By Susan Onyango
Originally posted here.
Africa’s population is expected to double from 1.26 billion today to over two and half billion by 2050, little more than 30 years from now. At the same time, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and the effects of climate change pose increasing challenges to the continent’s agriculture sector, particularly smallholder farmers. If left unchecked, these challenges will threaten the food security of millions of people, particularly in the drylands. Affected countries will require national policies and farmer practices that safeguard food production, as well as frameworks for mutual cooperation across the agricultural and environmental sectors, if they are to ensure the sustainability and resilience required to feed their people.
In an effort to address these multiple challenges, more than 80 government and development sector experts met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 5 July 2017, to launch the Integrated Approach Programme on Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa. Financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the 5-year, USD 116 million programme is designed to promote sustainability and resilience among small holder farmers through the sustainable management of natural resources – land, water, soils and genetic resources – that are crucial for food and nutrition security. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the lead agency with the Programme Coordination Unit hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) at their headquarters in Nairobi. Bioversity International, UN Environment, UNDP, FAO, World Bank, UNIDO, AGRA and Conservation International are all involved.
Smallholder farmers, who are responsible for most of the region’s food production, will benefit from practices and policies that will ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience of their production systems. Efforts to ensure post-programme sustainability include a particular focus on gender issues at every level of the programme to address policy and culturally-related barriers to gender equity and women’s empowerment in most of the participating countries. The Programme targets almost three million households in 12 countries and will improve the management of 10 million hectares of land.
“With an explicit focus on smallholder agriculture in the drylands, we have collectively established a framework to underpin the long-term sustainability and resilience of production systems,” said Dr. Mohamed Bakarr, Lead Environment Specialist at the GEF. “The program framework, which is defined by three main components – platforms for multi-stakeholder engagement, acting to scale-up innovations, and systems monitoring and assessment – is informed by sound science and policy, including a theory of change.”
The Programme includes the increased involvement of the private sector in developing viable value chains for food crops. At the same time, a regional hub that will support, synthesize and promote learning across the network of countries will improve access to knowledge from scientific institutions and help inform policy options and investment opportunities for managing ecosystem services in smallholder agriculture.
Margarita Astralaga, Director of IFAD’s Environment and Climate Division reiterated the importance of linking food production with ecosystems to protect the environment and to ensure that smallholder farmers reach markets.
“A key ingredient to the Food Security Integrated Approach Programme is the learning across the twelve country projects as well as its three components on institutional frameworks and policy, scaling-up integrated approaches, and on measuring collective impacts,” she noted.
To ensure effective implementation of the project, participants called for system-wide stakeholder engagement – from the field to the government – and the mapping of existing and previous projects to enable south-south learning. They also emphasized the need for technical support on improving stakeholder engagement, capacity development, strengthening institutions, monitoring systems, combining research and technology, scaling technologies, and communicating among stakeholders in participating countries and globally.
“The process has been very engaging, giving us insight for those who haven’t started on implementation (and) alignment with regional programmes, especially indicators and information on national and regional goals,” said Shamiso Nandi Najira of Malawi’s Ministry of Environment. “We look forward to working with the implementation agencies. Learning from others on what they are doing in their countries has been a good eye opener.”
“Taking resilient food security to scale means supporting innovation among millions of farmers over millions of hectares,” said Fergus Sinclair of the World Agroforestry Centre. “We have to go beyond simply promoting best bets, to supporting farmers as they experiment with new options in their own contexts, and then foster the sharing of that learning about what works where and for whom.”
The Food Security Integrated Approach Programme is aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals and the three Rio Conventions on biological diversity (CBD), to combat desertification (UNCCD) and on climate change (UNFCCC). It will be implemented in 12 countries including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.
Other Integrated Approach Programmes of the GEF are on Green Commodities Supply Chains and Sustainable Cities.
Also see:
GEF Integrated Approach Pilot: Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
IFAD Director presenting the Integrated Approach Pilot (IAP)
Showing posts with label ASAP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ASAP. Show all posts
GEF-funded programme on resilient food security targets smallholder farmers in 12 African countries
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
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South-South Cooperation and Capacity Building Sub-Regional M&E and Knowledge Management Workshop Manzini, 2017
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
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By Tiffany Minjauw
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| ©Tiffany Minjauw |
The International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) East and Southern Africa Division (ESA) , the IFAD funded Smallholder Market-led Project (SMLP), and the Microfinance Unit (MFU) in Swaziland jointly organised and facilitated a sub-regional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) workshop for ongoing IFAD funded projects in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Swaziland.
The workshop brought together staff (mainly M&E officers and Knowledge Management officers) from the Project Implementation Units. The objective of this workshop was to strengthen the planning, monitoring, evaluation and knowledge management functions of IFAD operations in the five countries by strengthening the technical understanding of the key concepts and by sharing experiences (good practices and challenges).
Held in Manzini from the 17-19 May 2017, the workshop provided theoretical and conceptual guidance, emphasizing real country level good practices. Clarifications were provided on the different monitoring and assessment mechanisms in place for different sources of funding, namely the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
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| ©Tiffany Minjauw |
The interactive nature of the workshop generated rich discussions and insights into methods to overcome challenges and achieve effective monitoring and evaluation.
By the end of the workshop, the 30 participants had a better understanding of the use of the Log Frame, of the measurement of outputs and impacts, and of the principles of the Results and Impact Management System (RIMS) and how to link it to the project M&E system.
"This is the first time that we have had specific training on M&E and K&M. Consultants provide support during implementation missions but it is never as in-depth as what we experienced here" - Rural Livelihoods and Economic Enhancement Programme (RLEEP) in Malawi.
"We like that IFAD, unlike many international organisations, is paying great attention to M&E. We hope that more workshops like this one will be organised periodically in the future" - Smallholder Agriculture Development Project (SADP) in Lesotho.
Par Marie-Clarisse Chanoine Dusingize
L'atelier a débuté par l'organisation d'un jeu de rôle. Cette animation ludique a été menée par l'équipe FIDA pour sensibiliser les participants à l’ampleur des impacts du changement climatique sur la sécurité alimentaire et sur le développement agricole et rural à Madagascar. Les participants ont donc pu incarner les rôles de responsables institutionnels et d'acteurs locaux en charge de la planification rurale sur une période de 5 ans. Grâce à cette simulation, ils ont ainsi dû décider d’investir soit dans les opérations courantes soit dans l’adoption de mesures innovantes afin de se prémunir contre les effets dévastateurs liés aux changements climatiques tels que les sècheresses et les inondations. Les participants ont pu expérimenter la prise de risque inhérente au statu quo – risque de famine en cas de sécheresse - et les coûts liés à l’adoption de mesures d’adaptation et d’atténuation aux changements climatiques - adoption de techniques et technologies innovantes et plus coûteux. Ce divertissement a suscité des discussions riches sur les enjeux inhérents au développement agricole et rural et les mesures d’adaptation locales.
L’atelier s’est poursuivi par des présentations courtes sur l’état environnemental et les changements climatiques à Madagascar, et plus particulièrement dans les régions du projet, Menabe et Melaky. Les intervenants ont mis en exergue les déterminants et les contraintes qui exacerbent la vulnérabilité des populations rurales causée par la dégradation environnementale et les changements climatiques. Ils ont ensuite émis des suggestions quant à la bonne mise en œuvre du projet. Pour garantir le succès du projet les participants ont recommandé, sur base de leurs expériences de terrain,, d’accentuer la mise en pratique des approches participatives, le partage et la mutualisation de la prise de risque inhérente à l’adoption d’innovation (partage des coûts), la vulgarisation et la diversification des semences améliorées, la promotion de la production intégrée (végétale, animale et la pêche) et le renforcement des capacités locales et des réseaux d’échanges des savoirs et des expériences.
Tchad: Les femmes actrices incontournables face au changement climatique
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
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©IFAD/WCA Échanges avec les femmes de Saraf sur les
effets du changement climatique et les techniques locales d’adaptation.
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Par Alice Brie
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©IFAD/Sarah Morgan femme allant remplir
ses seaux d’eau au puits.
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Pour les femmes, responsables à la fois des tâches domestiques et agricoles, la raréfaction des ressources naturelles et ces changements climatiques augmentent directement leurs charges de travail. Pour les habitantes de Mébra par exemple, la perte du couvert forestier les contraint à commencer leur journée à 3 heures du matin pour la corvée de bois et la collecte d’eau. L’ensablement de la route à Saraf rend lui l’acheminement des marchandises au marché de plus en plus difficile pour les désignées vendeuses.
Au Tchad comme dans la plupart des pays d’Afrique, les femmes n’ont par ailleurs que très peu accès aux ressources économiques et productives qui leur permettraient de rebondir et diversifier leurs activités face aux aléas climatiques. Dans les régions du Centre Ouest, seuls les hommes bénéficient de la propriété des terres. Le droit coutumier empêche les femmes d'hériter de la terre ou du bétail parce qu'elles quittent le clan de leur père pour se marier. En conséquence, les droits sur les ressources productives sont concentrés essentiellement entre les mains des ménages dirigés par des hommes, tandis que les ménages dirigés par des femmes tirent beaucoup moins de revenus des activités agricoles. Ces ménages sont beaucoup plus exposés aux facteurs de risques notamment climatiques qui à la longue entrainent la faim.
Des actrices incontournables pour la protection de l’environnement et la lutte contre la dégradation des terres
Les effets produits par le changement climatique entrainent la mise en place de stratégies innovantes, développées par les femmes, afin de mieux s’adapter et indirectement de protéger leurs environnements. Établissant des liens entre la désertification des sols, l’augmentation du temps de travail nécessaire à la corvée de bois et la disparition du couvert forestiers, les habitantes de Moito et de Mébra ont mis en œuvre des techniques efficaces, qui permettent de restaurer la fertilité des sols et d’économiser la quantité de bois nécessaire au ménage.
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©IFAD/WCA, Agricultrice arrosant ses
plants de salade grâce un puits maraicher financé par le PARSAT
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Les femmes plantent par exemple des arbres à proximité des cultures pour faire face à la désertification. Avec l’appui du PARSAT, elles intègrent plus particulièrement le rôle éco-systémique des arbres pour les sols grâce aux apports en matière organique et la régulation hydrologique qu’ils produisent. Des fagots de bois consommés, elles réutilisent le charbon afin de chauffer d’autres aliments, ce qui a pour effet de limiter l’usage de nouveaux fagots et indirectement de réduire leur impact sur les forêts avoisinantes. Elles établissent de même une planification détaillée de la répartition en eau par activité (cuisine, hygiène, de boisson) et les quantités nécessaires pour chacun des membres du ménage. Cela leur permet ainsi de réduire la quantité journalière d’eau prélevée, et surtout de limiter le nombre d’allers et retour jusqu’au forage. Dans certaines localités, les femmes observant une meilleure rétention des eaux de pluies dans les bas fonds, privilégient les travaux agricoles dans ces zones. Elles utilisent de même des semences à cycles courts ou précoces afin de s’adapter au démarrage tardif des pluies et obtenir de meilleurs rendements.
Soutenir l’autonomisation des agricultrices pour renforcer la résilience des ménages
Kadidja, elle, a pris sa décision juste après que son mari soit parti en exil. En novembre, elle a rejoint un groupement d’agriculteurs soutenu par le PARSAT. Kadidja voit dans cette organisation paysanne composée de 27 membres dont dix femmes, « un objectif commun » : une meilleure gestion des bénéfices à travers un système d’épargne communautaire, qui lui permettra de mieux investir dans sa parcelle, d’augmenter sa production et le revenu de son ménage. Au sein du groupement deux femmes possèdent un rôle clé : Safi Issa est la comptable et Kadidja elle même s’occupe de la vente de la production. Le projet formera ces femmes en particulier au leadership et à la prise de parole afin qu’elles intègrent le comité de gestion agricole du groupement et qu’il prenne mieux en compte les besoins de son groupement et celui des autres femmes.
Kadidja voit aussi dans le PARSAT l’opportunité d’obtenir des formations techniques et un accès à des technologies agricoles pour qu’elle puisse s’adapter au mieux aux nouvelles contraintes climatiques auxquelles son milieu agricole doit faire face. Le FEM (Fonds pour l’Environnement Mondial), le FIDA avec l’ASAP (Programme d’adaptation de l’agriculture paysanne) appuieront à travers ce projet les ménages ruraux les plus vulnérables et en particulier les femmes afin d’accroître leur production agricole sur le long terme, de gérer les ressources naturelles et les écosystèmes agricoles de manière durable, mais aussi d’améliorer la conservation, la transformation et la commercialisation des produits animaux et agricoles, leur proposant ainsi des ressources complémentaires. L’approche est double puisque le projet inclut des mesures d’atténuation pour réduire les risques climatiques (notamment à travers la diffusion de données météorologiques), et des mesures d’adaptation afin de minimiser les effets du changement climatique. La combinaison de ces deux aspects permettra aux femmes d’améliorer leurs conditions d’existence et la sécurité alimentaire des ménages tout en leur donnant les moyens d’amortir l’impact de futurs chocs.
[1] Projet
d’amélioration de la résilience des systèmes agricoles au Tchad.
Written by Nerina Muzurovic
A changing climate and unpredictable weather have an enormous impact on food production. When people can’t grow food due to changing weather patterns, they migrate, threatening food security of entire countries.
The changes in the Al Haouz province of Morocco provide a good example of how local farmers’ resilience to climate change can be improved thanks to innovative technologies. Better irrigation has led to higher crop yields, increased available drinking water, and improved job opportunities for young people living in the area.
In 2009, an IFAD-financed project provided technical support to introduce drip irrigation technology, here. The new system allowed farmers to irrigate both the olive trees that are their main source of income, and the vegetables - fava beans, melons, green peas - that feed their families.
Just a year after the irrigation system was installed, farmers were already seeing results. Thanks to the irrigation, they no longer have to depend on the rain, and are now able to water their fields year round, including during the dry summer. Incomes stabilized, and migration decreased. The new vegetation also created a new micro-climate: The earth became softer and less dry, thanks to the plants, which also produce more oxygen.
Now, local farmers would like to further improve the irrigation system by installing solar water pumps.
On 13 November 2016, IFAD organized a press trip on the margins of the COP22 to three selected project sites in the Al Haouz province, about 50 km south of Marrakech. Reporters from international and national media outlets joined the trip, including Thomson Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, ORF, and VTM, as well as local TV and print media.
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| ©IFAD/N. Muzurovic |
A changing climate and unpredictable weather have an enormous impact on food production. When people can’t grow food due to changing weather patterns, they migrate, threatening food security of entire countries.
The changes in the Al Haouz province of Morocco provide a good example of how local farmers’ resilience to climate change can be improved thanks to innovative technologies. Better irrigation has led to higher crop yields, increased available drinking water, and improved job opportunities for young people living in the area.
An irrigation system changes the land—and lives
A decade ago, this stretch of land in a small village of Sidi Badhaj, located in Morocco’s mountainous Al Haouz region was completely barren: fallow ground, empty and dry.In 2009, an IFAD-financed project provided technical support to introduce drip irrigation technology, here. The new system allowed farmers to irrigate both the olive trees that are their main source of income, and the vegetables - fava beans, melons, green peas - that feed their families.
Just a year after the irrigation system was installed, farmers were already seeing results. Thanks to the irrigation, they no longer have to depend on the rain, and are now able to water their fields year round, including during the dry summer. Incomes stabilized, and migration decreased. The new vegetation also created a new micro-climate: The earth became softer and less dry, thanks to the plants, which also produce more oxygen.
Now, local farmers would like to further improve the irrigation system by installing solar water pumps.
Climate resilience brings jobs back to rural areas in Morocco
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| According to 30 year-old Mr Abdelatif El Badaoui, Treasurer of the Amghrass cooperative, “Young people used to migrate to the city for work,” he said. “Now, they can help provide support to farmers.” ©IFAD/N. Muzurovic |
The Agricultural Value Chain Development Project in the Mountain Zones of Al-Haouz Province also introduced a specially-designed model that trained young people to become agricultural service providers. The approach was effective: farmers are now paying for agricultural support themselves. As a result, young service people are able to earn 228,000 Moroccan dirham (equivalent to 22,000 euro) for four months of work. Today, some 17 youth are employed by the Sidi Badhaj cooperative as agricultural service providers: seven women and ten men. There are seven service provider groups (équipes metiers) in total in the nearby rural communes.
Agricultural support providers are organized through an agricultural cooperative. This has had an important impact on young people, who used to have to migrate to the city in order to find work.
Now, young people are trained by the provincial directorate of agriculture. In addition to vocational training, they also receive technical equipment and machinery. This allows them, in return, to provide support to farmers. They help with everything from equipment to work that directly involves the olive trees: from treatment (to protect the trees from getting sick) to pruning.
As a result of their services, the productivity of olives has improved. For example, some 1,200 hectares of olive trees have been planted since 2010. Before, farmers in the area produced 20 kg per tree; today, production has increased to 120 kg per tree. The quality of oil has also improved. Some 90 per cent of the producers are adopting new approaches to pruning, collecting olives and storing them. Electrical machinery to collect olives, as well as scissors, are among the equipment provided by the project.
Now that the farmers’ awareness of the benefits of the services of the young service providers has increased, many have entered into yearly contracts with the young people. The lives of the young service providers have improved, and they are not thinking of migrating.
Do women and men do the same type of work? “Before women used to work at home, and now they are participating increasingly in these activities as a family activity," explained one of the farmers. The work that women do include: collection, pruning, plant protection treatment, fertilizer application, and other tasks.
Producers, we learned, are interested in renewable energies. They have provided a business plan for installation of solar water pumps to replace the motor pumps they are now using.
What about climate change? “Everything used to be dry,” said Mr Abdelatif El Badaoui. “Now, thanks to micro-climactic change due to vegetation and green cover, the rain has come back.” Still, locals are noticing decreasing and infrequent precipitation, drought and floods.
Adaptation to climate change and soil conservation
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| The ravines, at this site, are a perfect example of soil erosion—a good point of contrast to the visible improvement of the plant cover nearby. ©IFAD/N. Muzurovic |
A visit to Amghrass highlighted project impact on climate change and soil conservation. Originally, this area was used as grazing land. However, it became eroded, and farmers no longer earned income from pastoral activities and livestock here.
Before the project, this site was an eroded, marginal zone. However, with the IFAD-funded project, terracing was introduced, which allowed for water retention and cultivation of olive trees.
The ravines, at this site, are a perfect example of soil erosion—a good point of contrast to the visible improvement of the plant cover nearby.
The overall land coverage of the project is 200,000 hectares, benefiting 700 rural people on 4 to 6 hectares of land.
How has life changed for people in Al Haouz?
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| Ms Tahra Ait Benazou, cooperative Tiwizi (first one on the right), “The young people are here, now. I have three sons. They are here with me, and they work in the field and in the cooperative.” ©IFAD/A. Valentini |
The project owes much of its success to the participatory approach it adopted for implementation, in which local communities were first asked to identify their needs. These needs were then supported by the IFAD project, whose irrigation system helped locals improve their lives, helped reduce poverty and helped preserve the environment.
There is no arguing, that climate change has made itself felt, here: “There is one good year in every five years,” said one farmer. “Last year was a dry year.”
“All our projects are designed by and for beneficiaries. Thus, they are naturally adapted to local and cultural contexts. What we have found is that the people supported by our projects need to see with their own eyes that there will be a benefit to the type of services they would receive. They need to be convinced that there will be results before they decide to join in the activities. Once they are convinced, they are in the driving seat,” said Ms Khalida Bouzar, Director of the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division.
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| Ms Najia Ghouat (third from the left): “When my daughter needs to buy a book, she no longer asks her father for money. She comes to me. The work at the cooperative gave me a greater sense of responsibility.” ©IFAD/N. Muzurovic |
On 13 November 2016, IFAD organized a press trip on the margins of the COP22 to three selected project sites in the Al Haouz province, about 50 km south of Marrakech. Reporters from international and national media outlets joined the trip, including Thomson Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, ORF, and VTM, as well as local TV and print media.
Fisheries and aquaculture are important contributors to food security and
livelihoods. Fish provide essential nutrition for 3 billion people and 50 per
cent of protein and essential minerals for 400 million people, mainly in poor
countries (FAO, 2014). Many poor rural people rely on fisheries and aquaculture
as their primary source of income and food security. Fisheries also contribute
to household resilience and a reduced vulnerability to natural hazards and
economic uncertainty.
What is the issue?
Climate change is having a devastating effect on the sea.
“90 per cent of the heat being produced as a result of climate
change is stored in the oceans, with 60 per cent in the upper 600m of surface
waters,” said Manuel Barange, Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture at FAO.
The surface waters are where all the resources
live. Climate change is bleaching corals, raising sea level, increasing the
temperature and changing the pH of the oceans. None of this is good news for
the myriad of life which calls the ocean home, or the people who rely on it.
But it is not always negative; climate change can also affect areas
in positive ways. In colder regions temperature rises actually lead to an
increase in production, but in the tropics, it can lead to death, migration,
lower yields and changes in species. Species
migration will lead to the greatest reductions in catches from inshore coastal
waters where small-scale fishers operate.
“Species have temperature tolerance windows,
when the temperature changes, they have only two options, move with the window or
stay. Staying can have devastating effects, skewered distributions, changes in
reproduction seasons, and death. Changes in reproduction seasons means that our
current management tools, such as closure of fishing grounds in reproduction
season, will no longer be effective,” Added Barange.
When it comes to the species on coral reefs – the
reef cannot move – so when the temperature changes the negatively affected
habitat disappears.
IFAD knows that we don’t know everything, but
we know enough to act.
What can we do?
Fish is crucial for food security. More fish is
eaten than pork, than chicken. With twelve per cent of the world depending on
fisheries, how do we support communities and families through these changes?
We need to promote adaptation techniques, disseminate
knowledge and put into practice other climate smart solutions. These can vary massively
depending on the location. Fisheries can change the species they catch, to more
abundant or local species. New innovative equipment can be made available,
which limits the fisheries impact on the oceans. Alternatively, fisheries can
reduce theirs yields, but opt for a higher quality of fish which would enable their
incomes to be least affected.
In Djibouti, IFAD has tackled the problem as part of its US$ 55 million portfolio there, making fisheries a key element of its natural resource management program. Results are already positive: IFAD’s management and protection of over 50 per cent of local coastal habitats as well as some 70 per cent of local coral reefs has improved abundance of species, and generated better reliability in capture rate.
Further, IFAD has designed geospatial mapping systems to monitor key ecosystems, such as mangrove forests and coral reefs, geared towards supporting healthy fisheries’ value chains. These geospatial tools have already provided a more precise picture of the country’s mangroves, which protect coastal communities from climate hazards.
“Right now, the Government in Djibouti is using this information to take the next steps: Rehabilitating mangroves and fish breeding grounds, while providing fishing communities with credit to buy boats and equipment,” said IFAD's Jacopo Monzini.
In Djibouti, IFAD has tackled the problem as part of its US$ 55 million portfolio there, making fisheries a key element of its natural resource management program. Results are already positive: IFAD’s management and protection of over 50 per cent of local coastal habitats as well as some 70 per cent of local coral reefs has improved abundance of species, and generated better reliability in capture rate.
Further, IFAD has designed geospatial mapping systems to monitor key ecosystems, such as mangrove forests and coral reefs, geared towards supporting healthy fisheries’ value chains. These geospatial tools have already provided a more precise picture of the country’s mangroves, which protect coastal communities from climate hazards.
“Right now, the Government in Djibouti is using this information to take the next steps: Rehabilitating mangroves and fish breeding grounds, while providing fishing communities with credit to buy boats and equipment,” said IFAD's Jacopo Monzini.
Whilst the answer is not one hundred per cent
clear Barange is sure that, “any solution will need to include the migration of
people, and we need to facilitate that migration. At certain times, people will
need to travel to where the fish are.“
Farmers' Day at COP22
Marrakech saw IFAD and CGIAR's research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture
and Food Security (CCAFS) host a side
event on the “Economic advantage of agriculture in Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDCs)” to complement the release of a new IFAD funded
publication “The
Economic Advantage”.
Laurie Goering from the Thomson-Reuters Foundation asked how
do you show donors, who have a lot of people knocking on their doors for
funding, that what you are doing is actually going to work and is it worthwhile?
We are seeing lots of new research which says putting money
into agriculture is worth it and IFAD commissioned The Economic Advantage
report to prove just that. It found that farmers could earn a return of between
US$1.40 and $2.60 for each dollar invested over a 20-year period by applying
climate change adaptation practices.
Sonja Vermeulen from CCAFS explained that agriculture has
taken ages to get on the
negotiating table.
"Almost every country now includes agriculture in their
NDCs,” Vermeulen said. “This gives us a whole new platform for action.”
"So far the information is patchy and this report is not
the definitive answer," according to Vermeulen. "But it does contain
a lot of guiding information which will help development agencies and
governments if they implement it into their own work."
Linking agriculture and climate change to a monetary value
is extremely difficult. For example, El Niño hit the wine industry in South
America, but in New Zealand it actually benefitted it.
“Agriculture is the life of the Ugandan people, hence its
prioritisation,” said Chebet Maikut, Commissioner of the Climate Change Department
of the Ugandan ministry of Water and Environment. He explained that in Uganda in
the next five years US$476 million will be spent on climate smart agriculture.
From a climate change perspective, agriculture has a number
of co-benefits in contributing to emission reductions. The Ugandan government found
that the cost of not addressing climate change impacts would be in the region
of US$406 million by 2025, and if still no action was taken that number would
rise exponentially into the billions over the coming years.
“As such 30 per cent of our budget in the next 15 years will
be mobilised to fight this,” concluded Maikut.
Alongside farm-level actions are a further set of
non-technical mitigation and adaptation interventions, which are just as
important but more difficult to quantify and value, says the report. These
include capacity building, institutional strengthening, access to value chains
and research. These climate resilient practices also have a demonstrated effect
on food security both locally and globally.
IFAD's Ilaria Firmian discussed IFAD’s Adaptation for
Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) which
currently has over 40 projects. She talked about how IFAD embeds indicators
into the project monitoring and evaluation system. Depending on the type of
interve
ntion, they can track certain outcomes more specifically. For instance, they may monitor outcomes of farm income.
“We can identify real opportunities with real payback, which
a few years ago couldn’t have happened!” continued Firmian.
“It is very tricky to put a value on certain adaptation
techniques, such as investing in a women’s groups or cooperatives. However, this
study shows that these investments are still very important though," added
Firmian.
IFAD is committed to working with farmer’s organisations - when
cooperatives become successful, a whole country can be transformed.
At the farm level, positive economic returns can be
demonstrated for several practices that build adaptive capacity and reduce
emissions intensity such as innovative rice cropping in Vietnam, or switching
from growing coffee to cocoa in Nicaragua.
Laurie Goring closed the session saying, “I think we have to
keep in mind when discussing this, the cost of not investing. The numbers are so much higher; it has to contribute
to the case for making this happen.”
Building Women’s Resilience to Climate Change: Lessons from smallholder farmers
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
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By Alessia Valentini
How to “get real” about investments in gender equality in agriculture was the theme of today’s side event at COP22 on Building Women’s Resilience to Climate Change.
How to “get real” about investments in gender equality in agriculture was the theme of today’s side event at COP22 on Building Women’s Resilience to Climate Change.
The event brought speakers from CARE International, the CGIAR's Climate
Change Agriculture and Food Security Programme (CCAFS) and the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), shared
their experiences and lessons learned on promoting gender equality, looked at
what is being done in practice and proposed ways to strengthen gender equality
and women’s empowerment in agriculture adaptation programmes.
The main message conveyed by the panellists was that the impacts of
climate change and climate variability are differentiated by gender. In fact, investments
in smallholder agriculture, which are designed to improve resilience to climate
change, are often significantly gender biased in terms of specific activities
undertaken. This has implications on income sources and opportunities,
livelihood diversification, access to and control over resources and benefits,
and on the quality of life for men and women.
Emma Bowa shared experiences on CARE’s gender-responsive actions and
said that climate change comes with opportunities which we should make
accessible to women.
“What is important is to ensure that men and women sit down and make
decisions together to improve their relationships and obtain better results,” said
Bowa.
Ilaria Firmian presented IFAD’s gender policy and shared lessons learnt
from the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP).
“IFAD’s gender policy is based on promoting economic empowerment,
enabling women and men to have an equal voice and influence in rural
institutions and organisations, and achieve a more equitable balance in
workload,” said Firmian. “The design of IFAD’s ASAP-supported projects is
gender-sensitive and follows the agency’s gender policy objectives. However,
the imperative for IFAD now is to build a clear understanding of how gender
considerations in design translate into practice.”
Nearly one year after the watershed COP21 Climate Summit in
Paris, governments have once again convened in Marrakech, Morocco for COP22 to
move forward with the Paris Agreement and take stock of their collective
efforts to curb dangerous climate change.
IFAD is here at COP22, making the case for investing in
smallholder farmers, both to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
particularly reaching zero hunger by 2030 (SDG2) and ensuring that smallholders
are adequately supported so they can afford to adapt to changing climate
patterns that will continue to impact on global food production.
"The rapid entry
into force of the Paris Agreement is unprecedented and sends a powerful signal
of the world’s commitment to combatting climate change,” said COP21 President
Segolene Royal as she opened COP22.
COP22 President Salaheddine welcomed everyone to the Red
City, commenting how his country has spared no effort to provide the best
possible conditions for this global event to ensure its success.
He said that holding the COP on African soil shows the
continents commitment to reinforcing resilient ecosystems. He stressed that
this effort would involve everyone and all countries, as, "the sun does
not ignore a village just because it is small"" and all are affected
by the blight of climate change.
"Let us make no mistake as to what is at stake here,’’
continued Salaheddine,"I call on you to be more ambitious during this
conference on our commitments, working together to finalise the support mechanisms
and expertise at every level from local to transboundary projects. This must be
done through win-win partnerships. At stake now is not only climate change but
civilisation and economic development. We must now promote sustainable
development models which are innovatory and can transform the world, including
the south."
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that this is
the second COP in the shadow of the mighty Atlas Mountains. The city where the
Marrakech accords were founded, and that just days ago, the Paris Agreement
came into action here uniting parties
and stakeholders.
"We have embarked to change the course of two centuries
of carbon emissions,’’ Espinosasaid. , "Marrakech is our moment to take
forward climate action at both the international and national levels. Our work
is far from done. Together we can
deliver the promise of Paris to billions of people on this planet, both today
and for tomorrow.’’
Hoesung Lee talked of how COP22 is to be the COP of action.
There was an upbeat atmosphere as the Mayor of Marrakech
closed the opening ceremony, again welcoming everyone and calling for ambitious
negotiations and for everyone to build on last year’s successful talks. The
ceremony closed with a special performance by a local traditional Moroccan
drumming group, “Ostina Tono,”, which drew great applause and cheers as the
COP22 officially kicked off.
Enhancing adaptation capabilities of small-scale farmers to climate change
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
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At
the Forty-third session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 43),
participants met for an event where “Making
a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition” was the subject of discussion.
The
event was facilitated by Mark Davis, FAO Deputy Director of the Climate and
Environment Division. It was a fairly informal panel with representatives from
each of the Rome Based Agencies, and a representative from the World Farmers
Organisation. The panel included: Alexandre Meybeck, Senior Policy Officer on
Agriculture at FAO; Roshan Cooke, Regional Environment and Climate Change specialist at IFAD
; Tania Osejo, Climate Adaptation Specialist at WFP; and Mr Dyborn Chibonga,
Chief Executive Officer at the National Smallholder Farmers Association on
Malawi. During the side event,
panellists focused on experiences from local climate adaptation efforts to
combat hunger and malnutrition.
Mark
Davis opened by saying ''With a changing climate, agriculture needs to change
way it operates too.''
In
light of the Paris Agreement, rural communities and farmers have been urged to take the lead as efficient agents of change to
enhance adaptation capabilities to the negative impacts of climate change to
food security and nutrition.
The
event also reviewed elements in various country–led
climate adaptation plans, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions
(INDCs) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).
Ten
INDCs actually name IFAD specifically as contributing towards their national
adaptation priorities in the agriculture sector. “We need to move towards
diversification for farmers - away from monoculture'', said Roshan Cooke,
adding,'' Good results are already coming in from our adaptation work with
smallholders."
Alexandre
gave the FAO view by saying ''We need a multi stakeholder approach to working
with countries on their INDC targets and
priorities that leverages each agency’s comparative advantages..''
Tania
admitted that reaching the Sustainable Development Goals would put the
Rome-based Agencies out of business. Achieving zero hunger would mean WFP had done its job.
Unfortunately we are not there yet. So in the meantime, 'we are trying to facilitate
adaptation planning processes whilst linking communities to market and social
infrastructure.''
I have just returned from
Mozambique where I was lucky enough to see the latest in IFAD's cooking and
climate series, Recipes for
Change, being filmed. The newest recipe, Caldeirada
De Cabrito Com Mandioca, is a goat and
cassava curry. It was was cooked by a local farmer, Helina Paulo, and famous Mozambican
chef, Rogerio Matusse. Rogerio has his own catering company and is a regular
presenter on Mozambican TV, also hosting a Mozambican tourism show.
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Chef Rogerio and
Helina cooking together ©IFAD
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IFAD works in Mozambique
through its PROSUL
project, fighting the effects of climate change on smallholder farmers. Farmers
like Helina are facing problems with drier soils, higher temperatures and
increased droughts. Water shortages and lack of irrigation also contribute to
the difficulties facing smallholders. All this is combining to reduce yields,
increase wastage and ultimately hurt farmers’ incomes.
The PROSUL project has split itself into three separate
streams to help tackle these issues- horticulture, red meat and cassava. Each
segment has its own set of actions, which complement each other and ultimately
ensure traditional dishes like caldeira
de cabrito com mandioca will stay on the menu in Mozambique. The red meat
stream is ensuring the health of goats by introducing new raised goat shelters,
that stop goats catching diseases when it floods. The cassava and horticulture
focused parts, are introducing new planting techniques, seed species and
irrigation systems to ensure vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers and
cassava are protected.
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| Water irrigation system at the Wapsala Association ©IFAD |
Through the project cassava processing plants, like the one
in the picture below, are being built. In these plants farmers are diversifying
incomes by creating cassava flour, cassava cakes and biscuits and in some areas
selling the surplus cassava they’ve grown to breweries who make beer from it.
Where is the cassava surplus coming from?
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Intercropping with cassava and cowpea ©IFAD
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The project has been introducing new cassava to households.
This new cassava survives on far less water than traditional cassava, which is
crucial in low rainfall or drought years. Additionally, this new cassava is
more resistant to diseases and pests.
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| Helina measuring out the distance between crops ©IFAD |
Farmers are also
being taught the latest adaptation techniques to cope with climate change. One
technique is to identify cassava which is infected with pests and diseases and
ensure that farmers remove these. Traditionally farmers have not wanted to
remove any cassava as this would mean a loss of product. However through farmer
field schools, farmers have been taught how early identification and removal of
affected crops actually preserves yields. Traditionally a farmer would plant
cassava and after a year would harvest. But with the new techniques such as
intercropping this has allowed farmers to plant crops with a far shorter
growing cycle than cassava on the same plot. This means that they can harvest
and sell the other crops while waiting for the cassava to mature, bolstering
incomes. Also as the secondary crops such as cowpea grow they provide shade to
the cassava and retain soil moisture which both help the cassava to grow large
and healthy.
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| Wapsala Association meeting ©IFAD |
Helina is part of the Wapsala Farmers Association. It is a
group of smallholder farmers that regularly meet to share knowledge and lessons
learned. They meet at the Association’s headquarters, which is surrounded by
their own plots. The headquarters also doubles as the cassava processing plant.
Helina said that by using these new techniques all the farmers at the Wapsala
Association have seen big increases in their yields. Using the project's
market connections they have also found reliable markets to sell their produce.
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| Creating cassava flour at the Wapsala processing plant ©IFAD |
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| Cassava processing plant in Wapsala ©IFAD |
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| Grinding cassava in the Wapsala processing plant ©IFAD |
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| Cassava flour biscuits, one of the new revenue streams for the Wapsala Association ©IFAD |
To celebrate this year’s World Environment Day, the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) brought together
international experts to look at sustainable land management (SLM).
The discussion on June 5 was part of IFAD’s Environment and Climate Divisions
Climate Lecture Series, which highlights environmental issues facing farmers in
developing countries and promotes some of the solutions that IFAD is supporting
to achieve a food secure future.
Among the panellists was IFAD Vice-President, Michel
Mordasini, IFAD’s Environment and Climate Division Director, Margarita
Astralaga and the Director of World Overview of Conservation Approaches and
Technologies (WOCAT), Hanspeter Liniger.
Representing the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), Jeroen Van Dalen presented a global overview of the current state of SLM, and UNCCD’s approaches for scaling up SLM
globally. He tied UNCCD work closely to that of IFAD, stressing the importance
of food security.
''In the new definition by UNCCD of land degradation, food security
is part of it. It shows how important it is,'' Said Van Dalen.
WOCAT Hanspeter Liniger gave an overview of the recent IFAD grant to WOCAT.
This grant is being used to scale-up adoption of SLM in three
pilot countries.
''Our ultimate beneficiaries are the land users,” said
Liniger “We don’t make the change, they do.”
“There is so much experience available, it is criminal if we
don’t use it for the benefit of the people.''
A recording of the lecture can be seen here.
Recipes for Change
On World Environment Day, IFAD also launched its latest
episode of Recipes for Change, a web tv series where top chefs raise public
awareness by cooking foods that are threatened by climate change and show how
IFAD is helping farmers adapt,
The episode featured Italian celebrity chef, Carlo Cracco, who
recently visited an IFAD-supported project in Kandal province in southern
Cambodia. While there, he met Cambodian farmer Somreth Sophat and cooked a
traditional Cambodian recipe, Somlar Kako.
“Climate change is a
fact,” said Cracco. “Perhaps we can slow it down, but we cannot stop it. So we
must help those people who work the land so that there is a change in the way
we fight the battle of climate change.”
Rice, a staple food in Asia, counts for almost 80 per cent
of farmland in Kandal province, but frequent droughts and damaging floods mean
farmers here have seen harvests halved. See the full video here.
By Eric Patrick
On 9 June,
Ms Margarita Astralaga, Director of the Environment and Climate Division, delivered
a presentation on the Integrated Approach Pilot (IAP) to the Council members of
the Global Environment Facility (GEF). IFAD is the Lead Agency for the Food
Security IAP in Sub-Saharan Africa. The other two GEF IAPs on Green
Commodities Supply Chains and Sustainable Cities are led by the United Nations Development
Programme and World Bank respectively. The Food Security IAP comprises 12
country projects and one cross cutting knowledge/capacity building project for
a total value of $116m in GEF grants and $700m in co-financing, including IFAD
loans with which the grants are tightly blended.
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| ©IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon |
The
objective of this IAP is to demonstrate how food production by smallholders can
be enhanced while also improving the environmental health of soil, water and
agro-biodiversity; the basis of smallholders’ production system, their natural
capital and typically principal asset. The outcome of this 5 year program
will be the scaling up of these approaches both through the 12 country projects
and through influencing the policy discourse on agriculture and food security
in the region.
The
presentation by IFAD was well received by Council Members, including by
representatives of sub-regional constituencies of African countries, who also
expressed the desire of non IAP countries to benefit from this program in the
future; indicating a high level of support and demand for this approach. In response to Council's query on modalities to address challenges faced
by the IAP, Ms. Astralaga clarified that the coordination arrangements of the cross
cutting knowledge/capacity building project would instill collaborative efforts
with key actors engaged in food security issues to optimize the diverse
capabilities and opportunities available.
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| ©IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon |
The GEF is
a fund intended to assist Member States meet their obligations and commitments
under the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification Conventions and
other Multilateral Environmental Agreements. This IAP is innovative because
it promotes integration among sectors on food security and directly links to
development objectives. IFAD has been a GEF Agency since 2004, with the
current GEF cycle worth $3.4b. The IAP modality will be evaluated in 2017 and
if found to be promising will become a prominent instrument in subsequent GEF
cycles.
VISITE D’ECHANGES DU PROJET PAPAM/ASAP DU MALI AU RWANDA DU 08 AU 15 MAI 2016
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
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By
Souleymane DOUMBIA
Sur
financement du FIDA, j’ai participé, accompagné d’une forte délégation, à une visite d’échanges du 08 au 15 mai 2016
au RWANDA entre le projet Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture
Program (ASAP) du Mali et le projet KIREHE Comunity-Based Watershed
Management Project (KWAMP), du RWANDA, sur le thème « la mise en place et
la maintenance des systèmes Flexi-Biogaz ». La délégation du projet ASAP
Mali était composée du Responsable du projet, de deux Agents bioénergie, de
quatre bénéficiaires de bio-digesteurs et de moi-même (Responsable Gestion des
Savoirs et Communication).
La visite
d’échanges s’est déroulée dans la ville de KIGALI et dans le District de
KIREHE.
A KIGALI,
au siège du projet KWAMP, nous avons tenu une réunion au cours de laquelle nous
avons présenté et échangé sur les approches de mise en œuvre des deux projets et
entendu les témoignages des bénéficiaires de bio-digesteurs du projet ASAP.
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Réunion
entre le projet ASAP et le projet KWAMP à KIGALI
|
Les
échanges m’ont permis de constater des différences dans les approches de mise
en œuvre des deux projets, notamment :
Les cibles :
le projet KWAMP cible des familles de 2 à 3 membres (pour les Flexibles) et de
3 à 5 membres (pour les dômes fixes)
tandis que les bénéficiaires de bio-digesteur du projet ASAP au Mali sont des
ménages dont la taille moyenne est de 24 membres d’où les différences dans les volumes
des bio-digesteurs;
Les types d’élevages : Intensif au RWANDA et extensif au MALI.
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| Elevage intensif (RWANDA) |
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| Elevage extensif (MALI) |
La contribution des bénéficiaires : En espèces pour le projet KWAMP et en nature pour
ASAP Mali.
La mission
s’est ensuite rendue dans le district de KIREHE, où sont installés les
bio-digesteurs, pour être en contact direct avec les bénéficiaires et les
techniciens du projet KWAMP.
Les
visites de terrain dans les secteurs de RUBAYA, GATORE, NYARUBUYE et KAGOYE ont
permis à la mission : i) d’assister
au montage d’un bio-digesteur flexible de type Kenyan ; ii) de découvrir et de
tester le mélangeur de bouse avec l’eau ; iii) de voir des bio digesteurs
(dômes et flexibles) ; iv) de comprendre la technique d’utilisation du
digestat et de visiter des bananeraies fertilisées avec le digestat ; et v)
d’échanger avec les techniciens et les bénéficiaires sur le système biogaz.
A l’issue des différentes étapes de la visite
de terrain, j’ai appris beaucoup de
leçons et de bonnes pratiques sur l’utilisation et la maintenance du système
biogaz (montage, alimentation du digesteur, utilisation du gaz et la gestion du
digestat). Aussi, j’ai été édifié par les bénéficiaires et les techniciens sur
les avantages et les contraintes liés au système biogaz ainsi que les conseils
pratiques d’entretien et de maintenance du système biogaz.
En
marge de la visite des bio-digesteurs, nous avons visité un micro-barrage pont
qui se situe sur un bassin versant. Réalisé par le projet KWAMP en 2011, le
micro-barrage est toujours en très bon état. Le micro-barrage irrigue 172 ha
que 740 ménages exploitent pour la culture du riz. J’ai remarqué l’aménagement
des berges du bas-fond avec des mesures antiérosives (cordons pierreux et
reboisement).
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Micro-barrage
pont réalisé par KWAMP sur financement FIDA à KIREHE
|
J’ai
beaucoup appris de cette visite d’échanges au RWANDA sur le système biogaz.
Elle a permis aux deux projets d’échanger leurs expériences sur les bio
digesteurs, de partager les avantages du biogaz et de comparer les types
d’élevage pratiqué pour alimenter les bio digesteurs. J’exhorte le FIDA à
multiplier de telles visites entre des projets du sud qui ont les mêmes centres
d’intérêt pour les transferts de compétences. Vivement d’autres visites
d’échanges pour le partage d’expériences entre projets du sud.
