Building Local Capacity to Respond to Shocks

KENYA – KITUI FOOD SECURITY PROJECT

George Baiden

Kenya – Food Security Conditions

Widespread Food Insecurity

Kitui

Kitui Food Security Project Area

Project Highlights• The Kitui Food Security Project is a

Title II Project funded by USAID

• Targets Agro-pastoralist communities

• Location: Ikutha and Yatta divisions of Kitui district

• Economy based on subsistence marginal crop farming and livestock keeping.

• Climatic conditions:

– semi-arid receiving less than 500mm of rainfall annually.

Elements of InsecurityRecurring Drought

Dependency

Absent or weak community organizations

Weak public or community infrastructure

Low water infrastructure

Weak health infrastructure

Poor or non-existent roads

Weak agricultural systems

Low agricultural productivity

Under-developed markets

Elements of Insecurity

• Water a top priority need: – Nearly 90% of households trek 5 kms to get to the nearest

sources• Wage employment provides 15% of household income• Self employment provides 10% of HH income• 69% of the population unable to meet their basic needs• Poverty levels in rural areas 70%• Poverty levels in urban areas 39%• Low agricultural productivity in livestock and crop farming

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To increase rural household incomes of 23,400 poor farmers by September 2008

• To improve the health and nutrition status of 58,500 vulnerable persons

Technical Staff

Agric & Health Extension Workers ADRA BDS

Extension Farmers, CHNFs, Seed Multipliers, Tree Seedling Producers, Paravets

Chili farmers, Dairy farmers, Fruit farmers, Other Horticultural farmers, Poultry farmers, Grain Farmers, Cotton Farmers

Technology and Information Platform Generate and avail up to date information on to Extension workers,

farmers’, farmers’ groups and stockiest Liaise with research centers on behalf of farmers and farmer groups

Technology & and Information

Extension Worker / BDS Development

Service Providers

Farmer Groups

Business Development Services Secure production contracts with markets Link farmers with markets Provide business advice to farmer groups and stockiest Advice to agricultural extension officer on available agricultural related business opportunities

Extension Worker Organize the farmers around commodities Participatory development of Commodity Production Plan Link the Commodity groups to IGA, Input suppliers, Organize and update stockiest on production input requirements Facilitate Corps capacity building Liaise with community in identifying FFW projects. Ensure realization of Production plans Monitor the activities of respective the CORPs

CORPS Mobilize farmers - commodity interest groups. Impart Agric technical skills and knowledge to members of the c Monitor progress of individual commodity interest group members. Liaise with the input stockist on required input levels. Set up and maintain respective farmers’ field school Paravets will give fast aid to livestock at a fee TSPs will raise and sell Tree seedlings to farmers Will provide the health related extension messages to the farmers groups CHNFs will plan and execute growth monitoring in liaison with the health extension worker

Stockist Avail required agric. Inputs Provide basic input usage information

Implement the technologies on their farms. Generate research issues

Building Community Organization

• CORPS– Extension Farmers

– Seed Multipliers

– Tree Seedling Producers

– Veterinary (Paravets)

– Research & Government Institutions

• Value Chain– Community Business Units

• Micro Agricultural Credit

Extension Farmers

• A community capacity building strategy in which lead farmers identified by the community are intensively trained by the project and later pass-on the skills gained to the larger community both formally and informally in the process of their normal community interactions.

Extension Farmers (contd)

• Each trained community farmer (CORP) trains at least 5 other farmers (Follower Farmers)– CORPs apply on-farm technologies

– The farm of the CORP becomes an ‘agricultural laboratory’ from where others come to learn.

AGRICULTURAL INTERVENTIONS

1. Community capacity building: With assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Natural resources, the Project has trained Community Own Resource Persons (CORPS) in the following key areas:

• Extension Farmers (EFs)- 260• Tree Seedling Producers - 78• Seed Multipliers- 126• Paravets -77

AGRICULTURAL INTERVENTIONS

2) Agricultural technology diffusion on:• Drought Tolerant crops.• Soil Fertility management• Field crop management• Disease & pest control• Post harvest handling & management

3) Livestock interventions.• Stock management• Pasture management• Breed improvement• Disease and pest control

Food-for-Work

• Terraces

• Roads

• Conservation

Health Interventions

• Health & Nutrition• HIV & AIDS• Growth Monitoring• Water & Sanitation• Developmental relief

HEALTH & NUTRITIONCommunity capacity building• Training of Community Health and Nutrition

Facilitators (CHNFs). To date 450 CHNFs trained with support from the Ministry of Health.

• Each CHNF has trained 2 groups of 10 members in his/her catchment area.

Hygiene & Sanitation

• Sanitary facility improvement in all villages

- demonstration on VIP latrines

• Waste disposal – in all villages

• Water borne diseases - reducing

• Water points protection and

catchment conservation – all villages

OVC (Supplementary Feeding)

Target: • Under weight under five children, • Critically ill including HIV/AIDS patients,• Orphans below the age of 18 years• The elderly• Food is distributed once a month through

Trained Food Distribution committees elected by the beneficiaries in 45 FDP

GROWTH MONITORING

• Only for under 5 years

• Carried out in collaboration with MoH once a month.

• Only weight-for-age parameter utilized

• The underweight in-built in the food beneficiary lists and their families targeted for training on child care and nutrition

FOOD & NUTRITION TRAINING

Target: 450 CHNFs.

Training concentration:• Balanced diet• Food preparation, utilization and preservation• Recipes from locally available foodstuffs• Child care, feeding & nutrition• Post-harvest handling, storage and afflatoxin

sensitization

HIV/AIDS INTERVENTIONS

• Awareness creation on transmission and effects of the disease

• Training on care and nutrition for patients.• Encouraging people to know their HIV status/

linkage with mobile VCT facilities• Linking patients with GOK aided hospitals for

free Anti-retroviral and associated post testing care

• Home visits and post testing counseling• Food distribution to Households

Building Local Capacity to Respond to Shocks•The acreage under Drought Tolerant Crops (DTCs) improved to 4 acres in 2007. •At least 7,360 households consume locally available nutrient rich foods. •The 480 trained CHNFs have formed 960 Community Health and Nutrition Groups •Households that were food secure improved from 9% in FY 2006 to 64% in FY 2007•During the 2006 drought that affected over 3.5 million people and resulted in the deaths of 70% of livestock in ASAL areas, mortality in the project area was significantly less than in other areas•Percent change in hh with malnourished children under 5 years (using weight for age) improving though with challenges because of the cyclical drought

WATER INTERVENTIONS

Project Target:• 138 Shallow

boreholes with Rotary Club, others

• Community training on water resource management on-going

• Access increased

Building Local Capacity to respond to shocks

• The number of households with access to safe water increased by over 50%.

• The number of households adopting improved water and sanitation practices increased to 13,614.

• 148 water projects and 30 demonstration latrines. • Small holder organizations’ capacity (commodity

business units) to access the market increasing in the following sub-sectors, Vegetables, Livestock, Cereals, Pulses Honey and Cotton

• The use of monetization as a resource generated project funds, maintained jobs & supply chain

Community Infrastructure Development

Carried out during the crop production off-season period.Interventions include:• Soil conservation through terracing:

– Tools distributed farmer groups/associations– Technical support

• Rural access road construction and rehabilitation• Protection of water catchment areas

Summary of terracing interventions.917 Km of terraces completed

17,890 farmers

FOOD FOR WORK INTERVENTIONS

Carried out during the crop production off-season period.

Interventions include:

• Soil conservation through terracing:

– Tools distributed farmer groups/associations

– Technical support

• Rural access road construction and rehabilitation

• Protection of water catchment areas

917 Km of terraces completed

Beneficiaries - 17,890 households

Market Diversification• Market Access Enhancement - build incomes, enhance growth,

improve infrastructure (roads, etc)• Business Development Services and Private Sector Partnerships

– Honey & beekeeping– Livestock restocking & improvements– Cotton ) industrial– Sunflower ) crops– Horticulture

• ChiliVegetables

• Mangoes• HIV & AIDS programming

Abstinence and behavior changeOrphaned and vulnerable households

INCOME GENERATION

Credit and Loans• Loan capital : $225,000• Loans disbursed (on-farm and off-farm activities) • Loan Repayment rate: 95% - 100%Client capacity building• Training in business management including business

planning and record keeping.• Linkage of farmer groups to markets (cotton &

horticulture)• Training on lobbying and advocacy for small scale farmers

Building the Capacity of Rural Communities to Respond to Shock

• The mean value of agricultural trade entering domestic, regional and international markets from the project area was Ksh 31,888 per farmer (approx. $500)

• The number of farmers adopting at least three Natural Resource Management Practices (soil and water conservation; improved water use efficiency; soil fertility improvement and tree planting) almost doubled

Building Local Capacity to Respond to Shocks

• Other interventions lacking e.g. the use of donkey and bullocks for plowing not widespread – cash constraints.

• the use of silage and hay has not been successful because of the scarcity of materials for ensiling, and efficient equipments for making of hay

• Livestock improvement and marketing picking up

MAJOR CHALLENGES• Areas of intervention less than a tenth of the

most vulnerable segments of the population• Erratic, unreliable rainfall

– Major Irrigation intervention• OVC marginalized• Uncertainty with funding both for current DAP

and for meaningful drought response

Lessons Learned• Increased food security resulted in Ikutha Division

being removed from the list of communities receiving relief food but sustained progress was dependent on reliable rainfall

• More time needed to consolidate gains made• Complimentary large scale irrigation urgently

needed• Organized Farmers’ Associations linked to private

sector, established area storage and marketing systems meeting other value chain issues along the way

Lessons Learned

• Integrated development aid across the value chain opened doors for other community needs to be met

• Community dynamics changed over time necessitating changes in relations with stakeholders/Emerging Opportunities –– Private market operators– Complimentary markets e.g. livestock

• Development aid needs a strategic balance with emergency response for long term impact and cost effectiveness

• A regional approach to food security will yield higher dividends

AHSANTE SANA

THANK YOUTHANK YOU