Facilitating local level dairy innovation platforms for smallholder farmers Report

Transcription

1 Facilitating local level dairy innovation platforms for smallholder farmers Report Call For Report Call for final report Africa-Brazil Projects funded in the 2011/12 Report Status Submitted Title Facilitating local level dairy innovation platforms for smallholder farmers ID 2942 Thematic Area Policy, Institutional and Market Strengthenin Reporting period 18 Dec May 2015 Co-leader Institutions Embrapa Dairy Cattle & PICO Eastern Africa Project Co-leaders Mr. Sergio teixeira & Mr. Robert Ouma Type of African Co-leader Institution NGO, Not-for-profit Summary The project facilitated a local dairy innovation platform which is catalysing home-grown transformation in the smallholder dairy industry. More farmers, organised into a cooperative society, are starting to keep improved animals. The project helped farmers and other stakeholders to identify challenges and co-create solutions; continuously highlighting successes and learning from what did not work. The project organized 3 big platform meetings and 20 other meetings, events and demonstrations. We provided logistical and technical support bringing experts (inc. from Embrapa) to talk to the farmers and train them on dairy issues. We had exchange visits to learn from other smallholders. The farmers also organised themselves into task forces to carry out activities on breeding services, appropriate breed selection, awareness, feed development and milk marketing. The project developed partnerships with ILRI, Heifer International, Siongiroi Dairy Co-op, Homa Bay County Government, USAID -KAVES project, WWS-East Africa among others who continue to support the farmers. The results: more than 1000 farmers organised in dairy management groups are taking up dairy and belong to a newly registered cooperative society, and have acquired an outlet where they will sell milk collectively. They have acquired new breeds and are running an artificial insemination campaign. They have planted more than100 acres of different feeds. The attitude towards dairy as a viable enterprise is changing. Country(ies) of Implementation KENYA Project Results The demonstration that through participatory techniques, groups of farmers can be empowered to take charge of their own destiny and begin to make a difference by themselves is a big result. The project has shown that the innovation platform approach, implemented at village level is a powerful development tool since it helps to change mindsets the single biggest constraint to development in rural areas. The project managed to trigger the farmers to work for themselves and they are continuing to do this without external support. 1). Changing mind-sets on dairy farming - stakeholders involved, especially farmers, are being weaned off a lethargic attitude towards dairy farming. There is, more and more, a yes we can! attitude in place of the predominant view that our area is harsh and dairy farming is hard work. Reflections and actions from some farmers indicate that they are willing to engage in more commercially-oriented dairy farming. Each farmer has developed their individual action plan and is making their own changes at farmer level without waiting for or relying on donor support. 2). Diversification and commercialization of feeds and use of modern feed conservation practices (feeding was the biggest challenge to improved dairy): a. More than 100 additional acres of fodder has been planted by the targeted farmers. b. A wider range of improved species planted: Desmodium, Rhodes grass, Napier and Yellow maize and Bracharia etc. c. Fodder conservation and storage - Fodder stores, silage making(at least 10 farmers proficient) and baling of hay among the group of farmers d. Commercialisation of fodder with farmers now selling thus starting a fodder market d. All dairy farmers use crop residues as an alternative source of feed for the cows. 4. Helping farmers to acquire appropriate genetics - The project, working with other interested partners like ILRI, carried out an insemination and synchronization exercise to explore the viability of breed upgrading through insemination. In the first round of synchronization, 240 cows owned by 120 farmers were selected and inseminated. The AI campaign is going on spearheaded by the farmers themselves. 5. Improving milk hygiene and marketing - In order to help address this, the project financed the creation and demonstration of a primer on hygienic practices. We carried out on farm demonstrations of proper milk handling and distributed over 500 books on hygiene. The result is an increased consciousness. 6. Formation of Kasbondo AIM dairy cooperative society based on common interest to succeed as commercial dairy farmers. The society is registered with 1000 members. Through the cooperative, collective efforts are being made to tackle the issues of fodder, breeds and how to meet the milk demand. The cooperative is being modelled based on lessons from the Brazilian coop PROLEITE.

2 Scalability and replicability The innovation platform approach that we used is highly replicable and easily scalable. The approach is about applying high level facilitation and participatory methodology processes to create a safe space where all stakeholders identify issues that affect their common interest and co-create innovative solutions. The stepwise approach that we used to identify the stakeholders, conduct due diligence, convene meetings and socialise them into knowing that this was not a typical 'donor' project but their one initiative can be successfully applied in other areas and for other projects. The potential for scalability also exists although one would have to tweak the approach. Once a fire has been lit, then institutions will be formed within the innovation platform to manage increasing numbers of new farmers, and the complexity of issues and solutions. In our case, we started with 40 farmers but as numbers increased, the farmers decided to form smaller units of Dairy Management Groups and an umbrella cooperative. the Innovation Platform could also morph into a farmer company or give rise to smaller platforms as it grows. Thus the issue of scale is easily dealt with in this context. The facilitation skills required to manage an innovation platform can be acquired through training of extension agents in the approach. Some seed money is required to manage initial meetings. The scaling and replication of our project, may also happen through collaboration with other development organisations that may want to invest in the sector in other areas. We are currently developing a proposal to deepen and broaden this work and this includes developing comprehensive exit plans. Impacts of project results Dairy production - which was almost non existent in the area is now being seen as a serious means of livelihood. the county government of Homa Bay is seeing the project as a potential model for developing the dairy industry in the region. Chief officers from the government have already held several meetings with the farmers to learn what they are doing. Creation of employment at least 1000 farmers are interested in dairying (this is the membership of the new Kasbondo AIM DAIRY Cooperative). They will therefore be employed. Many more, especially the youth will find work in processing, marketing and transportation of milk Higher incomes dairy is a significant source of cash because the price of milk in the county is 50% higher than in the 'high potential' milk-producing areas and there is an unmet demand. Money from milk comes in everyday to support households. Improved household nutrition households with dairy cattle are likely to have better nutrition because some milk is consumed locally and milk is a wholesome food Gender we discovered that majority of dairy farmers are women. The project is therefore likely to have great impact on women who are usually marginalized. Sustainability of project The project has built the capacity of the farmers and changed their attitude. It did this by challenging the farmers themselves to lead in prioritising and implementing the actions they saw as most impactful. The project offered no money or other goodies as is the case with many interventions. Because of this, the changes in how people see things are almost permanent. This is at the core of creating sustainable homegrown change as opposed to change driven by external actors. We were only facilitators. However, organising the farmers into a dairy cooperative and smaller Dairy Management Groups creates the institutional mechanisms to ensure sustainability. The cooperative society will generate income to finance extension, technical support for marketing, breeding and feeding. It will also continuously recruit new farmers to sustain the industry. We reckon that as the cooperative grows stronger, PICO-Eastern Africa and Embrapa can withdraw. Continued support - technical and institutional development - will be critical to ensure that the work done goes beyond the tipping point and that the work with the farmers in Oyugis reaches a point of no return. Issues in project implementation 1. It requires more time to reach a tipping point in the shift in mind sets. We had slightly more than 2 years and what has been achieved is incredible. But we need more time. 2. Making people from out of Oyugis believe that dairy can be practiced in Oyugis took a lot of time, effort and use of motivational examples. It still remains a challenge. This was because of historical reasons and the environment in which we were operating. 3. Quantifying the outcomes of the project is challenging since most of the significant results are qualitative. One only sees the great changes when one actually visits and observes. 4. Low dairy off-take from farmers due to initial heavy financial requirements required to set up. 5. Limited time and resources for activities in order to achieve greater impact. For example, the synchronization and insemination activity. The resources were not sufficient to carry out synchronization in mass. This made some farmers unsatisfied. 6. Some of the activities for task force implementation on the ground had financial implications which unfortunately the project could not support. Luckily, farmers understood. 7. Designing an exit strategy Lessons Learned 1. The effectiveness of an Innovation Platform approach for research and development in village settings. It is an effective way to co-create solutions, implement, monitor and evaluate individual and collective progress even in rural areas. Participatory approaches to extension are still the more effective way to build capacity amongst farmers. 2. As contrary believed, Oyugis and Homa Bay has high potential for dairy given the milk market and if farmers are capacitated. 3. When people take the initiative to organize themselves and believe in their potential to make a change then nothing can stop them. 4. It takes a change in attitude to move mountains. The project has changed attitudes of many farmers and they have taken up dairy activity with a lot of determination and enthusiasm. 5. Through proper exposure and capacity building, the project is bound to succeed as farmers know what to do during various stages of their dairy activities. 6. Creating linkages and working with other stakeholders is important as it promotes the success of the project. 7. Engaging local communities in ownership of the project ensures success. The implementation process of the project ensured that the community owned the project and this facilitated its success. 8. Farmer knowledge and capacity building is crucial for a farmer based agriculture project. Do not assume that the farmer does not know what she wants. 9. A group approach to the dairy challenge promotes cross-learning among the members. Suggestions for improvement This project has qualitative outcomes = that is, changes in people mindsets, attitudes and behaviour as its primary outcomes. These are difficult to express in the largely quantitative instruments allowed by marketplace reporting templates. Publications 1. Workshop reports (for platforms) 2. Some powerpoint presentations 3. A book on "Facilitating local level dairy innovation platform for smallholders in Kenya" 4. A milk hygiene kit or primer on milk hygiene when milking 5. A 4-minute video on the project (made from other funds) Quantitative Project Results

3 Number of Key Project Outputs Training and Technical Visits Events Organized Germplasm Exchange Number of Participating Professionals (in the project team as a whole) Quantitative - Project Results Knowledge Generated Technologies Products Services 11 3 y 8 Name Country/city Number of Days Gender AI Synchronisation & insemination Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya ongoing x Milk hygiene Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya initial visit the farmers continue 2014 Feeds and feeding Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya ongoing (with support of KAVES) Financial services Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya Group formation Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya Event Name 10 X Farmer Demonstration s Country/City Event Type (workshop, forum, symposium, etc.) Year Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya workshop 2013 (April) Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya workshop 2013 (August) Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya workshop 2014 Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya on farm training activity X Dairy Awareness Activities Oyugis, Homa Bay, Kenya forums (various) Exchange visits Siongiroi Kenya Exhange visits z Species Number of Accessions Recipient Country NA x x Female Male 1 6

4 Attachments (photos and other documents)

5