they grow maize, legumes and at the same time keep poultry,sheep and dairy cows.

Being quite a large family, they rarely outsource labour but instead Mary and her siblings provide the same in the farms.The income from the sale of the farm produce is used to cater for some expenses like education, medical and stuff. The family rarely buys food as they get the same from the farm.

For Mary's family, the farm is everything, the producer, the provider, the teacher. Its where Mary and her siblings got firsthand the virtues of hard work and caring for the crops and animals.

Mary's family scenario isn't alone.

Photo Credit: Fredhoogenvorst

They belong together with other 600 million smallholder farmers and herders globally who tirelessly work to provide food to the +7 billion people in the world. This in itself comes with quite a lot of challenges the likes of a rapid growing population in need of being fed, water scarcity for farmlands, lack of land, unending hunger and malnutrition and climate change. In line with recognizing the smallholder farmers and their contribution to food security, FAO designated 2014 as the Year of Family Farming  to bring to attention the family farms, the challenges they face and hence find sustainable ways of helping these farmers .

 Family farms have the potential of not only feeding the population but also for nurturing the next generation of farmers while at the same time providing employment opportunities and caring for the environment. The benefits are quite widespread.


At the same time, let us not forgot that the majority of smallholder farmers are women. Advocating for women and youth inclusive moves would go a long way in meeting the 4 key  objectives of the #IYFF which are outlined as thus;

• Support the development of  policies that aim at creating a suitable operating environment for family farming.
• Increase public awareness on the importance of family farming.
• Enhance the understanding of the potentials and challenges that face family farming.
• Create synergies  with other global causes to enhance sustainability of the #IYFF

Photo Credit Melanie Cook

The ball is now in our court!

Join/follow the conversation on twitter via  #IYFF


Related Articles for Further Reading
Opinion: This is the moment
Theme overview - Ten qualities of family farming

* Indicates a purely fictional character.

Food Insecurity in Africa. A man made Famine?

“An empty stomach is not a good political adviser” read the Albert Einstein quote brought to twitter by Calestous Juma who participated remotely often giving his thoughts on the ever elusive discussion on food security in Africa . 

Africa has been a recipient of many interventions aimed at improving the status of food security and while some of them have worked,  hunger remains a reality for many people in the continent.

In trying to understand the lurking issues in food security and how they can be solved,  Society for International Development (SID) with support from Rockefeller  brought together in Nairobi's Fairmount The Norfolk, experts from all over Africa to take part in a two day  dialogue, June 12th -13th 2013  dubbed Rethinking Food security in Africa: New paradigms, New approaches with an aim of promoting  reflecting and bringing  forth conversations on the seemingly elusive challenge of attaining food security in the continent. 

Key note address

Stephano prato giving his keynote address

In his opening remarks, The SID managing director, Stephano Prato welcomed the participants and highlighted the role of SID in creating an open space to facilitate dialogue around the issue of food security while acknowledging the role Rockefeller plays in devising innovative solutions to ensure food security in Africa. 

He noted that for Africa to achieve the goal of food security, three initiatives needed to interplay. The need to unpack the narrative of growth in the area of food security to highlight whats working and for who, bringing forth the equity and inclusiveness of growth,and increasing our focus on Climate change and its effect on the growth and development in Africa.

Mwihaki Kimura from Rockerfeller foundation also highlighted on the role the foundation plays in  food security quoting their recent initiative of innovation for the next 100 years where they  provide the resources, networks and technologies needed to move innovation from idea to impact. Find more about it (here)

 "As the AU celebrates 50 years of panafricanism, Africa continues not be able to feed itself as food security issues are never given a priority.Political Issues the likes of ICC seem to dominate the table more and more and not those of how Africa can feed itself" Noted Mr Ali Hersi as he paved way for the discussions by introducing the round Table conversation

Session 1:Africa's Food security Dilemma: Moving beyond good intentions

The conversation brought together the thoughts of four speakers on why the conversation around the issue of food security are still at the table with endless dialogues around the same. These speakers were: Dr Abdirizak Nunow (University of Eldoret) Mr MagodeIkuya (Molo Integrated Agro-Farming Initiative Uganda), Mr Gershon Nzuva (Past Chairman Central Agricultural Board) and Adetola Okunlola (Institute of Poverty, Land & Agrarian Studies PLAAS).

Some of the key points raised include:

• Undeveloped Infrastructure:  Availability of food might be there in one area but accessibility to the same might be lacking in another area.
• Misplaced priorities:Land is leased to multinational organizations who grow non food crops and if they do grow food crops, they are exported back to their countries. Countries focus on export crops(flowers, fruits, cash-crops) and forget to feed themselves . Take another example where "A golf course pays more than using the same land to grow millet" 
• Land grabbing:There is also evidence of massive land grabbing incidences in Africa and the state does little about the same.
• Sectoral approach to agriculture instead of a national approach which at times gives precedence on the crop production part and not the livestock production part.
• Mental migration of youth who would rather be idle than engage in farming activities due to the western mentality of farming being a poor man's profession.
• Adverse effects of climate change which are rather "tribalistc" and "angry". It rains in one area and not in another and at times the rain washes away all surface soil leaving it bare and infertile.
• Politics on agricultural policies taking precedence over food security.Politicians  in Africa make food security policies to suit their terms of office or help them get re-elected for another term of office. As a result,the policies put into place if any are short term which at times leaders use to their advantage to stay on power.
• Lack of linkages between  rural economies with the national economies. All we ever talk about is the global economy. 

From the discussions, it was evident that we need to go beyond the good intentions that many private sectors bring to the fore.But,how do we go about it?

Recommendations from the panel

• Formalisation of contract farming and introduction of urban and Peri-urban farming
• Conservation of water bodies by restricting cultivation along the water bodies.Early warning and information systems on weather patterns systems
• 'Feed ourselves before exporting" notion needs to come in play.
• Capitalization of the agricultural sector before commercialization of the same.Capitalavailability is a vital factor in the farming arena.
• Involvement of farmers and all party players in the policy formulation process for better impact
• Develop farmer friendly and women friendly technologies for farming. Women produce 70% of the food in Africa
• Need to "glocalise" our thinking, Think globally, but Act locally 

Session 2:Ideology and Food Security
The session constituting of Mr Situma Mwichabe(SID), Dr Alex Awiti(Director East African Institute of the Aghakhan University) and Oby Obyerodhianbo(Strategic communications Advisor at Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, PATH) sought to seek whether Africa had an ideological commitment towards food security.

Situma Mwichabe presenting his paper

Presenting his thought provoking paper on "Ideology and food security in Africa" Situma Mwichabe defined ideology as a system of peoples' beliefs, mindsets, practices & philosophies that acts as guiding stars and inspires them towards reaching certain targets. 

From the discussions, it was evident that:

• Africa has no ideological commitment to food security but rather has mandated the UN,NGOs, World Bank,FAO of the UN, AGRA, Academia to carry forward the agenda of food security. These players happen to be drivers of green revolution agrarian ideology in Africa but not  farming communities per se.
• The African leadership has no political will  in defining the necessary ideology to tackle food security. For instance, African Development Bank  has allocated to Africa close to  US $4-6 billion a year  for the last 40 years to develop the agricultural sector and still the continent is going angry. Where is the money? What is evident for us to see in the area of food security? Is money the ultimate goal among these leaders.
• The African people have a mindset too that prevents them from making progress in the area of food security. For instance, the notion among some African communities that red millet doesn't fill the stomach hence no need to cultivate it. 
• Farmers in the  in Sub Saharan Africa are so content with the status quo. They seem content with selling their produce in raw form at either farm gates or along the road side.
• Africa might be lacking the philosophical mindset necessary to effect change. Political arena  had Karl Max, Christianity had Jesus. A new breed of thought leaders is needed to shape Africa's food security ideology
• Africans have mastered the art of outsourcing the responsibility of their problems to development partners and neo colonialism. Farmers have a tendency of  expecting the govt and NGO's to sort out the menace of food security. Or another scenario where women groups in Sub Saharan Africa being content with projects of 200 birds per group of 20 women over 10 years.
• Valuing life and dignity go hand in hand with  food security. Africans  are less concerned about the number of people that die of disease and hunger because if they were, food security would be an initiative of all

 “Does Africa care about it's image? Do we care about our dignity as Africans? Or are we comfortable with what is out there? Are we okay with the pictures that come out of Africa with hungry children whose ribs are like guitar strings? Because if we did care about that the world perceives of us, then we would do something about it.”

 Oby Obyrierodhiambo via Ruth Aine.

Recommendations from the panel

• Countries need to play with their competitive advantage. The Gulf States are food secure by wholly depending on their oil. Israel on the other hand has placed all its resources on agricultural research to ensure the food security goal is realized.
• There is need to empower farmers to help shift their dependency syndrome and teach them how to  seek solutions to their own problem. This can be through the creation of role models whom they can look up to vis a vis creating enabling environment for their farming.
• Conversations around the issue of food security in Africa must be initiated and framed by Africans and not foreign institutions
• The government has a role in moderating the private sector involvement in agricultural development
• We need to consolidate a shared vision of what we want as Africa. That is the vision that will then shape our ideologies.
• We need to mobilize our internal  finances and not leave this task to the World Bank and Food Agricultural Organization.
• We need to set , know and internalize a continental agrarian ideology and not only build but support a Pan African consensus around this ideology
• We need to educate societies about our ideology and ensure the masses are angry at the status quo.

The question remains, whose responsibility is it to develop the ideology?

Session 3: Technology and food security

Dr Paul holding one of his  improved cassava variety

The session which was led by Dr Nicholas Ozor(African Centre for Technology and Policy studies) and respondents Dr Paul Seward( Director Farm Inputs Promotion Africa) and Dr Hannington Odame(Director Center for African Bio-Entrepreneurship) sought to bring to fore a discussion on technologies that have succeeded in Africa and those that have failed.

Various technologies, mechanical, biotechnology, biological and indigenous have to interplay for food security to be a realizable goal in Africa.Mechanical technology involves the use of simple traditional hand tools and animal and engine powered equipment during the farming process.Biological technology on the other hand refers to the use of high yielding varieties of inputs like seeds and fertilizers while Biotechnology and nanotechnology refers to the use of commercially acceptable techniques to make/modify products using living organisms.

Nevertheless, various challenges have prevented the adoption of these technologies hence resulting to lower productivity per hectare. These challenges include but are not limited to:

•  Most countries are lacking policies on biotechnology and bio-safety laws hence its not easy to identify what technology is harmful and what is useful to the people. More so, there is  poor implementation of existing ones and coercion of multinationals to local governments to soften the existing  local countries bio safety laws. A case of Monsanto to the Tanzanian government was quoted.
• The continued  fragmentation of land in Africa renders mechanization impossible.We have numerous farmers, in diverse ecological zones cultivating tiny pieces of land.
• Preference for  taste of food has prevented farmers from adopting new/high yielding varieties.For instance when eating Pap, farmers prefer the organic varieties because of quantity, and yet the improved variety has better quality.
• Volatility of food prices, poor infrastructure and weak agricultural systems that doesn't deliver research to farmers effectively.
• Peoples attitude and culture where land ownership belongs to the man only. Also some arable fertile lands for instance in Nigeria are wholly dedicated to gods
• Presence of conflicts derails tech adoption.Food security is both a cause and effect of conflict. Each triggers and reinforces the other. 
• Lack of biodiversity patent rights policies  in many African countries
• Unbalanced demand and supply of technology

Recommendations from the Panel

• Indigenous knowledge and technology backed up with necessary policy frameworks have the potential to ensure food security.They all need to interplay.
• There is need to integrate crops and animal farming. 
• Developing a targeted approach to inputs assistance instead of blankets interventions goes a long way in ensuring food security.
• Integrating in agricultural extension and policies the benefits costs and risks of these technology interventions.
• There is need to stress on post harvest technology which has the potential to give farmers a competitive advantage in the market.

Session 4:The African Farmer

Dr Abdullahi Khallif presenting on The African Farmer

The session consisted of Dr Abdullahi Khalif(Country representative FEWSNET Somalia), Dr Julius Gatune(African center for Economic Transformation), Adetola Okonlola(PLAAS) and Dr Dawit Alemu(Director Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural research)

Presenting his paper on the African farmer, Dr Abdullahi sought to examine the role of the African farmers in reducing food insecurity, the challenges they face and their potential in feeding the continent.

Results of the discussions

• Africa possesses cultivators/herders and not farmers and they don't have the mindset to realize that farming is a business. The average farm size for a subsistence farmer is estimated at 204 hectares and 69% of these farmers cultivate less than 2 hectares.
• The African farmers cannot really feed the continent.They are to a significant portion susceptible to climate variability and have to their disposal  unfavorable ill advised policies which ensures they remain cultivators/herders and not real farmers.

Recommendations from the panel

• There is a greater need to develop Integrated large scale farming , farm inputs, market linkages and infrastructure if the African farmer is to feed the continent.
• Crops and animal husbandry has to be prioritized if food security has to be achieved. This move will see the 79% of the uncultivated land in Africa utilized. 
• The African farmer needs to a change of mindset to enable him see farming as a business and not a subsistence activity. To enable this, he needs to be empowered financially via access to credit, technology adoption through proper and targeted extension services provision.
• As we look in to the commercialization of the african farmer, there is need to also strengthen their informal markets by linking them to the regional trade markets.
•   Govt expenditure in agriculture in the national budget is 6% of the total budget since 1980 in Sub Saharan Africa. There is need for more government commitment especially in the policy and funding area.
•  In search of the African farmer, we are so homogeneous .This is a narrative in need of change

 Tweet of the day
 When we talk of #Foodsecurity, we talk of food, and when we talk of food, we talk of politics~Dr Khalif #FAS2013
-Emmie Kio @emmiewakio June 12,2013

 Check out the storify tweets from DAY 1 Here

DAY 2

The day began with a recap of the previous sessions under the facilitation of Arthur Muliro of SID who set the discussion  ball rolling and was quick to chip in his thoughts concerning the already discussed sessions.

"We always talk about these things and when we leave, there is no action done. We need to go beyond the rhetoric " he asserted before paving way for the round table conversation on gender.

Session 5: Integrating gender issues in food security. Going beyond the rhetoric.

The round table conversation constituted of Okumba miruka(Independent consultant), Ester Mwaura-Muiru( Founder GROOTS Kenya) and Elias Mutinda (Agriculture and Food security Advisor, Action Aid Tanzania)

Kicking off the session, Okumba Miruka brought to the audience attention a "Man made famine "film that was made in 1995 on the event of the decade of women. From the film, the challenges women faced then are so fresh and relates to them today. They have no access and control to land. Most of it is in the hands of their husbands who make decisions on how its to be used. At some point in the film, the women are forced to clear their maize crops and instead plant sugarcane. The weeding of the cane is left to them as traditions do not allow men to help women and when the proceeds of the sugarcane sell comes in,the man gets paid.

"When the men have the money, all they think of is beer and prostitutes" Asserts a woman from the film.

As Sichabe pointed out in the ideology discussion  this is one film that angers many in the room and brings forth a heated discussion

The results of the discussion

• Women in Africa are not recognized as the real farmers , and owners of the land and yet they do most of the agricultural work.
• Culture is a major impediment on women contributing to food security. There is the existence of a culture in Africa that food has to be produced by women.
• Women have no say in the decision making process at the household level.
• Lack of time for agricultural activities is one of the hindrances to food production. Women spend more time doing household chores.
• Religion is also another obstacle facing women in farming. Women aren't supposed to work during religious festivals

Recommendations from the panelists

• Gender planning is paramount. Analysis has shown that female headed households are more food insecure compared to male headed households.
• Food security should come first before market security. The notion of feed thy household first before feeding others need to be reinforced.
• Women empowerment programs need to be reinforced first so that women know their rights and have an avenue to make decisions for themselves. Elias mutinda stated of how representation of women in farmers organization in Tanzania is limited.  Action Aid Tanzania helps empower women to know their rights and hold the state accountable for the same especially on the issues surrounding land.
• Target approach. There is need to identify which type of women we are talking about if we are to necessitate change. Ester Mwaura suggested the registering of land titles to family names instead of individual names to ensure agricultural productivity continuity even if a main member of the family pass away
• New insights to things.Ester Mwaura explored innovations like Multi storey gardening that ensure women maximize productivity in limited lands. 
• The micro-financing model to women is no gooder to them. They need to be in the FINANCING model

Land ownership, access to land were different before westernization, colonization & evangelization happened.- Dr Oby #FAS2013
— Aine (@Ruthaine) June 13, 2013

Do you agree with Dr Oby?

Session 6:Youth Education and Farming

The session constituted Katindi Sivi(Program Director SID East Africa) and respondents Moses Mutungi (Farm Concern International),Olawale Ojo (Agroprenuer Naija) and  Emmie Kio (Young Professionals in Agricultural Research for Development)

Katindi Sivi on behalf of Dr Cream Wright presented a paper "Youth and the challenge of food security in Africa" which argues that food food security to be a realizable goal, there is a need to cultivate a new breed of practitioners  for sustainable progress and proposes innovative career patterns for young people.

Later on Olawale shared his experiences as a young agroprenuer in Nigeria.He emphasized on the practicality of the agriculture lessons in schools as learning by action holds more water. He wowed the crowd with the video below made by Massey Ferguson as an initiative to lure youth in agriculture.Its titled " Youth in Agriculture for a new generation of farmers"

Emmie shared her urban farming experience and explained the role of YPARD in bringing forth a voice in the agricultural research development arena.Moses on the other hand shared the works of Farm international in building the capacity of the youths by provision of incubators through the "kuku houses" project.

The session turned out to be the most heated one and brought to fore many issues affecting youth participation in agriculture.


The results of the discussion

• There is an existent mindset that agriculture is a poor man's profession.Not many people are willing to guide their children to take agriculture related careers and if they try, the children objects to the idea.
• Agriculture happens to be viewed as the bitter option by older generation when all other options have failed. This has found its way to the young generation too.
• Our institutions are also wanting. Majority of the students are given the Agriculture courses at university as last resort after failing to secure any other position.
• Africa doesn't invest in its youth as most of the leaders are etched on the notion of youth being leaders of tomorrow.

@emmiewakio we need to stop spreading the ideology that farming is a poor man's profession. #FAS2013
— Adetola Okunlola (@AdetolaOkunlola) June 13, 2013

AND HOW DO WE DO THIS?

Recommendations from the panelists

• Creation of a talent academy  sort of  like the ihub to nurture Agriculture start-ups/ innovations.
• Involve youths at every stage of discussions/meeting and making them stakeholders and not merely afterthoughts of these meetings/conferences.
• Youth's interest begins at home. Parents need to offer the given support to their children interested to pursue agree- related careers.
• There is need for more opportunities/mentorship which helps in building the skills and capacity of these young people.
• There is a need to reshape our institutions as pertains agricultural curriculum. Surprisingly in Kenya agriculture has been scrapped off the high school curriculum.Changing the mindset is a gradual process.
• Youths wants recognition at every sector in the agricultural chain. They tend to be relegated at the marketing side of agriculture as there is a misconceived perception that they are only interested in the marketing side of agriculture.This came out when in the gender session Ms Mwaura said youth aren't interested in owning land at all. They prefer marketing the produce.

Yes! Give youth a chance; support them in taking their own responsibility to tackle food insecurity - You'll be surprised! #FAS2013
— Marina Cherbonnier (@MarinaDev) June 13, 2013

When all is said and done, the responsibility for a food secure Africa lies with each one of us.Remember, it all starts with feeding yourself first, before feeding others! 

Tweet of The Day

#FAS2013 Africans need to define their own theory of change-they understand their problems better.
-Hudson Wereh (@hwereh) June13,2013






PS:
Check out storify tweets for Day 2 Here

Find a mini recap of all the sessions on our Tumblr:Africa Dialogue Speaker Series Volume 1 ( HERE)
 
Photos from the sessions

And here comes the YPARD new-joiners courtesy of  the event

A big thank you to the Organizers,the onsite social reporters and all those who participated remotely and made the event a success!

Young Agrirevolutionary:Turning a hobby to a profitable business

The tomato seedlings

Growing vegetables has been a hobby for many and one Andrew Kyuvi is no exception. For as long as he can remember he loved practicing it at his parents’ backyard with Kales (Sukuma Wiki) being his comfort zone as far as family consumption is concerned. Putting the hobby to commercial practice was his weakest part. 

He happened to attend a motivating seminar at a local church where the speaker talked of converting liabilities to assets. After considerable thinking, he decided to take the challenge and act on the available idle land and his free time after office hours.

He settled on organic farming with tomato growing for the start after acquiring the most essential tools:-

·         3000 Ltr water tank (Ksh 20,000.00)

·         1200 Mtr Drip irrigation water pipes (Ksh 15,000.00)

·         Assorted seeds (Ksh 7,000.00)

·         Land preparation and consultancy (Ksh 15,000.00)

The benefits of Tomatoes

Tomato is a known source for vitamin A, C and minerals Iron, Calcium, phosphorus and carbohydrates. The fruit has multiple medicinal values as a gentle stimulant for kidneys, washing off toxins that contaminate the body system. Men can consume raw tomatoes for prevention of prostate cancer. A single tomato tree grown in good fertile soil can bear more fruits than an average family can eat in 3 months

Factors to consider

Growing tomatoes has a lot to do with liking what someone does just as the seed hit the ground. But, the rest has to do with good seeds, plenty of well oxygenated water, and love for both the plants and the job.

“We have many varieties of hybrid tomato seeds in the market and making the selection determines a lot on the output” he advices.

 It’s worth the while for potential farmers to always remember that “Cheap is expensive” when making the selection. Professionalism is very vital at this stage even if it means paying for consultation. They should avoid cheap varieties for they tend to be less resistance to most of the tomato farming challenges.

Other factors to consider when choosing a variety are the market demand and the shelf life. Cal-J is one of the tomato varieties preferred by farmers because of its high market demand and ability to stay for up to 14 days after harvest before rotting.

It’s important to note that tomatoes prefer well drained soils, good amount of calcium and potassium and organic matter with a pH of between 5 and 7.5. They also prefer warm temperatures especially when ripening as well as reduced disease and pest infestation. 

The water tank

All was set to go. He used the open space farming, planted the seeds and watered them at least after every two days and once a week with some organic liquid fertilizer. Within three weeks, they were ready for transplanting. He made sure the soil was well attended to by use of chicken organic waste as manure. No major challenges like pests and diseases attacked his crops which he attributed to the fact that within the locality there were no similar crops hence the absence of both airborne pests and diseases. More so, he gave Organic Weed Control a try where he came to realize that crops like Dhania are able to control insects before they fully attack your cops. In addition, cover crops help a great deal in improving soil structure. This in the long run is advantageous compared to chemical fertilizers.

New Information gap

From his research on the internet, he learnt that the organic farming area needs to be kept free from all types of pesticides and maintaining the soil healthy by using your own compost as fertilizer is the easiest way to do it. When you don’t put lots of fertilizers into the soil, your plants grow as they should and not at hyper speeds which in turn keeps off insects as less nitrogen is released. Healthy soil encourages the development of healthy plants which can withstand the minor damages of pests if they do occur.

“Avoid accumulating large piles of mulch around the area by spreading it evenly around the plants and vegetables as too much mulch retains lots of water which in turn attracts insects and pests to the area” he advises

The tomato plant

After about 3 months the crop is ready for harvesting.Tomatoes have a ready market in Kenya. According to Kyuvi, wholesalers market prefers non greenhouse products which he believes it’s due to the longer shelf life. The best price to the farmer spans about a week after the rains fall and tomatoes grown by irrigation tend to dry when rained on. Wholesalers come for the crop from the source unlike some other crops where you have to look for market vigorously and not forgetting the profits which are quite encouraging.

Record keeping is also vital for modern farming. This helps correct any wrong timing for planting, harvesting and helps the farmer calculate his profits or losses.

To be a good farmer, one needs to regularly update himself/herself with new information on farming practices. Kyuvi does this by researching on the internet, seeking consultants’ advice and attending the annual Nairobi Trade Fair with a target in mind of what he wishes to learn from fellow farmers. After attending the last year’s fair, he has decided of expanding the crops variety to include cabbages, Dhania, and onions and keeping rabbits in the farms.

And with each dawn his spirit gets awakened as he finds farming quite an interesting activity. He sees no reason why the youths should not be part of the new global revolution that is farming. I couldn’t agree no more!

 Or do you personally see any?

Overcoming the twin challenges of youth unemployment and food insecurity: what role for agricultural employment?

Blog post by  Dr. Jennifer Leavy  a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK.

Conducting greenhouses checks in Mombasa :Photo Courtesy Emmie

 In the contemporary context of profound and significant global change, youth unemployment levels have hit historic highs (ILO, 2012a,b,c; OECD, 2012)[1], and despite improved undernourishment estimates in the two decades to 2007, one in eight people suffered chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012 - one in four in sub-Saharan Africa - according to the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) State of food insecurity and hunger in the world  report (2012).

Add to the twin challenges of youth unemployment and hunger and food insecurity, an apparent ageing of the farm population – the average age of farmers is now in the range of late-50s to early 60s across the globe from The United States to Europe, to Africa, to Australia.On the surface the answer seems simple enough: encourage young people to farm and we solve three ‘problems’ in one fell swoop.

Agriculture will provide under- and un-employed young people with employment and income, this in turn will provide the food we need via increased production, and ensures farming is passed from one generation to the next. This message adds yet another  framing of young people as the saviours of undernutrition to the many other framings and narratives that place young people in the role of saviours (of the agriculture sector) or ‘sinners’ (young people are too lazy for agriculture, idle, unemployed)[2].

It seems obvious – if more than a little instrumentalist in approach. Of course the answer is not as simple as that.

Strong messages emerging from primary research with young people in rural areas under the Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility project – a four-year study across ten developing countries - and from the Future Agricultures Consortium  youth theme, focusing on young people and agricultural policy processes in sub-Saharan Africa, shed light on young people’s attitudes towards agriculture and the likelihood of being able to address food security concerns via engagement of young people with the sector.  Some of these attitudes include:

• Most young people have no interest in agriculture, not within their own visions for their future. This is often echoed by their parents. By agriculture, people invariably think of farming: back-breaking work, low input, 365 days a year for little or low return. Those who do see a future for themselves in farming believe it needs to be ‘smarter’, more productive and more reliable. More modern?

• Agriculture is not considered to be delivering the types of lifestyles and status that young people desire and expect. These are important dimensions of the attractiveness, or otherwise, of agriculture (invariably farming) as an occupation. Agriculture is not considered able to deliver via incomes and working conditions the kinds of lifestyles young people need, expect and desire in the 21^st century, lifestyles that are ever more visible thanks to revolutionary advances in communications technology that is accessible to (almost) all, even people living in the most remote rural areas. In this respect, agriculture is regarded as a poor person’s activity, going beyond living standards to people’s sense of pride and self-respect. These are important dimensions of wellbeing[3] and take us beyond narrow, one-dimensional conceptions of what it means to be poor, marginalised and disadvantaged. If agriculture is not able to deliver either the desired living standards or the prospects for upward mobility, then the likelihood of attracting young people into or retaining them in the sector is low.

• Education is a double-edged sword. Higher education levels overall mean that young people are being educated kinds of agriculture on offer. With higher levels of education they seek jobs with higher skill levels than those of the smallholder farming activities that most face. But higher unemployment levels, especially among the youth, suggest that work and education are failing as key routes by which people move out of poverty, and as crucial mechanisms linking economic growth to poverty reduction. More children than ever go to school, but what they learn appears to be far removed from the skills needed in the 21^st century (UNESCO, 2012; World Bank, 2012). This is as much true for agriculture sector skills as any other.

• Agriculture is often seen as a last resort, something you do if you fail: in school,  as migrants in town or abroad, in non-farm businesses. Or may not even be an option at all – pressure on resources, especially land scarcity, pose serious barriers to entry for young people. This is highlighted sharply by Getnet Tadele and Asrat Ayalew Gella’s work in Ethiopia, and is not peculiar to this setting. This is a recurring theme across the ten countries in the Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility project. An apparent sense of insecurity around farming, related to unpredictable climate variability, volatile food prices, rising costs, further acts as a deterrent.

These emergent findings suggest policymakers need to think beyond the conception of (young) people as units of labour to be placed in jobs. To engage and empower young people in agriculture, the sector needs to be able to address young people’s aspirations and their expectations, and offer potential for social mobility. Using the language of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and FAO, rural employment needs to be ‘decent work’[4] – but as the importance to people of self-respect and status highlights, it needs also to address broader conceptions of human wellbeing. Farming needs a change of image to get over entrenched, though not unfounded, beliefs that it involves dirty, laborious work at low skill levels for low returns. And we need to reassess what we mean by ‘farmer’ in the 21^st century. The broader agri-food framing called for by the Future Agricultures Consortium can go some way towards this, potentially recasting agriculture as an aspirational career choice by highlighting opportunities throughout the industry.

Re-blogged from the Global Food for Thought website. Find the link to the original article HERE  

 

Youth would embrace farming if parents stopped clinging to land

By Patrick Mbataru

Young people are increasingly finding agriculture appealing. Unfortunately, they face enormous problems, and that is where policy makers must step in.

Most people under 40 years have moved away from on-farm activities. Actual production has been left to the parents, mostly aged 60 years or more.

The dichotomy of labour roles in the countryside, between the young and old, mirrors the emerging orientation of economic productivity away from basic farming. Young people are engaging more in the profitable stages of the value chain, mostly in value adding activities like processing, packaging, brokerage and transport.

 In fact, government policies targeting young farmers should focus more on value adding activities. Yet the grave problem is the gripping control of farm production by ageing parents.

Cultural attitudes make it difficult for young people to participate in long-term agricultural production. Parents in many places do not allow eligible children full land rights, mainly because it is considered a bad omen to “be inherited” when one is still living.

Many parents fear that if they give land to their children, they will be abandoned as their children exploit the land. Parents therefore cling to land even in their twilight years as financial insurance, yet this greatly limits productivity.

Many parents are growing too old for meaningful agricultural production. They lack modern skills and the entrepreneurial attitudes necessary to enhance quantity and quality in the face of diminishing acreage.Watching them labour out with hoes and pangas does not inspire much hope in meeting food security. Besides lack of production skills, they may not understand the intricacies of the global agribusiness value chains.

To compound the problem, parents in Kenya actually socialise their children away from land. They educate them so that they can move out of what they consider farm “slavery”.

To many young people in central Kenya, for example, coffee is the symbol of rural drudgery. Few youths want to be associated with the rigours of coffee production — the disciplined husbandry, the grading that starts during picking in the rainy season, to the pulping factory — only to be paid peanuts at the end of the year. The glittering city is more alluring.

And that is not all. There is the punishing waiting for payment. Even if the younger generation would have the land rights, few would have the patience to wait for months to be paid. Most prefer to cultivate “three-month-crops”, like tomatoes that guarantee prompt payment.

This is the appropriate industry model for the highly fragmented rural firms. Being more educated and exposed, young people are aware of the folly of blind production. Their mantra is “you produce what you can sell” and not tie to selling what you have produced. Luckily for them, wealth creation in Kenya is steadily leaning towards off-farm activities.

Globalisation and liberalisation have gradually opened up international markets for high value agro-products. Emerging issues related to traceability, quality control, certification and even carbon crediting need a whole new schooling on the way we do agriculture.

A ballooning middle class, said to now stand at 32 per cent of the population, offers a huge market for quality agro-products. Note the increasing space for greens and agro-products in major supermarkets. Any supply manager in these supermarkets will tell you that a major constraint is to get reliable suppliers, both in quantity and quality.

There is an emerging market opportunities for carrot, wheat grass, cabbage juice and millet-ugali as a new health consciousness takes root. The new drive based on organic foods represents another wealth-creating opportunity.

The good news is that the older land-clinging generation is thinning out. In the high output highlands of Central, land is slowly being released through natural attrition, leaving their more entrepreneurial children to take over. Many young farmers also lease such land.

By Dr Mbataru teaches agribusiness at the School of Agriculture, Kenyatta University (pmbataru@gmail.com)

Reblogged from the Daily Nation Wednesday January 23, 2013

Youth, agriculture and COP18: Time to engage!

COP 18 for Dummies

COP18 is the 18th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They meet annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

There are now 195 parties to the convention taking part in climate change negotiations. All parties to the UNFCCC are represented at the COP. During the conference, they review the implementation of the convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts. They furthermore take decisions to promote the effective implementation of the convention.

For instance, in 2010, governments agreed that emissions needed to be reduced so that global temperature increases could be limited to below 2 degrees Celsius.

The Asia-Pacific UN regional Group is the next host of the Conference of the Parties. It is taking place from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, Qatar.

Read more about what COP is on COP18 website.

Youth in Agriculture: what’s there for you?

You probably know better than anyone why Climate Change issues need to be addressed within the frame of the agricultural sector. Agriculture needs to have its space at the negotiation table at COP18 in order to influence effective implementation of solutions focusing on agricultural activities.

There are key sessions where your voice as a professional in agricultural-related topics would bring much water to the mill in order to influence decisions that will impact significantly the sector of agriculture.

There are also two key events that focus on agriculture at COP18 (coordinated by CGIAR).

Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day 5

The Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day 5 will be held on 3rd December. It is entitled: “Solutions for People in Drylands and Beyond”.

Natural resource and agriculture community will share solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation in agricultural landscapes with key stakeholders and decision makers

It aims to develop solutions that can feed into 2013 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) discussions.

The objective is to identify existing and large scale solutions to specific mitigation and adaptation challenges that can benefit farmers, in particular small scale farmers. Gaps and potential trade-offs in term of existing solutions, implementations and knowledge available would be brought particular attention.

Forest day: interconnections between forests and agriculture

Forest Day 6 will look at the interconnections between forests and agriculture and their impacts on people and society.

It is held in conjunction with Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day 5 under the theme of 'Living Landscapes'.

Look at the agenda of the discussions forum.

Aside from the traditional plenary sessions, the conference will have several discussion forums.  Members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and other interested organisations, will host these sessions.  Check the themes for the discussion forums.

Participate online!

Now, the good thing is: You don’t need to be physically present at a conference to learn, contribute and engage into the debate! That’s the magic of Social Media, as we learned in the GCARD2 debate! Get online and get involved!

Give a voice to Youth in Agriculture, as an individual and as a core group of "YPARDians"

Post written by Marina and  reblogged from the YPARD website http://ypard.net/2012-november-22/youth-agriculture-and-cop18-time-engage