FAO/NEPAD Workshop on Climate Change, Disasters and Crises in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector in Southern and Eastern Africa

22 - 24 April 2013. Maputo, Mozambique. This regional workshop on climate change, disasters and crises in the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Southern and Eastern Africa was jointly organized by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Fish Programme (NFFP), and the Smartfish Programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The objective of the workshop was to establish the current baseline

with regard to the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in fisheries and aquaculture activities and policies in Southern and Eastern Africa, and, vice versa, determine the extent of integration of fisheries and aquaculture in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management strategies and plans. The overall aim was to coordinate activities and identify gaps and priority actions to be supported by the NFFP and other partners.

Participants included (i) fisheries and aquaculture managers from relevant

national and regional institutions, (ii) representatives from Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Fisheries Bodies (RFBs), Lake and River Basin Authorities, LME (Large Marine Ecosystem) Programmes, and fisheries and aquaculture networks and (iii) other relevant stakeholders and resource people working on issues or carrying out activities contributing to climate-change adaptation and disaster-risk management.

Professor Emmanuel Kaunda represented the NEPAD Regional Fish

Node-SANBio.. He is the Technical Coordinator of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Science Department at Bunda College of Agriculture in Lilongwe Malawi and the coordinator of the PAEPARD supported Malawi consortium - Partnership for Enhanced Aquaculture Innovation in Sub Saharan Africa (PEAISSA).

Related: PAEPARD visit to the Aquaculture and Fisheries Science Department at Bunda College of Agriculture.

Bunda implemented the Community Action Research Programme (CARP) on aquaculture development. It had partners along the value chain including the World Fish Centre-Malawi Office, the Malawi Government National Aquaculture Centre and the Farmers Union of Malawi.

The CARP grants are for up to $300000 over a three year period and should include at least 1 doctoral and 2 M.Sc. students. They usually

Msekiwa Matsimbe & Wilson Jere
(Dean of the Aquaculture Department)

involve senior faculty who might have had previous experience in action research initiatives and as such there is a much greater emphasis on using these grants to enhance networking and close co-operation with partner agencies as well as to inform curriculum development and, where possible, to encourage the use of undergraduate students in the field.

As with the GRGs, the CARPS require working in the field with communities and there is even more emphasis on involving farmers in decisions as part of the action research RUFORUM is committed to supporting. These projects need to take an inter-disciplinary problem solving approach and be rooted within a value-chain, or innovative

3 collaborators from the Fish Node, 

Msekiwa Matsimbe, 

Chimwemwe Mwesalima 

and Edith Gondwe

systems framework.

The Community Action Research Program (CARP) implemented the project “Enhancing Fish Production and Marketing for Food Security and Income of Small-scale Producers in Malawi”, with an overall objective of increasing fish production from current level of 750kg/ha/yr to 1,500kg/ha/yr and rural incomes through application of aquaculture innovations in the value chain in Dowa and Mchinji Districts.

The project is working together with 68 fish farmers who own 80 ponds in total (30 in Dowa and 50 in Mchinji districts). Read More on CARP, Fish harvests by CARP fish farmers

Field visit of PAEPARD to the project in Dowa.

The DVD player purchased
thanks to the fish selling revenue

Project components:

• Farmer identification: 14 fish farmers who had fish ponds or land where fish ponds can be constructed were identified.
• Group formulation: The identified farmers where trained in group dynamics and formed a club called Khumbirani club
• Capacity enhancement: The farmers were trained in pond construction, group dynamics, marketing and credit and loan management.
• Farmer empowerment: The farmers were given input loans i.e. fingerlings and feed.
• Action research: The farmers together with CARP Students identified best bet technologies and worked together in assessing them.

Project outputs

• Increased fish production: The first harvest, produced a bumper yield of 497,63 kilograms of fish among 8 farmers, The fish yield translates into an average of 1663 kg/ha/yr for each participating farmers which is double the current productivity of 750 kg/ha/year. 
• Increased farm income: The amount of money realized translates into an average gross income of MK73231 per person (about US$ 481, at exchange rate of 1 US$=MK152). This is a far great income for Malawi where the majority of the population live on less than 1 US$ per day. 
• Impact on livelihoods: Although most have only recently begun farming fish, several have already begun to see the benefits of extra income trickle in. Those who have begun making sales have been able to use the money to pay school fees, purchase fertilizer and inputs for farming; as well as livestock. 

	NEPAD FISH NODE (GENERAL)
Website	http://www.nepadsanbiofishnode.org/
Facebook	http://www.facebook.com/fishnode
Twitter	https://twitter.com/FishNode
Blog	http://fishnode.wordpress.com/

	AFRICAN FISHERIES EXPERTS NETWORK (AFRI-FISHNET)
Website	http://www.afri-fishnet.org/
Facebook	http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Fisheries-Experts-Network/174004672706934
Twitter	https://twitter.com/Afrifishnet
Blog

	YOUTH FOR FISH PROGRAM
Website	http://www.afri-fishnet.org/
Facebook	http://www.facebook.com/YouthForFishProgramYffp
Twitter	https://twitter.com/FishYffp
Blog

Malawi’s Legume Platform

Malawi’s Legume Platform has been formed to strengthen national multi-stakeholder partnerships within the legumes sector. Legume crops are especially important in Malawi because of their potential to both improve soil fertility (by fixing nitrogen and reducing erosion) and help to overcome nutritional deficiencies (supplying protein, oils and vitamin A).

The Legumes platform is a public private partnership currently working with four of the most important legumes of Malawi, namely Beans, Soya, Pigeon peas and groundnuts. The platform has been created with the aim of contributing to the development and expansion of an efficient and viable Legumes sector in Malawi using the value chain approach. Membership is welcome to all legumes value chain players in Malawi. The platform is aimed at coordinating all players for the development of the legumes sector in Malawi. The Platform is subdivided into 4 key Thematic areas across all legume as follows;

1. Production: this thematic group looks into seed availability and access issues, production, research and post harvest management issues. This group is chaired by ICRISAT. Since 2008, ICRISAT has been running the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project (supported by Irish Aid) to improve legume seed production and multiplication, with the aim of increasing food security and household income among poor farmers in Malawi.
2. Market development: this thematic group looks into legumes market environment, product development and policy environment
3. Processing and Value addition: this thematic group looks at issues of quality, processing, standards and regulations
4. Institutional Development: this thematic group focuses on issues of Institutional support and capacity building, and information and technology transfer

Further references:
Background documents, case studies and resources for the Hunger · Nutrition · Climate Justice Conference which took place in Dublin Castle on April 15th/16th 2013. Three cases concern Malawi:

Case Studies

1. Promoting empowerment and knowledge through smallholder farmers’ associations in Malawi 51
2. Less hunger, better health and more wealth: the benefits of knowledge sharing in Malawi’s Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato project
3. Seeds for change: a certified seed project in Malawi is boosting local incomes and supporting emerging national agricultural policy

REGIONAL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS WORKSHOP on the groundnut value chain.

24 – 26 April 2013. Lilongwe, Malawi. FANRPAN/SACAU organized a Regional Multi-Stakeholder Research & Development Questions workshop on the groundnut value chain. The purpose was to develop a shared understanding of the problem and clarifying the roles to be performed by the various stakeholder categories, especially by research.

The workshop had two objectives:

1. capacity building to translate problems to be resolved into research issues, distinct from complementary development activities 
2. specific identification of research and development issues relating to the governing theme chosen and of the stakeholders categories to be mobilised. 

The topic discussed included: Concept of value chain approach – interviews with value chain experts ; Why the groundnut value chain: an overview ; identifying research priorities of stakeholder attending the workshop ; Malawi Desk Review ; Zambia Desk Review.

The group Group Working Sessions focused on:

• Validation of desk reviews and gap filling 
• Identification of research focus for the groundnut value chain in Malawi and Zambia Prioritisation of research focus for the groundnut value chain in Malawi and Zambia

In the Wall of Wonder an analysis was made of the Stakeholder Capacities and their Role in the Groundnut Value Chain and gap analysis. R&D questions were prioritised, defined and refined.

Presentations:

Participants:

Following stakeholders from Malawi and Zambia participated:

JOHN CHIPETA	NASFAM
YOHANNES ANTONIYO	CHRISTIAN AID
ELEMSON MUYANGA	SAPP
MASIYE NAWIKO	ACF
CANDIDA NAKHUMWA	NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE/FUM
JOHNSON BUNGU	SACAU
STANLEE JUMA	EXAGRIS AFRICAN LTD
ROSEMARY KADZITCHE	NASFAM/FARMER
BUPE MWAKASUNGULA	AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
A.      CHAMANGO	DARS
V. MAKASA	REES-ZAMBIA
JONAS MUGABE	FARA
WYCLIFFE KUMWENDA	NASFAM
V. KABAMBE	LUANAR- BUNDA
ALICE KACHERE	NASFAM
LUTANGU MUKUTI	ACTESA/COMESA
CHARITY MANOKORE	SPAR
P.H CHIKANAULANGA	NASFAM
M BUTAO	AICC LEGUMES PLATFORM
DR. GIDEON ONUMAH	NRI, UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH, UK
DR. SAM NJOROGE	ICRISAT
TAMANI NKHONO-MVULA	CISANET
SAKALA WHYTSON	ESATERN PROVINCE FARMERS' COOPERATIVES
SUSAN M. MASAGASI	AGRICULTURE COUNCIL OF TANZANIA
ELIMON MAPONDE	ZIMBABWE FARMERS’ UNION (ZFU)
VINCENT ADRIANO	UNAC-MOZAMBIQUE
BEATRICE MAKWENDA	NASFAM
GODFREY LIWEWE	DAES
HARRY MSERE	ICRISAT
STEWART MAKASONI	BUNDA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
ELEAANOR LP MALAU	MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & LIVESTOCK, SCCF, ZAMBIA
FRANCIS STEPMAN	PAEPARD
WILLY MUYILA	MBS
AONE KUMWENDA	MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FOOD SECURITY
SHELLIX MUNTHALI	REEP
CECILIA RICE	ESTRELL TRADING
WISDOM NZIMA	MOAFS-DAES
EDITH GONDWE	BUNDA
CHIMWEMWE GERMAN	BUNDA
MSEKIWA MATSIMBE	BUNDA

Agricultural Value Chain Finance

Agricultural Value Chain Finance Tools and Lessons
Calvin Miller and Linda Jones
Published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Practical Action Publishing 2010
195 pages

The purpose of this book is to provide an understanding of the emerging field of agricultural value chain finance. Key questions include:

• What is value chain finance, how is it applied and what can it offer to strengthen agricultural development?
• How can financial systems, governments and services be prepared for the demands of financing modern agri-food chains?
• How does agricultural value chain financing affect inclusion, especially for small producers and what can be done to make these systems more inclusive?
• What can governmental and non-governmental (NGO) agencies do to support increased and more effective agricultural financing through value chains?

Understanding value chain finance can improve the overall effectiveness of those providing and requiring agricultural financing. It can improve the quality and efficiency of financing agricultural chains by:

1. identifying financing needs for strengthening the chain; 
2. tailoring financial products to fi t the needs of the participants in the chain; 
3. reducing financial transaction costs through direct discount repayments and delivery of financial services; and
4. using value chain linkages and knowledge of the chain to mitigate risks of the chain and its partners. As agriculture and agribusiness modernize with increased integration and interdependent relationships, the opportunity and the need for value chain finance becomes increasingly relevant.

Building bridges between agribusiness and development

18 April 2013. The Guardian panel discussion: Aligning agribusiness and development means taking a holistic approach. The  panel suggest 14 crucial factors to making it work

Carlos da Silva, senior agribusiness economist, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, rural infrastructure and agro-industries division, Rome, Italy

Engage smallholders fairly: There are well known mechanisms to link smallholder farmers to agribusiness firms in fair and sustainable ways, such as contract farming (CF). Farmers can benefit from CF by having a guaranteed market outlet, access to technology and the possibility of pre-financing of farming inputs, among others. Firms also benefit by reducing the uncertainties related to procurement in agrifood markets. To help achieve positive outcomes for all engaged in CF systems, FAO created the contract farming resource centre and recently issued a publication outlining a number of guiding principles for responsible contract farming operations.

Regulations aren't always as effective as voluntary adherence: Voluntary adherence to codes of conduct and standards is more likely to work if it is driven by consumer demand. Regulations are not unimportant, but if enforcement is weak they might not work. To promote environmental responsibility by agribusiness firms, regulations might not be as effective as voluntary adherence to codes of conduct or environmental standards. As consumers become more demanding and wish to know how their food is produced, certified compliance with such codes and standards can be a way to guarantee market growth.

Paul Van Mele, chairman, Access Agriculture, Gent, Belgium

Bring agriculture into the media: National agricultural policies and media policies are too often dealt with as separate entities. It is great to see positive examples and guiding principles on contract farming and other business models documented and made publicly available. The next step needed in developing countries is to make this information available in formats that inspire people who are not used to reading reports.

Embed sustainable management systems: To cope with climate change which affects all agricultural systems we need to embed sustainable land and water management methods as widely as possible into agricultural extension. FAO, along with many other organisations, have established a consortium of experts, along with a great knowledge resource that can be consulted at the world overview of conservation approaches and technologies website. To build on and expand this rich resource Access Agriculture has developed a section with downloadable video and audio files to support sustainable land and water management.

Francesco Rampa, programme manager (food security),European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), Brussels, Belgium. @Francesco_Rampa

We need a holistic approach to value chain development: Often, projects aiming at quick results focus on individual challenges only and/or beneficiaries who will respond more effectively to external support. But this favours stronger actors in the value chain. What's often lacking is medium-term financial and technical support for implementation of value chains, especially the financing of small enterprises to upgrade their facilities and access business development services providers, i.e those that help farmers to market, manage and link up their businesses.

Marcelino Avila, TA team leader, Human Dynamics, Vienna, Austria

Monitoring is key: Perhaps voluntary adherence to environmental standards by agribusiness firms could work, but not independently of timely, systematic monitoring and inspection systems. There are many examples of large firms plundering natural resources and taking advantage of government concessions in developing countries in the past. Perhaps now there is more public awareness and more of a social conscience, but monitoring is always crucial.

Mainstream conservatism: For sustainable development, we need to broaden the objectives of agribusiness so to incorporate and promote resources conservation and environment protection. We also need to mainstream more efficient use of energy resources, particularly locally produced materials, and therefore create more value added and increase labour productivity. Agricultural systems should primarily be based on components that are well adapted to the local environment and ecosystems. Policies should reward farmers and producers for conservation and environmental services.

Nune Sarukhanyan, president, Green Lane Agricultural Assistance NGO, Yerevan, Armenia

Certification schemes can entrench inequality: Although organic certification schemes are well-meaning, those that charge annual fees exclude the smallholder farmers that can't afford them. One thing that buyers can do is visit local farms directly to establish relationships and trust between them.

Sydney Zharare, development economist, DAI, Johannesburg, SA

Model farms can help encourage chemical compliance: Making sure farmers in developing countries comply with chemical standards is a huge challenge. As a corporate agribusiness we implemented 2 models: 1) We had a team of agronomists working with farmers on land preparation, pre-planting herbicides, planting and basal fertilizer application until harvest to ensure that chemicals were used in acceptable quantities. 2) We developed a model farm in the centre of a growing region where most smallholder production was taking place and ensured compliance from there. Here the farmers had to be geographically concentrated. We then branded everything under the model farm brand.

Andrew Emmott, senior manager (Nuts), Twin & Twin Trading, London, UK. @andrewemmott

Value chains work best within well-functioning systems: Value chains are helpful to a point, but where systemic change is needed it becomes more difficult to secure appropriate and timely investments. The value chain approach can help provide some sequencing of investments to address the weakest or most pressing issue in the chain. However, if systemic change across a farming sector is needed, then the value chain needs to be able to operate in isolation which is difficult to achieve.

Ahmed Dirie, independent research consultant, San Jose, US

Release Africa's farmlands from cash crops: East Africa exports coffee, tea, flowers, banana and livestock but faces recurrent droughts and food shortages. Africa needs appropriate small-scale technologies to improve its production capacities. The bulk of agribusiness in Asia and Latin America is propelled by small-scale and medium sized farms and technologies and not by large-scale intensive agribusiness. Africa's most fertile and irrigated farmlands need to be released from cash crops for export to wealthiest communities and turned into staple crop productions. Achieving this will require a mixture of policy change, investing in what's appropriate, capacity building and strong agricultural research systems to serve the best interests of farmers and agribusinesses.

Caspar van Vark, freelance journalist, London, UK. @foodpolicynews

Adopt a gendered approach: A gendered approach to agricultural development is essential in general, given the important role that women play in farming. There are an estimated half a billion smallholders in the world, but women often have insecurity of land tenure and can be less empowered to negotiate their way fairly into supply chains on their own.

Governments have a crucial role to play: The private sector can't do everything. Without decent roads and other infrastructure even the most productive smallholder can't sell their crop. In Africa, the Maputo Declaration of 2003 included a commitment to allocate 10% of national budgets to agriculture and rural development, but not every government has fulfilled that promise. Agricultural extension workers also have an important role to play.

Julius Mugwagwa, research fellow, ESRC innogen centre & development policy and practice group, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

You can't 'scale up' unsustainable programmes: The challenge of sustaining successful models should be addressed before talks start about scaling them up. It's in the interest of all players in the agriculture value chain to ensure that successful models are sustained or buffered from failure, otherwise the start-stop cycle will never end.

CGIAR Project Launched to Boost Rice Production in 20 African Countries

Apr 18, 2013. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has launched an Africa Development Bank (AfDB) supported project to boost rice production in 20 African countries by atleast 20% in three years.

The project, “Multinational - CGIAR Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC)" was launched in Tanzania. It is being implemented in 20 African countries which are mostly dependent on rice imports to meet growing demand for rice. The countries are: Benin Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

About $63.24 million will be used for the implementation of the project with the aim to increase rice yield by at least 20% by 2016, improve the income of smallholder's household cash income from the current $370 to $600; and increase food security to 84% from the present 73% in the African countries.

Experts involved in the implementation of the project said that the project will help improve productivity of rice by promoting good farming practices and mechanization to help farmers benefit from the high-yielding rice varieties which have been developed in research institutes in Africa.

Livestock market access & trade issue in the Horn of Africa

Market Access and Trade Issues Affecting the Drylands in the Horn of Africa
Author/Corporate author: Aklilu, Y., Little, P.D., Mahmoud, H., and McPeak, J. / FAO / CGIAR

This technical brief (40pp) “Market access and trade issues affecting the drylands in the Horn of Africa” was prepared by Yacob Aklilu, Peter Little, Hussein Mahmoud and John McPeak for the Technical Consortium for Building Resilience to Drought in the Horn of Africa, hosted by the CGIAR Consortium in partnership with the FAO Investment Centre.

 It addresses the rationale and priorities for investment in trade in livestock and other agricultural commodities, e.g. market development and access, cross-border trade, and sanitary and food-safety standards. It notes that livestock markets function reasonably well in the Horn. Trade in livestock and livestock products in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan equals about USD 1 billion in foreign exchange in many years, and probably 5–6 times that amount in local currencies.

Live animal and meat exports, especially from Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, have increased rapidly as has domestic trade centred on key urban markets such as Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Mombasa and Nairobi. The brief describes actions that can be taken to ensure that producers in the lowlands of the Horn benefit from the growing trade opportunities.

It brings best-practice examples of markets and market agents who successfully adapt to new opportunities and changes. Key challenges are reconciling marketing objectives with the production goals of pastoral producers, who hold more female than male animals in their herds given their production objectives; increasing competition for the natural resources by other alternative uses; dealing with livestock diseases and related quarantines; and overcoming a lack of value-adding techniques. Land tenure, production and marketing issues are interrelated priority areas that support trade from the lowlands, and policies need to be integrated that work in all three domains. Policies are proposed for improving regional mobility of livestock, pastoral production and cross-border livestock marketing.

Related
Guidelines for Innovation Platforms: Facilitation, Monitoring and Evaluation
Populations of endemic ruminant livestock (ERL) in West African countries represent unique diverse genetic

resources, which are under increasing threat of genetic dilution. The project on ‘Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock of West Africa (PROGEBE)’, being implemented in 12 project pilot sites in four countries (Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and The Gambia), seeks to analyse the barriers to in situ conservation and sustainable management of three priority endemic ruminant livestock species—N’Dama cattle, Djallonke sheep, and the West African Dwarf goat (ILRI 2011).

This document, although has been written for PROGEBE project staff at the site, national and regional levels, it is believed to have wider relevance beyond this specific project and specifically applies to projects which have a similar structure. It provides guidelines for innovation platforms (IPs) facilitation and the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of IP processes and outcomes.