Putting small-scale farmers first: Updates from One Acre Fund
One Acre Fund recently contributed a FILED UNDER: blog, General Blog, Blog entry, Agriculture, Rural, Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda
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Location:
The QED Group, LLC
1250 Eye St., NW
11th Floor
Washington, DC
United States
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Special Seminar
Presenter(s):
Francis Chabari
CNFA
Jurjen Draaijer
CNFA
John McPeak
Syracuse University
Date:
May 17, 2012 - 9:00am - 12:00pm
FILED UNDER:
Agriculture, Livestock, Risk Management, Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa, Global Livestock Discussion Group, Special Seminar , Seminar, Blended
Presenter Bio(s):
Francis Chabari
CNFA
Francis Chabari is a senior livestock expert with over 43 years of experience working with pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in livestock research and managing development programs. He is a regionally recognized expert on pastoral livestock issues and livestock products marketing and has spent his career addressing the constraints and challenges facing pastoralist communities in Kenya. He currently holds the position of Chief of Party of the USAID-funded Kenya Drylands Livestock Development program, a livestock value chain program focusing on enhancing household incomes and food security of the pastoralists of north eastern Kenya. Before joining CNFA, he worked for Tufts University as Chief of Party of the Pastoral Areas Coordination, Analysis and Policy Support (PACAPS) program of the Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas, a program funded by USAID-East Africa. He has also worked with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). He started his career as an Agricultural Officer with the Government of Kenya. He holds a Masters in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelors in Range Management from New Mexico State University.
Jurjen Draaijer
CNFA
An expert in livestock production with over 20 years work experience, Jurjen Draaijer currently works for CNFA as Livestock Team Leader in USAID funded Partnership for Economic Growth based in Hargeisa, Somaliland. He has been working in the livestock sector focusing on pastoralism and drought preparedness throughout the Horn of Africa for over six years. Before joining CNFA, he was working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations since 1998. He has extensive experience in a range of developing countries in Latin America, Near-East, Asia, and Africa, and has particular specializations in small scale dairy production, animal nutrition, pastoralism, and pastoral field schools. He is an accredited trainer in LEGS (livestock emergency guidelines and standards). He received his MSc from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
John McPeak
Syracuse University
John McPeak is currently an associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He teaches microeconomics and development economics at the graduate level. He spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. He received his master’s and PhD from the graduate program in agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducting field work in northern Kenya that served as the basis for his dissertation. After receiving his doctorate in 1999, he took a post-doctoral research associate position with Cornell University assigned to work in Kenya with the USAID / GL-CRSP funded Pastoral Risk Management Project. After three years of field work with this project he joined the faculty of Syracuse University in 2002. He has served as a consultant for DfID, UNDP, and the International Livestock Research Institute. He has continued to conduct research in Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Mali largely focused on livestock production, marketing, and livestock crop interactions, and recently published in collaboration with Peter Little and Cheryl Doss the book Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy: Livelihoods in Pastoralist Communities. McPeak is currently a co-PI for the Livestock-CC CRSP’s MLPI-2 project in Mali.
One Acre Fund Semi-Annual Performance Reports
Organization(s):
Every six months, One Acre Fund pulls together a performance report that provides its donors with an honest view of the organization's progress. Its most recent report, for the six months ending October 2011, discusses the following accomplishments:
- Grew program size from 54,000 farm families to 75,000 farm families, serving more than 300,000 children.
- Had its tenth harvest, increasing take-home farm income by 100% per acre, with 98% of farmers repaying program fees.
- Covered 77% of field costs through farmer repayments, exceeding the 2011 goal of 75%.
The report briefly concludes with One Acre Fund's vision for the future and great enthusiasm to create life change for 180,000 families in the next 24 months.
Download the current and past performance reports at right.
ICT and AG Profile: Kilimo Salama
Author(s):
Organization(s):
Supported by USAID’s Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies (FACET) project under the FIELD-Support LWA, this profile feautures Kilimo Salama, an indexed micro-insurance service for smallllholder farmers using mobile phones in Kenya. The service is unique in that farmers purchase insurance against either drought or excessive rain through local agro-dealers who then pass on the registration information. Farmers receive confirmation and weather information via SMS. This profile outlines how it works, the implementer/funder, the technology used, fees, primary markets, users, business model, and impact.
The FACET project aims to help USAID missions and their implementing partners in sub-Saharan Africa use information and communications technology in sustainable and scalable approaches to improve the impact of their agriculture related development projects.
Location:
USDA South Building
Room 3107
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC United States
Date:
Registration Deadline:February 8, 2012
Delivery Method:In-Person
Kenyan smallholder staple farmers have few options to increase their incomes outside of selling their produce, yet these farmers find maize marketing laden with challenges. Most of the thousands of small staple farmers in Kenya find themselves in a seasonal poverty cycle, despite having maize surpluses to sell. This seminar is an overview of a FAO field research project identifying attitudes and post-harvest marketing issues that underlie this cycle, making the transition from subsistence to “maize as a business” difficult. The project is partially supported by USDA.
Podcast: Designing an Effective Rural Finance Product to Improve Food Security for Livestock Traders in Kenya
Author(s):
Organization(s):
Institution(s):
FHI 360
Date Published:
September 30, 2011
As part of the Rural Agricultural Finance and Food Security (RAFFS) Practitioner Learning Program (PLP), Food for the Hungry (Kenya) collaborated with various stakeholders to develop a loan guarantee product for rural livestock traders in Northern Kenya. After conducting research on the livestock value chain in their project area, Food for the Hungry concluded that the rural finance products currently available did not adequately address the unique needs of their clients.
To address this gap, Food for the Hungry, in collaboration with Equity Bank, developed a loan guarantee product to assist rural livestock traders by providing them with needed capital to purchase additional livestock to sell in local markets. It was envisioned that the increase in income from improved sales would result in better household food security for the traders as well as positively affect the livestock value chain in Northern Kenya.
After conducting interviews with livestock traders, Equity Bank staff and representatives from the Kenya Meat Commission, Food for the Hungry created a podcast to document their experiences in creating a targeted rural finance product to improve food security along the value chain.
You can download the podcast or script at SEEP’s RAFFS web page.
About RAFFS: In 2010, the number of undernourished people worldwide topped 925 million. Among the many factors responsible for this figure are high domestic food prices, lower household incomes, and increasing unemployment, all of which have significantly reduced access to food for the poor. Research has shown that a healthy agricultural sector can provide an economic buffer during financial crises. In addition, financial services responding to the food security needs of rural households can lead to more successful outreach and have a greater impact on the poor.
The Rural Agriculture Finance and Food Security Practitioner Learning Program (RAFFS) is an action-learning project focused on approaches to and connections between rural and agricultural finance and household well-being, including food security. The envisioned impact is that rural households and enterprises will have increasing finance options that serve their needs and contribute to a vibrant rural economy both on and off the farm.
Location:
Washington, D.C.
1800 K St., NW
B1 Conference Center, Room C
Washington, DC United States
Date:
Registration Deadline:October 14, 2011
Delivery Method:In-Person
Event Host:Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa
Please join the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa as they host four African Ministers of Agriculture for a timely discussion on food security. The conversation will focus on Feed the Future implementation and how the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is shaping agricultural priorities. Additionally, panelists will discuss the role of the private sector in agriculture development and the potential of Africa's next generation of scientists working on agricultural research.
Date:
Delivery Method:In-Person
In rapid follow-up to the Emergency Ministerial-Level Meeting on the drought in the Horn of Africa held on 25 July 2011 at FAO headquarters in Rome, the Organization is inviting its member countries, and humanitarian and development partners to a second session in Rome on 18 August 2011 to respond to the deteriorating food situation in the Horn of Africa.
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USAID Special Seminar
Presenter(s):
Dr. Pedro Sanchez
Tropical Agriculture & the Rural Environment Program
Date:
November 9, 2009 - 9:30am
Nearly one sixth of the global population is malnourished. The problem is particularly acute in tropical Africa, where constant or recurrent food shortages affect over 30% of the population — over 260 million people. Low levels of agricultural productivity are a key cause of hunger in this part of the world. Decades of farming without adequate fertilizer and manure have stripped the soils of the vital nutrients needed to support plant growth.
Location:
QED Group LLC
1250 Eye Street
11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005 United States
Date:
Delivery Method:In-Person/Online
In this Breakfast Seminar sponsored by the USAID Microenterprise Development office, the speakers will present a framework that considers how gender influences behaviors in agricultural value chains with a particular focus on upgrading. They will discuss specific behaviors related to money management, business practices, and value chain relationships; why they are important; and implications for value chain programming. They will also give examples of gendered value chain behaviors from field work in Ghana and Kenya.
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