a project for the great lakes region of central africa

CATALIST Burundi • DR Congo • Rwanda

Catalyze Agricultural Intensification for Social and Environmental Stability

Case Study: CAPADCATALIST Facilitates Capacity Building

in Farmers’ Organizations

IFDC helps increase the productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers through

the development of competitive and sustainable agricultural value chains. IFDC targets the entire value chain – from input distribution to agricultural production, processing, storage, transportation and trade. IFDC staff focus on capacity building – working within the value chain to foster productivity and link farmers to input and output markets. Activities include strengthening producer and trade associations and developing market information systems that serve producers, traders, processors and consumers. IFDC also works to create enabling policies for the free movement of inputs and greater intra-regional trade of produce.

The Confederation of Agricultural Producer Associations for Develop-ment (CAPAD) is a key partner of the IFDC-managed CATALIST project in Burundi. CAPAD evolved from PROTAO, a producers’ organization which collapsed in 2003. According to Matthias Miburo, CAPAD’s Legal Representative, it was PROTAO’s lack of

sustainability that led 25 associations to start CAPAD, a more durable organization. The Confederation received ministerial approval on December 31, 2003. In an effort to establish a more effective organization, CAPAD was restructured three years later. CAPAD’s members come from more than 20,000 households in 11 of the country’s 17 provinces.

Several crops, including cassava, potato, maize and rice, were selected by CAPAD members for value chain development during the 2006 Annual General Meeting. Since then, co-ops in every commune have organized into farm groups around these commodity chains. “Our strong partnership with CATALIST is self-evident. CAPAD includes 72 cooperative organizations, of which nine are rice producers. All of the rice cooperatives were involved in the initial stages of the Inventory Credit System,” stated Ildephonse Nahimana, a Super Facilitation Contract Officer at CAPAD.

The following case study will demonstrate how establishing a union of cooperatives can enhance the lives of farmers and their families.

François Uwimana works in the small shop he and his wife opened using money from his participation in CAPAD. Among the useful items he sells is fertilizer.

The CATALIST-CAPAD partnershipAccording to Nahimana, a major challenge for a local organization is to continue to follow its own vision and objectives when they may conflict with those of donor organizations. Dr. Annick Sezibera, CAPAD’s founding member and Executive Secretary agrees, “We are constantly fighting not to swerve from our goals.” She appreciates that IFDC understands this, which is one of the reasons for the strong bonds between CAPAD and IFDC’s CATALIST project.

CAPAD also collaborates with IFDC and other organizations to influence agricultural policies in Burundi and to help producers obtain loans from financial institutions or identify markets for products. Dr. Sezibera commented, “Our partnership with CATALIST has allowed us to learn a great deal from study trips such as the one to West Africa in 2007. We came back having made the decision to introduce the Inventory Credit System in Burundi.”

The inventory credit systemAn inventory credit system (also known as “warrantage” in French) allows farmers to warehouse agricultural commodities after a harvest until prices increase, thus raising their incomes. The stored crops can also be used as collateral for loans from banks and micro-finance institutions.

This short-term system protects farmers against low prices (generally at harvest when there is ample supply) by giving them access to credit when it is needed most. The need for – and lack of – credit can force farmers to sell their crops to the first buyer at harvest, often at a low price. Then, the farmer often has to buy food and seeds a few months later at higher prices. A key advantage of the inventory credit system is that farmers can sell their crops months after the harvest, when market prices are higher. The inventory credit system also is appealing to

banks and other financial institutions because

they can easily

sell the crops if the borrower fails to repay his or her loan. Also, the crops increase in value with time.

“The inventory credit system has accomplished much more than I can describe,” says Célestin Twahirwa, a farmer and member of the Abakebugwa Bakumva (“those who listen when called”) cooperative. A community leader, Twahirwa heads MUSO (the Mutuelle de Solidarité), composed of a group of producers who pool their funds to offer small loans to each other. “There was a time that I could not imagine buying a cow, a bicycle and two mobile phones. Even finding the money to call my son at his school in the city was a dream,” explained Twahirwa. He is among 1,800 farmers benefitting from an inventory credit system, as well as the CATALIST/CAPAD rice value chain agreement in the Kabuyenge and Muramba marshlands of the Bwambarangwe and Kirundo communes in Northern Burundi. Similarly, CATALIST facilitates the Mutimbuzi value chain in the Imbo

“There was a time that I could not imagine buying a cow, a bicycle and two mobile phones.

Even finding the money to call my son at his school in the city was a dream,”

explains Céléstin Twahirwa.

Women threshing rice after harvesting and

drying the crop.

Plain, benefitting 15,000 producers in four local cooperatives – Terimbere (“Move forward”), CAPRI, CAPRIMU and Girumwete Dukore (“Let’s work with courage!”).

According to Kagabo Nkubito, a CATALIST credit expert, implementing an inventory credit system is not enough to support producers’ move from subsistence farming to market-oriented agriculture. “Supporting the whole value chain is the essential condition for the transformation to market-oriented agriculture,” explains Nkubito.

Rice farming involves several stakeholders who interact in a dynamic way along the value chain. According to Nkubito, “The farmer is the converging point of all the links. Ironically, without the active participation of farmers, they cannot benefit from existing markets,” stresses Nkubito. Odette Ntirampeba, a member of Terimbere cooperative in the Imbo Plain, explained that many farmers who stored their harvests before the inventory credit system was established are in debt from high interest rate loans from local businessmen. “Sadly, it is those with the most money who benefit from efforts made by us farmers,” adds Ntirampeba. An effective inventory credit system can break this cycle and generate greater opportunities and revenue for farmers.

Agricultural intensificationIFDC and CATALIST use Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) to increase crop yields and strengthen the agricultural value chain. ISFM strategies center on the combined use of mineral fertilizers and locally available organic amendments (crop residues, compost and green manure) to replenish lost soil nutrients, improving its fertility and enhancing crop growth. Organic soil amendments interact with mineral fertilizers, improving both soil quality and the efficiency of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs (seeds, crop protection products and water). In addition, ISFM promotes improved crop management practices, measures to control erosion and leaching and techniques to improve soil organic matter maintenance. In the case of the marshland rice value chain in Kirundo, average production is 4.0 tons/hectare (t/ha) when ISFM techniques are used, whereas with no fertilizer, it is 1.5t/ha. Rice is a crop that has been proven to respond well to intensification.

Two CAPAD cooperatives – Girumwete Dukore and Terimbere – secured monetary grants through CATALIST’s small grants program. The grant to Girumwete Dukore facilitated the building of a warehouse and the acquisition of rice hulling/husking machinery. The grant to Terimbere helped establish a rotating fund

and CAPAD assists the co-op in its management. In addition, three agri-input sales points were established with the small grant. The sales points established in Terimbere, Muco w’Abarimyi (“the light of farmers”) and Abakebugwa Bakumva cooperatives allow fertilizer, seed and pesticide distribution in Kirundo commune.

Joseph Ndayiragije, CAPAD’s Agronomist, is charged with CATALIST’s intensification activities including the acquisition, transportation, pricing and at times even the distribution of inputs. Inputs are then stored in a Ministry of Agriculture warehouse in Kirundo and distribution is done through the three sales points.

Linking farmers to financial institutionsMore than 250 farmers from three different cooperatives have received bank loans totaling BIF 35,312,000 (about $26,000). “Before June 2009 no farmer had approached us for a bank loan, so this is a very important step,” explains Methusela Haricubonye, Branch Manager of COOPEC in the Bwambarangwe Commune in Kirundo Province. “These farmers were introduced to COOPEC through CAPAD and CATALIST. To date, nearly 100 farmers have bank accounts with COOPEC in Bwambarangwe. That is unprecedented.”

This brochure is a publication of the IFDC-implemented CATALIST Project. | www.ifdc-catalist.org | ifdcrwanda@ifdc.orgFunding is generously provided by the Netherlands Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGIS).

IFDC Rwanda730, Kimihurura II – Gasabo DistrictP. O. Box 6758, KigaliOffice: +250 255 10 42 11

IFDC Burundi3 - Bweru Street Rohero IIP. O. Box 1995, BujumburaTelephone: +257 22 25 78 75 +257 22 27 35 66

IFDC CongoQ. Himbi, GomaTelephone: +243 813 134 697

Rohero II, Avenue Kunkiko, nº 27 BujumburaTelephone: +257 22 21 79 02 +257 79 952 176capad_shirukubute@yahoo.fr

PROJECT HEADQUARTERS BURUNDI OFFICE DRC OFFICE CAPAD – www.capadburundi.org

CATALIST

The way forwardThe CATALIST/CAPAD facilitation contract includes activities related to the development of different rice farming components and much more. These activities include:

n Improving the genetic basis of rice through the introduction of new rice varieties. This is important because varieties currently available in the country have a growing cycle as long as five months. “We want to introduce better-flavored varieties that meet consumer tastes and are ‘short-cycle,’ and therefore grow faster (allowing additional crops per year),” explains Alexis Ntamavukiro, National Coordinator for the CATALIST project in Burundi. To do this, Dr. Vo-Tong Xuan held a training workshop in Burundi in January 2010. Xuan is a world-renowned expert on rice from Vietnam, and is also a member of the IFDC Board of Directors. As a follow-up to this workshop, training in mechanization techniques was held in the three CATALIST focus countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda – in July 2010.

n Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2010 between CATALIST and the Communauté Economique des Pays des Grands Lacs (CEPGL, or the Economic Community of the Great

Lakes Countries), a rice intensification program is underway in the Ruzizi Plain, an area shared by all three CATALIST countries. Urea deep placement (UDP) technology will be utilized following successful tests in the area. UDP is a technology used extensively in Bangladesh and other Asian nations. UDP increases yields of irrigated rice crops while using less fertilizer. The first UDP tests were conducted during season 2010A in the Bugarama marshlands in southwest Rwanda. UDP test parcels yielded an average of 6.0t/ha, compared to an average of 5.4t/ha obtained by farmers practicing the normal fertilization application of broadcast and surface incorporation.

n CAPAD has also partnered with CATALIST in the recently introduced mechanization program that covers the Ruzizi Plain. The first motor-cultivators were delivered to farmers in July 2010. This equipment will be supplemented by cultivation and harvesting equipment as well as rural transportation, preparation and maintenance equipment. The introduction of this equipment will be done in collaboration with EPHAMEC, a local company involved in assembling spare parts. EPHAMEC will take care of the maintenance, repair and spare parts for the equipment in the three countries. Mechanization is one of the

key elements of the “Ruzizi Without Borders” program.

As reflected in its name, CAPAD promotes development through Producer Organizations. This requires the active involvement of all stakeholders; several donor organizations are investing in CAPAD’s members during the long and sometimes strenuous road to sustainable development. As one of these organizations, IFDC staff members know that building the capacity of organizations such as CAPAD is what will enable farmers to sit at the negotiation table with other stakeholders and provide the invaluable input that only they can bring. Ultimately, this will generate successful, market-oriented farming.

CATALIST at a glanceThe five-year CATALIST project was launched in October 2006 by IFDC with funding from the Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). Project oversight is provided by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Rwanda. CATALIST is increasing food security, reducing poverty and improving regional collaboration to foster peace and security in the Great Lakes Region of central Africa.

A rice watchman waits in the shade of his umbrella. Farmers must pay for this kind of work, which is necessary to keep birds away from the ripening crop.