Food
Why we need to invest in women farmers in Africa
“Because this continent is not only going to feed itself, we have to feed the world”
As today is World Food Day, it is an appropriate time to recognise and appreciate the importance of Africa’s principals food producers; women farmers. Roughly 70% of small holder farmers in Africa are women, and therefore it is unsurprising that they are the principal food producers, yet Africa is a victim of substantial food insecurity.
60% of the world’s remaining arable land is in Africa, yet we are still facing major food insecurity issues. In order for Africa to feed itself, it needs to maximise its own food productivity, and women farmers are at the root of this issue. Women farmers have historically been neglected and disadvantaged in Africa, as they have struggled to get tenure to the land and gain access to security and finance. Therefore it is paramount that we invest in women farmers too push the food security agenda forward, and begin working towards the goal of feeding the world.
In this pursuit of a food secure Africa and world, we need a collective buy-in from all parties. We are beginning to see more of a focus on Public-Private Partnership as a way of moving the development agenda forward. These are partnerships between government and private sector, where both sets of parties collaborate in the pursuit of a unified goal. For these partnerships to be as effect as possible we need government to create a conducive environment where by it is attractive for private sector to engage. There is fourth P that is not often mentioned but it is extremely important, and that is ‘people’. We all need to do what is necessary to effect change. Public- Private- People Partnerships for a food secure world.
Making our mark at the African Union summit
Guest blog post from sporting legend Haile Gebrselassie.
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of working with ONE at the African Union Summit here in Addis Ababa. I was both honoured and humbled to be asked to join them in delivering your petition signed by almost 35,000 African citizens to the African Union Chair His Excellency President Yayi Boni of Benin.
The petition asks for African leaders to invest in agriculture and nutrition to lift 31 million Africans out of poverty and prevent 12 million children from stunted growth. I can gladly say we succeeded in doing this, and what a momentous occasion it was.
Before we delivered the petition, I met with some amazing ONE members from Addis Ababa, who were there to represent the thousands of ONE members who had signed the petition. It was exciting to hear from them about ONE and our Thrive campaign. Their spirit certainly carried through to the petition delivery.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie with other ONE members at the 2012 African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
President Boni had planned to join us on Friday, but unfortunately through a number of complications, his arrival in Addis Ababa was delayed. Luckily enough, His Excellency had his Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Nassirou Arifari-Bako, stepped in and received the petition on his behalf.
Haile Gebrselassie presents ONE’s petition.
The following press conference was a great success, especially when the Honorable Minister announced during his speech that 2013 must be the year of agriculture across Africa. I am particularly excited about this commitment from the AU as a citizen of this beautiful and rich continent.
Thank you to all the ONE members for supporting this campaign. We now have our work cut out for us to ensure this becomes a reality!
Haile Gebrselassie, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has held at least 27 world records in various distances.
AU Summit kicks off with a call for investments in agriculture
The 19th African Union Summit kicked off earlier this week here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The official theme of the summit is Intra-African trade, but a lot of other issues will be on the table when the 53 African Heads of State meet this Sunday.
Though the election for the head of the AU is grabbing most of the media headlines, we were excited to hear another message come through – a call for focusing on agriculture and food security. At her press conference on Wednesday morning, the AU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, H.E. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, called on African leaders to invest their own resources into agriculture, saying “We must get Africa to take its destiny within its own hands. That’s why I’m talking about marshaling resources from within the continent.”
She also stressed the need for African leaders to recruit new partners – such as young people and the private sector (especially through the new GROW Initiative) – in this effort.
Her words could not be timelier. Next year marks the tenth anniversary of the Maputo commitments, whereby African governments promised to increase spending on agriculture to 10% of their budgets and reach agricultural growth targets of 6%.
We know these targets could transform the African continent. Over 33,000 ONE members across the continent have signed our petition asking the AU lift 31 million of its people out of poverty and prevent 12 million children from stunting.
This evening we’ll be handing our petition to AU Chair and President of Benin, HE Yayi Boni alongside Ethiopian Olympic marathon winner Haile Gebrselassie and ONE members here in Addis.
Stay tuned here to the ONE Africa Blog and the @ONEinAfrica twitter account for updates.
Organic Box Gardening
In the second of our series, Stephan Meyer, ONE’s expert gardener who is responsible for setting up the Box Garden in the Big Brother Africa house, explains how we can grow and thrive organically.
As the green revolution is fast spreading, and people are becoming more conscious of sustainable living and development, you too can do your bit with organic gardening and growing.
What does growing plants organically mean? It does not mean, leaving your garden to its own devices and allowing it to be ruined by weeds and pests. Instead it means not using synthetic products, including pesticides and fertilisers.
So how do you do it?
Step 1- feeding your soil and feeding your plants.
Ideally all natural nutrients taken out of the soil must be replaced. Unfortunately this is actually easier said than done; therefore the key is perseverance rather than skill.
- Compost: Feeding your soil decomposed organic matter can add beneficial nutrients to the soil and improve soil structure, thus creating an ideal habitat for beneficial microbes and organisms like earthworms.
- Nitrogen fixing crops: Rotate your crops by planting nitrogen fixing species from the legume family such as alfalfa or clover grass, peas, beans, lentils or peanuts. This is done in order to replenish nitrogen levels in an area that has been depleted of nitrates by heavy feeders like vegetables.
- Organic Fertiliser: The above mentioned factors will help you to create an ideal growing medium, but all plants will need some extra nutrients. This can be done by adding organic fertiliser; examples include natural dry deposits like rock phosphate, and/ or plant products such as sea weed and wood ash. Alternatively liquid concentrates of organic fertilisers that contain most of the essential nutrients are available from all garden centres and can be used instead of the dry fertilisers.Synthetic fertilisers will shorten the time between planting and harvest. It is for that reason alone, that the Big Brother House mates are using it, instead of organic fertiliser as duration of the show is obviously limited. For the rest of us however, we can put in the extra time and effect to produce a more natural, sustainable and responsible end product.
Step 2- Pest management “The Friendly Way”
- Organic Pesticides: these products are extracted or harvested from natural sources, and are in most cases not harmful to the environment. The breaking down of pesticides into a simpler and less effect form happens much quicker when using organic pesticides. It is therefore important to apply the pesticide more frequently in order to have a lasting effect. The most readily available products on the markets are Extract of Neem, Diatomaceous earth and Beauveria bassiana.These products are also being used by the Big Brother house mates with great success.
- Companion planting: In nature there are thousands of different plants and animals at work. When people plant species they tend to only choose those that are preferred for their fruit, colour or scent, and not those that support beneficial insects. A long term strategy for keeping pests at bay is companion planting, this is an approach were by you create diversity i.e. an alternative habitat, shelter and food source for beneficial inserts to establish in your garden. These predators (beneficial insects) will feed on the pests (non-beneficial insects) in your garden, thus eliminating your pest problem. In order to do this, you will need to find out what pests you are most likely to get, and then choose plants based on their ability to support the predators and /or repel pests with their un-attractive smell, taste or colour.The Big Brother house mates planted onions that repel plant-eating insects like aphids, ants and Flea beetles. It is unknown if it is the odour that repels pests or masks the scent of plants that the pests seek!
- Trap planting: A trap crop is a plant that you will plant in your garden to attract the pests away from the crop you want to harvest and eat. Just like humans, insects have a preference to what they want to eat. By planting rows or patches of a trap crop near your desired vegetable crop the pests will be more attracted to the trap crop, thus your vegetable crop will in most cases be safe from attack. Nothing will be harvested from the trap crop as it is only there to keep your main crop “safe” from the pests.Some plants can act either as a companion or a trap crop where as others can be both. This is why it is critical to do research on the crops you want to grow i.e. pests and diseases the crop attracts before deciding on the companion/trap crop you want to plant. There is a vast amount of choices, from flowering plants, fruits and veg, to trees, grasses and herbs.
Check out the ONE Africa blog for more tips from Stephan next week.
Pomegranates in Pomeroy
Last week, ONE’s Africa Communications Manager, Wangui Muchiri and I had the opportunity to trek down to rural KwaZulu Natal (KZN), the province that has Durban as a favorite holiday destination for many. Our assignment took us deep into the midlands and hills of KZN, landing in Pietermaritzburg then a three hour drive to eMsinga, Pomeroy. We arrived, promptly dumped our bags and immediately got on the road to talking to our first villager before the sun set and lost natural light good enough to film.
To our surprise and amusement, we arrived at one of the homesteads to find Mr. Ngidi who had a field of pomegranates growing naturally in his backyard! The trees dotted across his field, were laden heavy with the hard, big, red fruit, some already cracked open with chickens continuous pecking as they flew up to get a snack. The pomegranates apparently grow naturally in this particular area, even the chickens have pomegranate rubies for a mid afternoon snack! Gives a new meaning to free range grain fed chickens! The intriguing thing was that Mr. Ngidi did not realize the value of the pomegranates and had never thought of even selling them to the local food store or neighboring villagers. He was pleased to hear he was sitting on a little nest egg!
Mr. Ngidi was very animated as he talked about the importance of farming for him and his family and that if the government could provide him assistance with fencing his homestead to keep away the goats and cattle from eating his crop, there would be no need to have a formal job as he and his family would be self sufficient. In his words, “we would grow what we eat and eat what we grow; we’d be healthy and happy”. Mr. Ngidi was sure that farming would erase poverty from his backyard, his children and generations after them would never need to rush to the city looking for jobs.
Next up, we spoke to the village headman, who had the same sentiments as Ngidi. He spoke of how people were now eager to go back to farming as they had realized the importance of farming in the fight against hunger. He mentioned that people often spoke to him about getting assistance with water and fencing. By this time evening shades had set in and we called it a wrap for the day.
Day two saw us making an early start headed to eNyokeni, the Royal Palace of HRH King Goodwill Zwelithini, where we were met by the brightly dressed Zulu matriarchs dancing and ululating, and Zulu men in full traditional garb praise singing and chanting “Bayede!”, in that great Zulu oral tradition, as they ushered King Zwelithini in.
In the deliberations that ensued, King Zwelithini impressed upon his amakhosi (chiefs) and traditional leaders he had gathered there, to return to farming as the means of fighting poverty. With all the land available to the community, he encouraged everyone to deal directly with poverty by farming for sustenance as well as for commercial purposes. He told amakhosi that the kingdom had to unite in the war against poverty and hunger and asked for their assistance as he couldn’t do it on his own.
Of particular interest, was that King Zwelithini presides over a board called the Ingonyama Trust Board. The Board is the landowner-in-law of some 2,700,000 hectares of land spread throughout KwaZulu Natal. The mission of the Ingonyama Trust Board is to” improve the quality of life of the people living on Ingonyama Trust land by ensuring that land usage is to their benefit and in accordance with the laws of the land.” About 4, 500.000 people live on the Trust land and 250 Traditional Councils have jurisdiction over it. The Board owns land in all District Municipal areas within the Province. The Ingonyama Trust legislation also requires that formal consent of the relevant Traditional Council be obtained before a mining tenure rights application can be processed.
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi (Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu nation) continued from where the king had left off and spoke about the government needing to commit to assisting the community to ensure that even small subsistence farmers are able to get the best out of farming and to lift themselves out of poverty. Finally, the premier of KwaZulu Natal, Mr. Zweli Mkhize rounded the morning session up by going into the facts and figures of the potential output that could come out of the land if utilized optimally. It would be enough to keep the province self sustained and even go into major exports.
Wangui had the opportunity to have one to one Q & A sessions with King Zwelithini, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the chief of Zondi. The short documentary is currently in production to be launched on April 10.
On day three we had the opportunity to have a conversation with a local woman who grows corn, sugar cane, groundnuts, pumpkin and beans in her homestead. With the corn she grows, she makes corn meal, corn bread and basically sustains herself and her family with the homegrown produce. She also sells the excess to enable her to send her children to school. For her the importance of farming lay in the fact that she could provide food for her family.
Finally, we paid a visit to a local cooperative, where farmers get together to assist each other with farming commercially. These farmers have clubbed together to grow a range of produce to supply the local supermarkets and vegetable markets. They have received assistance with farming implements like tractors, a water pump to access water from the nearby river and training on agriculture and crop growing. They are currently looking into farming pomegranates commercially.
This marked the end of a very informative and eye opening trip that gave some great insight and opportunity to hear from the traditional leaders’ point of view.
People don’t eat debates, they eat food – Kagame tells Rwandans
This is a guest post from Peter Opondo Head of News at NTV Uganda.
They call it Umwiherero, literally meaning a retreat or a get a way for a private meeting in the main local language, Kinyarwanda.
And indeed the 9th Rwanda National Leadership Retreat was a true get-away, held at the secluded Military Academy in Gako, Bugesera district, located 50 Km SE of Kigali City and just 20Km from the Burundian Border.
For a Kenyan journalist currently working in Uganda, it was an eye opener on how Rwanda is governed.
It was at one and the same time about a national leadership seeking to cultivate a shared vision and common goals for the country as well as about President Paul Kagame’s towering efforts to steer the country towards a particular direction.
I was part of the NTV Uganda crew that got an invitation to attend the meeting after we had earlier put in a request for a one-on-one interview with the president. We were told the president would find some time on the sidelines of the meeting to grant as the interview.
But we were also excited that we would have the privilege to sit in and observe as Rwanda’s top leaders including cabinet ministers, top technocrats, mayors and diplomats set strategic priorities for the government over the next one year even as they reviewed performance of the past year.
On a drizzly morning of March 4th the main hall at the Military academy was filled to capacity for the official opening of the retreat. As they waited for the arrival of the president, the gathering was psyching itself up with patriotic songs.
In one of the songs that had some Kiswahili words, I could gather they were singing that nobody would build Rwanda other than Rwandans themselves- a thread the president would pick up later in his speech.
As the singing went the tall and lanky Kagame gingerly walked onto the podium without much fuss.
And after the usual preambles the included the national anthem, the President rose to the podium for the opening speech where he went on to dissect what he thought was the main challenge not only for Rwanda but also for Africa- poverty.
In his analysis, African countries were not truly independent as long as poverty remained entrenched.
“Depending on the generosity of others demeans us as Africans, it is pathetic … we must change our mindsets about poverty, let us fight for out integrity as a people,” he said in a soft, almost pained tone.
So why are African countries still poor? It’s not because we don’t know what we are supposed to do, it is because we don’t do what we know we are supposed to do, he concluded.
“It’s my impression that we could have made more progress than we have already. We are doing much less than we are capable of,” he further stated.
Energy is a key factor in the fight against poverty. In 2011, Rwanda had set a target of generating 30.4 MW and connecting 65,000 households. But during the year, only 5.4MW was generated even as 72,227 households were connected meaning demand was stretching supply even further.
President Kagame was clearly not happy with the situation.
“As your president, I must take responsibility for not pushing for more funding to the energy sector. I will take responsibility and correct this.” he stated and added ominously “but some of you are also going to be casualties for not doing the right thing.”
A government official told me later on the sidelines of the meeting that the leadership retreats were also an opportunity to appraise the performance of senior officials and often those found not to be delivering ended up losing their jobs.
“We talk too much, we attend to many workshops yet there are no results… people don’t eat debates, they eat food,” he quipped.
Although the president had a written speech, he was not reading it. He was ad-libbing, simply stating his thoughts- the sign of a leader who knows his stuff and trusts himself to make the point without going off message.
This much was even much more evident at the plenary session, still under the chairmanship of the president, as the performances of the various sectors were reviewed. Every often the president would interrupt a presentation by asking, “Isn’t this the same issue that we have had over the past two years? Why haven’t you solved it?” or “Did you listen to my speech, we want action and results, not just empty talk.”
And later when we sat down for our interview he simply restated his vision for a poverty free Rwanda. “Rwanda might be land locked but ideas are not”, he stated.
Given the central role and dominant that president Kagame is playing in shaping the future of Rwanda, concern has been raised as to whether he was doing this at the expense of setting up strong institutions that would ensure the implementation of the set goals even without him in office.
In fact, currently there is a push by some supporters of President Kagame to amend the constitution to remove the two-term limit. Kagame is currently serving his second 7-year term, which expires in 2017.
We put that question to him during the interview. “It is not a matter of if but when I leave office, because I will have to go at some point. What we are doing here (leadership retreat) is just part of that process of ensuring that we all know where we are headed as a country and what we are supposed to do to realize that dream.”
Besides the official business at Umwiherero, there were other things worth noting.
Number one was the youthful nature of leaders in Rwanda, especially the top technocrats.
Sample this, President Kagame’s chief of staff, Ms Ines Mpambara is 34. The Finance Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ms Pitchette Kampeta Sayinzoga is 32! The director of communications in the office of the President Yolande Makolo is 39 and she describes herself as “one of the older people here”
Notice that all these three youthful top technocrats are women. And that is not by accident. Rwanda is truly empowering its women and it is actually leading the world on that front.
After the last elections, Rwanda became the first parliament in the world with a female majority after women got 44 out of the 80 (55 per cent) seats in the assembly.
The other thing I noticed in Rwanda was that nearly all top government officials carry blackberries. These phones are not status symbols but tools of work. One official told me they were all on BBM, so they don’t waste taxpayer’s money calling each unnecessarily.
Right from the president himself they are all also on the social networks especially on twitter and facebook tracking and responding to any queries about their respective duties. They are technology savvy, keeping with the times.
And coming from Nairobi and working in Kampala one can only but admire the physical infrastructure in Kigali. All streets are neat and lit. I didn’t bump into a single pothole. Sky scrappers are rising in Kigali in accordance with the city’s ambitious master plan.
The plastic bags that litter the streets in Kampala and Nairobi are not in Kigali. They’re actually outlawed.
Clearly, Rwanda is going places and President Kagame is firmly on the driver’s seat.
ONE’s first petition in Africa delivered to President Kikwete in Tanzania
“Farming is the future. Famines should be consigned to history.”
A group of smallholder farmers and ordinary African citizens marched to the State House in Tanzania today, to deliver a petition signed by more than 16,000 African ONE members. This was the first time Tanzanian President Kikwete had received a continent wide petition, and the first time ONE had delivered a petition on African soil.
ONE members and partner organisations march to State House
President Jakaya Kikwete captured the soul of the event when he explained its importance, saying:
“It is important because it reminds us that Agriculture is the life-blood of our country, sustaining our people in towns and villages and meeting their basic needs.”
ONE’s Dr Sipho Moyo presents the petition to President Kikwete
Mrisho Mpoto (aka MJOMBA) a famous East African poet, agreed:
“Hunger is not acceptable. Hunger makes people suffer, affects child’s mental growth, diminishes the honour of the family and nation. World leaders have a role to play. Invest in agriculture, support the future generation and attain the MDGs”
The petition calls on African leaders to provide greater food security for ordinary Africans by investing more in support for smallholder farmers. ANSAF, (Agricultural Non State Actors Forum), who have been key partners in the Hungry No More campaign, were also present. Campaigners called on President Jakaya Kikwete to take the lead on investment in sustainable agriculture, setting the standard for other African Heads of State.
Dr. Sipho S. Moyo, Africa Director at ONE, said:
“If you want to reduce poverty, you need to go where poverty is. Reducing poverty will mean targeting investments towards smallholders in order to employ local labor, supply local markets and spend earnings in local markets which creates multiplier effects in rural economies, improves local food self-sufficiency and reduces rural inequality.
This is why President Jakaya Kikwete’s government commitment to continue focusing on building an enabling environment for smallholder farmers, is encouraging. Currently only 7 African countries have kept their promise to do 10% – this number must increase by the tenth anniversary in 2013, and we are delighted Tanzania is leading the way”.
The petition also challenges African leaders to demonstrate their resolve in tackling famine and other agriculture related problems on the continent by:
- Targeting investments in small-holder farmers (especially women) and encouraging sustainable private resources for agricultural development
- Fulfilling the 2003 Maputo Declaration on Agriculture, which called for 10% budget allocated to Agriculture and Rural Development
- Improving transparency and accountability in budget and expenditure processes so progress towards achieve the Maputo Declaration and the Comprehensive Agricultural Development Programme can be monitored
The petition is part of a campaign led by ONE in Africa, ANSAF and other African partners stressing on the importance of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than three-quarters of the poor live outside of urban centres and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Audax Rukonge, ANSAF’s Executive director said:
“MKUKUTA and the Tanzania Five Year Development Plan commits the government to address food insecurity and poverty, among others. In the Tanzanian context, and probably most of African countries, poverty is a rural phenomenon, and agriculture is the main livelihood source. Tanzania can attain some of the Millennium Development as well as MKUKUTA Goals if we invest in agriculture and particularly smallholder farmers. Let us increase the share of agriculture that benefits smallholders and transform the sector for equitable economic growth”.
Studies show that in 2010 agriculture contributed at least 24% to Tanzania’s GDP, accounted for 60% of its labor and provided 34% of its exports. This was far more than the 17.3% contributed by the Manufacturing, 28.2% from minerals and 22.5% from the tourism industry. The strategic importance of agriculture to Tanzania’s fight against poverty is therefore not debatable.
The potential for agriculture in Tanzania and across the region is immense – the right investments now can help ensure that agriculture helps lead the economic transformation of the continent. Currently, Tanzania spends close to 7% of its budget on Agriculture. Nearly ten years ago African leaders made an historic promise to their people, – especially those amongst the poorest – it was to spend at least 10% of the budget on agriculture and farming. Few have kept this promise. Before the 10th anniversary its time they all did so as part of other improvements to beat hunger and boost wellbeing across Africa.
Following today’s event ONE and partners will take the campaign to forthcoming regional events including the AU Summit in Malawi in July.
A big thank you to all ONE members who signed the petition. With your help we really are making a difference!
Nigeria: Famine – Millions of Africans Still At Risk
This article originally appeared on the All Africa website
Africa Director, ONE.org, Dr. Sipho Moyo, has said that even though there is no longer famine in South Somalia, millions of people in Africa were still at risk.
Reacting to the United Nations (UN) announcement that “Famine outcomes no longer existed in Southern Somalia”, she said, ” these eight words are not yet a cause for celebration as conditions were still extremely fragile and without concrete action, famine could once again return.
In a statement signed by the director and made available to LEADERSHIP she stated that,” I’ve been shocked by the recent images of suffering that we have seen from Somalia. In just 3 months 30,000 children have died. This figure is so large it’s hard to comprehend, let alone think about how behind this number are countless stories of human tragedy”.
According to Sipho investing in agriculture was one of the best ways to reduce extreme poverty. With access to suitable seeds, technologies, and improved connections to markets, small-holder farmers can generate more income, send their children to school, help to keep food prices affordable and contribute to lifting their communities out of poverty for the long-term.
In a petition to African leaders to make this the last famine , ONE requested that African leaders should support the delivery of promised emergency aid, increase effort on peace and security, and keep the long-term promise toward spending 10% of national budgets on agriculture and food security.
The petition asserted that if previous promises had been kept we could have avoided much of the terrible human cost of the last few months. “Governments must now make good on their commitments”, she said.
The Last Famine
As we launch our Hungry No More campaign we are privileged to publish the following guest post from Festus Gontebanye Mogae, the former President of Botswana and Ibrahim Prize Laureate.
When I served as Botswana’s President I made it a priority to address poverty in my country and during my time in office, and in the years since, I’ve witnessed real progress. In Botswana and across the continent, African leadership has helped get millions more children into school, reduce deaths from diseases like malaria, and make concrete advances against HIV/AIDS.
But like other Africans I’ve been shocked by the recent images of suffering that we have seen from Somalia. In just 3 months 30,000 children have died. This figure is so large it’s hard to comprehend, let alone think about how behind this number are countless stories of human tragedy.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. With your help we can make sure this the last famine in Africa.
Please join me in signing ONE’s petition right now.
The petition reads:
Dear African Leaders,
We are haunted by the famine in Somalia that has killed 30,000 children in 3 months. We respectfully request that you help make this the last famine by: 1) supporting delivery of promised emergency aid; 2) increasing effort on peace and security; 3) keeping the long-term promise toward spending 10% of national budgets on agriculture and food security; and 4) doing so transparently, so citizens can ensure this money is well spent.
We have a moral duty to help save lives and encourage governments and donors to fulfil their promises, both the emergency aid now for the famine, and the longer term commitments made to invest in agriculture and food security – so we can together unleash the true potential of African agriculture and make this the last famine on our continent.
Please sign ONE’s petition now.
Thank you for your support.
Festus Gontebanye Mogae is the former President of Botswana and Ibrahim Prize Laureate.
Fighting poverty with healthy indigenous foods in Zambia
The 2011 ONE Africa Award finalists continue with the announcement of our third finalist, a model for social entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector. If you are already familiar with ONE’s recent activities then you will know that we recently launched our campaign to address the famine in the Horn of Africa. Hunger and malnutrition continue to be important issues on the continent and that’s why the work that our next finalist, Sylvia Food Solutions (SFS), is doing is so important.
Sylvia Banda, the founder of SFS, is a very well known personality in Zambia and speaks regularly on the most popular private radio station in the country, Radio Phoenix, about the importance of using local foods, nutrition, and maintaining a healthy life style. With 10 employees, Sylvia started SFS in 2005 building on her successful catering business that had been around for about 25 years.
Sylvia Banda and members of her team
The idea for SFS came to Sylvia after observing the deterioration in the quality of the kinds of food being eaten in Zambia. Much of the food lacked nutritional content and she quickly noticed the opportunity for promoting the use of vegetables in the Zambian diet. Sylvia embarked on an effort to work with farmers and train them to preserve vegetables hygienically with the guarantee that she would purchase them, thereby guaranteeing a market for these goods. These vegetables, the leaves from staple crops like pumpkins and sweet potatoes, were previously discarded by the farmers but are now a new potential source of income.
Sylvia Foods seeks to provide an efficient and viable avenue for rural smallholder farmers to market their indigenous farm produce to both local and export markets. The organization promotes improved quality of farm yields by training farmers to add value and focus on hygiene in the harvesting of their produce. In the last 6 years, Sylvia Foods has trained over 8,500 smallholder rural farmers in Zambia, which has enabled them to scale up their production capacity and engage directly with the markets. They have also engaged in marketing and lobbying efforts to promote the consumption of indigenous foods, including working with the Zambian First Lady to participate in a national television program promoting the consumption of indigenous food. SFS also organized “Cook of the Year” competitions and involved hotels, schools and the general public to spread the message about the nutritional value of traditional foods.
Sylvia Foods works with rural smallholder farmers
SFS has also impacted the consumer culture around Zambian vegetables and raised demand by advocating for a return to the traditional foods that Zambians used to eat before the global culture of fast food started impacting their diet. SFS invested profits from the catering business into the initial interventions including the cooking competitions. As they have built success, the government and donors have become involved and they have been able to access additional funding to scale up their work. The Zambian Development Agency has also featured SFS in many regional and international trade expositions leading to the development of agreements between SFS and other countries to supply their markets with indigenous Zambian food.
Sylvia Banda continues to develop her idea of transforming the agriculture sector to provide improved nutritional benefit and economic empowerment of Zambians. Her next endeavour is a catering college where she hopes that she will train the next generation of Zambian cooks who will be familiar with the nutritional value of local foods and able to respond to the increasing demand that she has helped to foster in her country.
Congratulations to Sylvia Food Solutions for all your hard work and for making it to the finals of the 2011 ONE Africa Award. We wish you the very best of luck.
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
TAGS: Africa, Agriculture, Food, Thrive