CHIPS Equip Potato Farmers with Business Skills

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1 CHIPS Equip Potato Farmers with Business Skills Calories and Household Income from Potato Sub-sector (CHIPS) has equipped smallholder farmers in Njombe and Mbeya regions with business skills by conducting Farmer Business School (FBS) for 32 trainers. The training of trainers (ToT) was held on 17 th to 28 th November, 2016 at JD hotel in Njombe. It involved participants from four Matching Grant Fund (MGF) partners namely: i) Njombe Agricultural Development Organization (NADO), Lusitu Agribusiness Group (LAG), Beula Seed Company Limited and Prince & Pierre Investment Limited plus collaborating partners from the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Centre Limited. FBS Trainers in session; November 2016 with the FBS participation certificates see figure 2. Potato farmer FBS trainees with their certificates in Lulanzi village; November 2016 According to Rogart Mmole, FBS master trainer, trained team is expected to train 4560 farmers by July 2017 in the Southern Highlands. FBS classes will help to improve potato farmers skills on use of standard measurements; farm record keeping and management; computing costs; revenue and profits/loss; saving; collective input procurement and potato marketing. It is targeted by CHIPS project to train 20,000 potato farmers through FBS classes by The training was conducted in 2 phases; the first theoretical session of in- class training took one week and the practical session took one week. The first week was termed Team Learning while the second was termed Peer Learning where 51 farmers (23 women) were trained and graduated in Lulanzi and Itulahumba villages. All trained farmers were awarded KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 1

2 Mr. Lameck Noah, Njombe Regional Agricultural Officer while officiating at the close of the FBS training and graduation ceremony; thanked CHIPS project for organizing the training, and encouraged the trainees to work closely with each other in delivering the trainings to the targeted farmers as instructed in the ToT class. FBS Trainers with their certificates Kilimo Trust CHIPS Project attempts to address acute shortage of clean potato seed for smallholder farmers in Tanzania Calories and Household Income from Potato Subsector (CHIPS) project plan to improve access to market preferred potato varieties for 20,000 smallholder farmers by June However, access to clean seed potato has proven a formidable challenge to surmount due to the acute shortage. In response to this, CHIPS project is improving local capacity by supporting Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Uyole to produce more volumes of pre-basic seed through the construction of two large greenhouses with combined capacity of 42,000 plantlets per cycle. It is expected that it will take up to July 2019 to avail the first batch of certified seeds to smallholder farmers. Potatoes in the green houses at Uyole In addition, the project is supporting a local Tanzanian seed Company Beula Seed Company to multiply and distribute clean potato seed in Mbeya. The support includes increasing the company s capacity in multiplication and distribution of certified seeds through installation of 2 new modern green houses and development of an out-grower smallholder scheme. It is expected that the company will start availing clean potato seed to over KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 2

3 200 out-grower smallholder farmers from mid2018 Preparation for seed multiplication at Beula Seeds The third intervention the project has tried out is the importation of clean potato seed from Kenya. The initiative was intended to achieve quick wins by directly importing certified seed for multiplication by smallholder farmers in Lushoto District under the auspices of Usambara Lishe Trust (ULT); a farmer Apex body. ULT was engaged as a MGF partner implementing CHIPS project in Tanga region. As part of the activities, a technical team visited Kenya in February 2017 to gauge the possibilities of importing seed into Tanzania. Some of the actors visited in Kenya included; Kisima Farm Limited, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KARLO), Sereni Fries Company Limited and several other private companies. Kisima Farm and KALRO agreed to supply 20.5MT of certified potato seed to ULT on condition that CHIPS project completed all the paperwork necessary for the importation. This was done, however, due difficulty in processing export permits and phytosanitary certificates to accompany the seed by Kenya s Kisima Farm and KALRO, the initiative was abandoned. The fourth initiative that Kilimo Trust has implemented is the gathering of stakeholders in the potato sector to brainstorm ideas on how to tackle the acute shortage of clean potato seed. To this end, Kilimo Trust organized a one-day meeting of potato stakeholders on 10th February 2017 in ARI- Uyole. Participants of seed potato stakeholders meeting; Feb 2017 The meeting involved MGF partners implementing CHIPS project activities, ARI Uyole, Agricultural Officer from the Embassy of Netherlands in Tanzania, Country Coordinator Tanzania of International Potato Center (CIP), private sector investors, Horti-Tengeru scientists and SAGCOT Centre Limited. One of the resolutions from the meeting was the establishment of a potato stakeholders platform to address policy issues in the potato sector. Kilimo Trust is taking the lead to identify other stakeholders for fast tracking establishment of the platform by the end of KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 3

4 Matching Grant Fund Sub-Projects Commissioned under CHIPS Project Five MGF sub-projects were commissioned under CHIPS Project during a oneday inception meeting organized by Kilimo Trust on 9 th February 2017 at Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Uyole. The 5 commissioned sub-projects are: a) Integrating Farmers & Vendors for Quality Chips (IFVQ) led by Prince & Pierre Investment Limited; working in Dar es Salaam and Rungwe districts intended to benefit 3000 farmers and 500 food vendors; e) Potato Marketing Improvement Project (PMIP) led by Registered trustees of Usambara Lishe Trust working in Lushoto and Bumbuli districts intended to benefit 2,030 farmers. The meeting was attended by Kilimo Trust, ARI-Uyole hosts and partners in the project and Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) - partners of CHIPS project; plus, representatives from the MGF partner organizations and companies. b) Potato crop Enhancement through Seed System Activation (PESSA) led by Beula Seed Company & Construction Limited; working in Mbeya Rural and Rungwe districts intended to benefit 2,500 smallholder farmers; c) Potato Market Linkages Enhancement Project (PMALEP) led by Njombe Agricultural Development Organization(NADO) working in Wanging ombe, Ludewa, Makete and Makambako districts to benefit 2,500 farmers and 1400 Small Retailers and Vendors (SRVs); d) Lusitu Potato Pack House and Potato Marketing Project(LUPPAMP) led by Lusitu Agribusiness Group working in Lusitu and intended to benefit 1,688 farmers in Njombe town council and; Participants of CHIPS inception meeting In her presentation to participants Dr. Mary Shetto, the Team Leader of Kilimo Trust Tanzania encouraged participants to team up to work together towards achieving project targets in timely manner. In his remarks, Dr. Benjamin Kiwovele, Southern Highland Zonal Research Coordinator appreciated the initiatives of CHIPS project and the approach used in linking value chain actors in each consortium so that together they achieve project goals. Other important issues KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 4

5 discussed in the meeting included; quality and timely delivery, cooperation among partners, quality of MEL (Monitoring Evaluation and Learning) data, record keeping and timely progress report writing and submission. Farmers equipped for productivity increase through Good Agricultural Practices Training CHIPS project organized a 5- days Training of Trainers (ToT) course on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in December 2016 at ARI-Uyole for 17 lead farmers and 13 government extension workers in Southern highlands. Topics covered during the training included; Selection of good potato seed; Positive selection of seed potatoes; Good agronomic practices; Pests and diseases management; Harvesting, sorting, grading and storage of seed and ware potatoes; Gross margin analysis for seed and ware potatoes; Demo plot management and preparation of extension work plans. Practical session on potato seed selection The training was conducted by a team of trainers from ARI- Uyole, Kilimo Trust and retired trainers i.e Dr. Dorah Mende, Dr. Betty Gondwe, Mrs. Catherine Kabungo, Alatwisila Sakalani, Mr. John Kigwinya and Mr. Edwin Shio. The sessions were highly practical and participants got many opportunities to try out things for themselves and to better understand the concepts taught. Dr. Bucheyeki, Southern Highland Research Coordinator (left standing) in the group photo of trainees In his remarks to participants Dr. Tulole Bucheyeki, the Zonal Director Research and Development Southern Highlands Zone thanked CHIPS project for its initiatives in the potato sector development and encouraged participants KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 5

6 to use the knowledge received to help farmers improve their livelihood. CHIPS project at pace to facilitate potato Good Post Harvest Handling trainings in the Southern Highlands In an effort to overcome potato post-harvest loses among partners, Kilimo Trust in collaboration with Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Uyole organized a four days Training of Trainers (ToTs) on Good Post Harvest Handling (GPHH) for extension officers and lead farmers at from 24 th 28 th April The training involved 26 trainees from CHIPS sub-projects in Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The training was conducted by team led by Dr. Dorah Mende, Mrs. Catherine Kabungo, Mrs. Agnes Ndunguru, Mrs Alatwisila Sakalani, Mr. John Kigwinya and Mr. Jonas from ARI Uyole and Mr. Edwin Shio from Kilimo Trust. In class training of trainers on GPHH at ARI Uyole The training covered during training include: Preparations before harvesting potatoes; Storage of ware potatoes after harvest; Pests and diseases in the storage room; Sorting and grading of potatoes; Potato value chain and Distribution and selling of potatoes. KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 6

7 Practical session on sorting and grading of potatoes After the training all participants were awarded certificates and a copy of the GPHH manuals which they will use to train potato farmers. Participants posing with their certificates These trainers will contribute on achieving CHIPS project target of training 20,000 farmers on GPHH by end of the project. Trained farmers capacity will be improved for good postharvest handling for high quality potato for good market and price. KILIMO TRUST: regional solutions to local problems Page 7