Resource Efficient Agrocultural Production (REAP) Canada

Agro-Ecological Villages for Africa

Final Report
November 2006

Presented to

THE FUNDING NETWORK – TORONTO
TFN-TO Inaugural Funding Event, October 2005

Submitted by

Resource Efficient Agricultural Production (REAP)-Canada
Box 125 Centennial Centre CCB13,
Sainte Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9
info@reap-canada.com; www.reap-canada.com

In partnership with

Njawara Agricultural Training Centre (NATC)
Njawara Village, North Bank Division, The Gambia
njawaranatc40@hotmail.com

REAP-Canada is an independent, research and development organization that has over 20 years experience working in Canada and internationally with farmers, scientists, governments and the private sector to develop ecological farming systems that reduce poverty while rehabilitating environmentally devastated areas

Njawara Agricultural Training Centre (NATC) is an NGO in the Gambia established in 1990 by the Njawara community for the purpose of training farmers in sustainable agro-forestry techniques to improve farm production and profitability while promoting sustainable natural resource management.

1.0 Project Strategy and Methodology

The Agro-Ecological Village (AEV) model is a holistic and integrated development approach that strengthens the social, ecological and technological infrastructure of communities to reduce poverty, enhance food/energy security and promote gender equality. It rehabilitates the natural resource base by developing practical farming systems and empowering farmers to take a more active role in their own development. The emphasis is on capacity building, gender equality and participatory development including participatory training, assessment and on-farm research. One component of the AEV approach is the Mayon Turbo Stove (MTS). Developed by REAP-Canada, the MTS allows for efficient combustion of fuels including rice hull/peanut shells with extremely high efficiency.  It can provide a significant reduction in fuel costs while greatly decreasing household pollution levels and utilizing wasted resources. This relieves pressure on diminishing forest resources, dramatically improves women’s health and reduces the workload of people (often women) collecting fuelwood. 

Two Phase I projects sponsored by CIDA successfully began implementation of the Agro- Ecological Village Development Model and the MTS in 5 communities in the Gambia in 2004. However, as of spring 2005, CIDA funding was suspended without any guarantee of immediate renewal. The Funding Network (TFN) - Toronto provided bridge funding during this critical phase to ensure project activities could continue in the 5 villages until funding was renewed. New CIDA funding was announced as of June 2006 and a project proposal has been submitted to access this funding for Phase II to continue project efforts. This report provides an account of the achievements completed during this “Bridge” Phase.

2.0 Project Objectives

This project phase was intended to continue project activities, expand into underlying regions and continue to strengthen opportunities for women in the beneficiary communities by: 

• Further developing the farmer-to-farmer training program (including 50% women);
• Continue development and plant material improvement programs on learning farms;
• Introduce and promote improved fuel stoves including MTS and Rocket Stoves.

3.0 Project Achievements

The project continued to strengthen the participatory approaches through the consultation and collaboration with key stake holders including primary target communities, NATC, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and Village Aid-The Gambia (VATG). A bottom-up approach continued to form the basis of decision making where project activities respond to farmers needs and initiatives. Existing project structures (project management committee and implementing and technical teams) continued to play the specific roles assigned to them and members of the Farmer Associations (FAs) and farmer trainers continued to receive capacity building trainings. At the field level, learning farms continued to be developed for plant material improvement and as a learning resource for innovative agro-ecological farm practices.

3.1 Farmer to Farmer Trainings

The farmer-to-farmer training process allows local farmers to take the lead in community capacity building. The investment in developing farmer trainers and empowering and training local farmers generates a high capacity to continue the development process in communities beyond the project’s lifespan. Additionally, the investment in strengthening the farmers’ institutions and developing bottom-up training programs can compliment traditional top-down infrastructure and establish long-term benefits in the beneficiary communities. During Bridge Phase implementation, local farmers and farmer trainers were engaged in structured trainings and on-the-job coaching through the farmer-to-farmer training network. During this time the project held a total of 523 individual training sessions on 7 training topics. In these meetings, 54% of the participants were female. These topics were selected as they were becoming increasingly relevant to the communities and were not completely dealt with during the Phase I project period. Please refer to Appendix 1, Table 1 for a complete listing of participants and trainings held. As a summary, during the project Bridge Period, the following trainings were conducted:

• 215 trainings in Community Group Management
• 37 trainings in Improved Cooking Technologies
• 116 trainings in Bokashi Organic Fertilizer Production
• 77 trainings in Soil Fertility Management
• 44 trainings in Soil and water conservation
• 8 trainings in Semi-intensive Livestock Management
• 26 trainings in Food Processing & Preservation

NATC hosted most of the trainings because of their previous experience and their high capacity to deliver such trainings. Training of farmer trainers was carried out by NATC and NARI staff, as well as agricultural specialists and technicians from other agencies.

3.2 Learning Farm Development and Plant Material Improvement Program

Learning farms broaden development efforts by evaluating innovative farming techniques and plant materials on local farms, placing farmers and their farms at the center of learning in the community and demonstrating that ecological changes can be made on average budgets while also increasing food security and nutritional intake and restoring soil fertility.

Crop trials for various agronomic traits, performance and yield were performed on new, improved and previously tested varieties  of crops, rice and vegetables to confirm characteristics of those with high adaptability to local conditions. The overall goal was to encourage farmers to take a more active role in developing participatory on-farm research as a tool for accelerating their plant and farming systems improvement. Improved varieties of crops including sorrel and groundnuts, vegetables including squash, beans and okra, and rice were evaluated on several local learning farms to continue assessments for adaptability to Gambian climactic conditions. Successful varieties were also being multiplied up for seed by several farmers.  Please refer to Appendix 1, Table 2 for details of the plant material improvement results at the field level.

Production of Bokashi Fermented Organic Fertilizer was also an important component of learning farm development. Bokashi is a fermented organic soil amendment that contains indigenous microorganisms (IMO’s) from local soil and worm casings, which are beneficial to plants and can dramatically increase soil fertility. Microbes are multiplied on a substrate of carbonized agricultural residues (typically burnt rice hull) with high populations obtained by adding sugars from natural fruit juices. Bokashi is ready for use after only 2 weeks and composed of low-cost, locally available materials.  It can be used both as a basic fertilizer or income generating product and can significantly assist the transformation to ecological farming by minimizing the yield losses and risk normally associated with this conversion. The efforts during the Bridge Phase of the project focused on introducing this practice to the farmer trainers and NATC staff and adapting the production process to materials available in the local communities. Hands-on trainings and demonstration sessions were held for 37 farmers (19 male & 18 female), which was followed by field trials on the effects of Bokashi fertilizer on vegetables in comparison to chemical fertilizer and compost. Results from preliminary trials indicated positive effects at both the vegetative and maturity stages of crops. This has prompted most farmers to prepare their own Bokashi for application on their farms, limiting use of chemical fertilizers.

3.3 Improved Cookstove Program

To alleviate their dependency on fuelwood, villagers were exposed to alternative stoves. Developed by REAP-Canada in the Philippines, the Mayon Turbo Stove (MTS) allows for efficient combustion of rice hull and other bio-residues. The Rocket Stove is another alternative that uses roughly one third of the fuel required by a traditional 3-stone fire with less smoke production. 37 farmers (15 male and 22 female) evaluated the improved cooking devices with participants concluding that the Rocket Stove proved more efficient in terms of cleanness, timing, and adaptability to local conditions and customs. As such, the project contracted the production of 40 Rocket stoves for distribution amongst the farmers in the beneficiary communities. With these stoves now completed and distributed, pressure on tree cutting for fuel/fire wood is anticipated to be reduced in the area.

4.0 Knowledge Gained

The Agro-ecological Village development model has been determined as distinctive in its ability to bridge the communication and information gap between the masses of peasant farmers, research institutes and the local government. Through its participatory approach and holistic design, it innovatively integrates environmental, agricultural, economic, social and gender development through capacity building, training, education and information exchange. It also demonstrates tangible development measures including learning farms and seed distribution. The AEV is locally adaptable and is based on the transfer of sustainable agriculture techniques to whole communities. It has strong potential to spread to other communities in West Africa facing similar agricultural constraints. As the benefits of sustainable community development are realized, the people will have greater household self-reliance through increased income and opportunities. It is a simple and effective model, proven in the Gambia, Philippines and China, and its participatory methodology allows for high levels of beneficiary ownership, creating long lasting and sustainable results in the community.

5.0 Challenges and Lessons Learned

Women have been very active in project implementation during the period under review with womens participation in the trainings higher than their male counterparts (54% women) and women exclusively engaged in vegetable and rice production. It is essential to have women engaged in the farmer-to-farmer training to both built the capacity of individual women as trainers and engage women as active participants in the project and, ultimately, in their community. Additionally, women are most receptive to learning from other women. This was one of the most challenging aspects of the programming as the women in these communities were poorly educated and painfully shy. However, we recognized that the involvement of women in every aspect of the project was fundamental to the improvement of the quality of life for the farmers, for the cohesion of the communities, and for overall project success.

The main constraints during the period under review was the lack of adequate staff on the ground as a result of the disruption and unpredictability of funding with CIDA. This volatility caused several staff members to seek more stable employment and left the project temporarily without an accountant or community organizer. However, this staffing vacuum was immediately and successfully managed by the Project Manager and the number of staff remaining committed to the project is a tribute to the importance of these efforts to our southern partners. CIDA funding has now been made available again and a project proposal has been submitted for Phase II to continue project efforts. The bridge funding provided by The Funding Network (TFN) - Toronto during this critical phase was immeasurably important to ensuring momentum was maintained in these communities and significantly increased the potential for successful long-term impacts to be reached from project activities completed thus far.

6.0 Financial Report

Appendix 1: Details of On-Farm Production Activities