To ensure food security, farmers must have access to quality seed, in adequate quantities. The government of Ethiopia acknowledges this, and has responded by investing in improving the seed sector. However, as this example shows, not all challenges can be overcome by technical training and new technologies alone. A large seed cooperative union was faced with a problem that seriously affected their very existence. And the solution was not technical.
“I see mindset shifts being promoted by CDAIS says Gemechu Nemie, director of the Ethiopian Animal Feed Industry Association (EAFIA) and a key member of the livestock feed safety and quality innovation niche. And this is the sort of change that the CDAIS project is beginning to engender, as partners start to implement approaches that better promote innovation in agriculture, by inspiring small and simple personal revolutions… Ethiopia is one of eight CDAIS pilot countries, and within each, several ‘niches’ or ‘innovation partnerships’ have been selected.
For many years, rural women have been creating their own agri-food processing companies, that promote local agriculture by bringing to the market original foods in products that are accessible to urban populations. The aim of CDAIS is to support their development by strengthening their capacities to experiment and learn together, as well as to negotiate and make contracts with suppliers and traders. And Dakoupa in Bobo Dioulasso is one of many small family businesses supported by CDAIS through the women-led agri-food processing microenterprise innovation partnership.
Smallholder farmers the world over like to raise cattle if they can and those in Lao PDR are no exception. “Cattle are our savings bank,” says Mr Phokham Keomanivong, a member of the Ban Keun cattle production group. “If you need money for an emergency or a special event like a wedding or a funeral, you can always sell a cow. “As much as they love their traditions, Ban Keun farmers see the need to change their practices, and the CDAIS project is helping them do just that.
“The CDAIS project brings an innovative methodology because it creates capacities in us as human beings” explains Carlos Valladares of the Intibucá Farmers Network. “This has improved our understanding of our situation, we have taken full responsibility for it, and are now better able to obtain and manage information to improve producer organizations”. Associations in the region have appreciated the spaces created by CDAIS that allow them to link with other stakeholders, find solutions to common problems, and now, to even take issues to the national policy level.
“El proyecto CDAIS brinda una metodología innovadora porque crea capacidades en nosotros como seres humanos”, explica Carlos Valladares de la Red Hortícola de Intibucá. “Esto ha ayudado a que entendamos mejor nuestra situación y nos apropiemos de ella. Ahora somos capaces de obtener y manejar información para mejorar la organización de los productores”. Las asociaciones en la región han aprovechado los espacios creados por CDAIS para articular con otros actores, encontrar soluciones a problemas en común y ahora, incluso, llevar los problemas a nivel de política pública.
Individual farmers often receive low prices for their harvest, and pineapple producers in Bangladesh are no exception. To help them, CDAIS facilitated a series of meetings and coaching. Starting with a capacity needs assessment workshop in April 2017, a coaching plan was developed to meet capacity gaps identified by the partnership of pineapple producers, complete with an action plan. The partnership also participated in a ‘marketplace’ event in Dhaka, a regional policy dialogue and two phases of capacity-building training. The result?
“We realized that we need to work together, and are now seeing changes happen” said Omar Ali, President of the newly formed Shibganj Mango Association. Farmers and orchard owners saw the need to change when interest in mango production grew after exports to the EU started in 2015. With technical assistance from several initiatives, the first 12 registered farmers began to follow ‘good agricultural practices’.
Today, entering Trishal, Mymensingh on the road from Dhaka, one sees rows of fish ponds. One after the other, they show a massive diversification from rice to fish cultivation in recent years, and an intensification of production. The tradeoffs between green crops and silver fish appear to be clear, as ever more farmers see the benefits in terms of profits and returns, and make the move into fish farming.
“I have seen my income grow since I started farming frogs and fish” says Bounlium Planethavong, “but other farmers need support to adopt the techniques I use.” The CDAIS project identified this innovation that increases and diversifies household income and nutrition by promoting the production of aquatic protein sources.