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Testimonios Directos - Lo que las mujeres aportan al desarrollo local

Las rutas de aprendizaje permiten a las mujeres latinoamericanas conocer otras formas (exitosas) de administrar lo público


“Conociendo lo que otras compañeras políticas están haciendo aprendí que las mujeres podemos hacer de lo público un espacio más justo y eficaz”. Rebeca Rojas, regidora del municipio peruano de Tarma, visitó en 2008 experiencias exitosas de gestión local con perspectiva de género en Bolivia y Ecuador, en el marco de una Ruta de Aprendizaje organizada por INSTRAW y PROCASUR.

Tras una semana de viaje, visitas, conversaciones —y confesiones— en las salas de aeropuertos, Rebeca volvió a Tarma renovada, en el más literal sentido de la palabra: volvía con mucho entusiasmo y muchas ideas para ejercer su rol de administradora local. “Aprendimos a reconocer nuestro modos diferente de hacer política”, asegura.

Uno de los principales resultados de su paso por la Ruta fue la elaboración de un Plan de Igualdad para el municipio. Para ello realizó un diagnóstico sobre los problemas y necesidades específicas de las mujeres en Tarme y, posteriormente, buscó alianzas para lograr un amplio apoyo entre sus compañeros de gestión.

La unión hace la fuerza. Esta fue una de las certezas que Rebeca se trajo de la Ruta, tras conocer la labor de las Asociaciones de Mujeres Municipalistas de AMUME, AMJUPRE y ACOBOL en Bolivia, y las políticas locales de equidad e integración social de los Municipios de
Cuenca y Nabón en Ecuador. Por eso, uno de los ejes principales de su Plan fue la promoción del asociacionismo femenino. Así nacieron la Mesa de Diálogo de la Mujer, a nivel municipal en 2008; la Asociación de Mujeres Políticas de la Provincia de Tarma, en 2008; la Red de Mujeres Autoridades de la Región de Junín en 2009, y la asociación de estas instancias con la Red Nacional de Mujeres Autoridades (RENAMA). En el total de estas asociaciones participan cerca de 1500 mujeres.

Otro de los cambios que Rebeca trajo a su gestión fue el de la capacitación de las mujeres: “necesitamos capacitar a las mujeres –explica–, darles conocimientos y herramientas para que sean capaces de expresar lo que piensan, para que conquisten los espacios que les correspondan y no sean meros instrumentos electorales en manos de los hombres”. Rebeca ha organizado desde entonces seminarios locales, regionales y nacionales, dirigido a las mujeres autoridades de Tarma, Junín y Perú, así como seminarios sobre sensibilización e información sobre derechos ciudadanos.

La incorporación de las mujeres a la esfera productiva, es otra de las áreas que Rebeca está incentivando mediante la formación de asociaciones para la producción y la comercialización. Queda mucho por recorrer, asegura Rebeca, pero esta historia demuestra el poder catalizador de herramientas de intercambio como las Rutas de Aprendizaje.

Enlaces Útiles

• Nueva Ruta!
  
• Caribbean Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (CARUTA)
• Latin America Center for Rural Development (RIMISP)
• Confederation of Family Producers Associations of the MERCOSUR (COPROFAM)
• Central American Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (RUTA)
• International Development Research Center (IDRC)
• Specialized Meeting on Family Farming in the Mercosur (REAF)
• PROCASUR
• Regional Program to Support Rural Afro-Latino Populations (ACUA)
• Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace
• Regional Rural Dialogue
• PREVAL

Testimonios Directos - Innovación en las Rutas de Aprendizaje

Fortaleciendo la Transversalización del Género en la gestión del Municipio de Belén – Heredia, Costa Rica

Ana Betty Valenciano, Regidora del Municipio de Belén, Provincia de Heredia, en Costa Rica participó en el 2008 de la Ruta de Aprendizaje “Fortalecimiento de la gobernabilidad, género y participación política de las mujeres en el ámbito local” (Región Centroamérica) organizada por Procasur y UN-INSTRAW.

En esta Ruta pudo conocer experiencias de transversalización de la equidad de género en la gestión municipal, siendo especialmente importantes los casos de asociatividad entre municipios así como la relevancia de las instancias más locales, como espacios de innovación e impulso de políticas de equidad.

A partir de estos aprendizajes, Ana Betty retorno a su labor dentro del Municipio de Belén, que ya contaba con un Plan de Igualdad de Genero en el Gobierno Municipal. A partir de sus experiencias en la Ruta se enfatizó la necesidad de llevar adelante un proceso de sensibilización dentro del Municipio, así como la relevancia de fortalecer la voluntad política para llevar adelante los planes de equidad. Para ello, se desarrollo una serie de acciones con las diferentes reparticiones municipales, para problematizar e incluir el enfoque de género de forma integral en las acciones del municipio y las prácticas de sus funcionarios. Destacan por ejemplo las iniciativas de incluir la mirada de genero en los proyectos de obras publicas (caminos, puentes, etc., ), en las gestiones y tramites municipales, a través de espacios de cuidado infantil abiertos a las usuarias del municipio, y en los planes de desarrollo económico local, donde muchas mujeres están siendo beneficiadas con capacitación y fondos para emprendimientos productivos.

El liderazgo personal de Ana Betty también se ha visto fortalecido en este proceso: actualmente es la presidenta del Consejo Municipal, el que está siendo recientemente renovado con una abrumadora mayoría de representantes mujeres entre el total de regidores/as (4 de 5).

Otro ámbito de innovación ha sido la apertura al intercambio de experiencias y a la autoevaluación constante del proceso llevado adelante por el Municipio de Belén. Como parte de los Planes de Innovación apoyados por la Ruta se propició un intercambio y asesoría para la elaboración de una política municipal para la equidad de género en el hermano Municipio de Talamanca – Costa Rica, el que actualmente ya cuenta con un Plan de Equidad y esta implementando sus primeras acciones. El Municipio de Belén ha sido convocado a mostrar sus experiencias a nivel nacional e internacional, siendo reconocido por sus buenas prácticas como un modelo a replicar. Esto se demuestra también en su participación como experiencia exitosa en otra Ruta de Aprendizaje organizada en conjunto por Procasur y UN-INSTRAW en abril de 2010.


Enlaces Útiles

• Nueva Ruta!
• Caribbean Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (CARUTA)
• Latin America Center for Rural Development (RIMISP)
• Confederation of Family Producers Associations of the MERCOSUR (COPROFAM)
• Central American Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (RUTA)
• International Development Research Center (IDRC)
• Specialized Meeting on Family Farming in the Mercosur (REAF)
• PROCASUR
• Regional Program to Support Rural Afro-Latino Populations (ACUA)
• Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace
• Regional Rural Dialogue
• PREVAL

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Florida Residents Fight Taxpayer Bailout for 'Holocaust' 'Museum'

We've all heard tales of Nazis forcing 'The Jews' to dig their own graves. Today, the Hollywood, Florida mob is scheming to get Florida taxpayers to finance their own guilt chamber.

Harry "Hap" Levy

Rositta Kenigsberg

Hollywood may forgive $1.7 million loan to Holocaust center

Megan O'Matz - Sun Sentinel

July 17, 2011

Hollywood Florida: Holocaust Documentation & Education Center loan

Eight years ago this city embraced the prospect of providing a home in the downtown for a Holocaust museum and education center that would fit nicely into the city's intellectual core: its arts and cultural district.

Like many grand projects, this one ran into unforeseen obstacles in renovating an old building and in raising funds. The center is functional but the museum has yet to open.
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On Monday morning, the City Commission, acting as its redevelopment board, will consider a plan to forgive $1.7 million the Holocaust Documentation & Education Center owes in principal and interest for the purchase of its building, at 2031 Harrison St.

The city, however, is facing a $38 million budget deficit in 2012 and has voted tentatively to increase property taxes and firefighting fees. So the prospect of its redevelopment arm writing off a $1.7 million loan is creating some consternation.

"It looks extremely bad," said retired attorney Sara Case, who edits a blog about city finances.

Leaders of Hollywood's Community Redevelopment Agency stress that redevelopment funds — used to attract and retain businesses — legally cannot be used to offset shortfalls in the general revenue fund, which pay city operating expenses.

But the city's coffers and the CRA's both are financed with tax dollars, making forgiving the $1.7 million loan unappetizing to some.

"It's just not right to give this money away," city activist Peter Brewer said.

CRA officials believe they have a plan that will still safeguard the public's money.

The loan forgiveness comes with a caveat. The center, which has collected thousands of documents, photos, artifacts and oral histories of Holocaust survivors, must open a museum on the ground floor in about 18 months and actively run it for 10 years.

If successful, under the proposal the center eventually will outright own the Harrison Street building, which now houses its offices, library and classroom space. If unsuccessful, however, the building will revert back to the CRA.

"Hopefully this will create the opportunity for them to get going, and if they don't get going then we'll get the asset back," CRA Executive Director Jorge Camejo said.

The only cost to the center: $18,300 in administrative fees spread out over several years.

This is not the first time the CRA has come to the center's rescue. It agreed in 2004 that the center would not have to begin paying back its $1.2 million loan for three years. Then in September 2005, it gave the center a $50,000 grant for roof repairs.

In 2007, the CRA forgave another $500,000 loan for renovations. That same year it gave the center three more years to begin paying on the 2004 loan.

In 2008, the center revised its plans and bought a separate building in Hollywood for $850,000, without city funds, at 115 S. 21st Ave. The center now plans to house its major museum there and install a traveling exhibition gallery on the ground floor of the Harrison Street building.

In October of last year, the center finally was to begin repaying the CRA loan — in monthly payments of $16,026 through 2024 — but told the city it could not because of unexpectedly high renovation costs at the Harrison Street building. City documents state the center spent $4 million on renovations while the appraised value of the building dropped.

By last year, the principal and interest on the loan had accrued to $1.7 million. The center and CRA agreed to renegotiate the terms.

The center's director, Rositta Kenigsberg, said she welcomes the opportunity to work with the city to bring the museum to fruition.

"This is a mutually beneficial partnership, and we look forward to our future endeavors together," she said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/fl-hollywood-holocaust-museum-20110717,0,861221.story

What do numbers tell us?

Training and skills development play a key role in many sectors but when it comes to the difference that capacity-building, agricultural education, vocational training and skills development can make in offering a route out of poverty to rural poor people the debate becomes more serious. Why? “Today, about 34 per cent of the total rural population of developing countries is classified as extremely poor…” and agricultural education is 1 of the 6 policy and institutional measures “ that governments can take to provide an enabling framework for sustainable agricultural intensification “ …… agricultural education is “fundamental to enable women, men, young people and children to develop the skills they need to take advantage of new economic opportunities (source IFAD RPR 2011)” . In this context, it is extremely important for IFAD to assess the role and scope of capacity building, training and skills development in IFAD portfolio. The 2 days international consultation "Skills development for poverty alleviation: sharing IFAD experiences in technical and vocational skills development”that took place in IFAD on 22 and 23 June was an opportunity to:

• understand the potential of training in IFAD supported projects
• discuss the results achieved in the framework of the Initiative to Mainstream Initiative (IMI - a DFID supported initiative to promote innovations
• identify successful and innovative training approaches in IFAD supported projects (six field studies conducted in on-going IFAD projects in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda and Sudan were presented), and
• pave the way to strengthen the impact of training on poor rural communities in order to give the rural poor the individual and collective capabilities to overcome poverty.

In terms of numbers, results are impressive! Since 2005, more than 4.3 million people have been trained (40% on agricultural technologies and production and 23% on enterprise development and employment) through IFAD programmes. But numbers, as rightly pointed out by panellists at the international consultation, need to be interrogated to give a sense of the impact of the 4.3 million trainings delivered on the lives of those people in terms of empowerment. Unfortunately data is not collected systematically and consistently; participants agreed that more efforts should be made to improve the quality of the data collected in order to answer crucial questions such as: Who are the people trained; are they men, youths or women? and most importantly are they the rural poor we need to reach? What is the use of these trainings? Did the trainings make any difference to the quality of life of the trainees?

Definitively, this is the experience of the women trained in the context of Gash Sustainable Livelihoods Regeneration Project (GSLRP) in Sudan . For them “the training on nutrition, food processing and home economics was the first opportunity to socialize and acquire new skills, said Aisha Sheik GSLRP Programme Officers in Sudan.

Kudos to GSLRP project for:

• campaigning for women’s participation in training
• influencing men and having men support the participation of women in training (it wasn’t easy…it took 2 years but they did it!!)
• overcoming barriers like the lack of venues where women could be trained
• optimizing the techniques acquired by those who benefitted from the project training on brick making and having them build the training venues with green bricks
• sharing with us during the conference the thoughts and the feedback of the beneficiaries of the training. Their words:

"Before the training, we were just sitting in the house, meetings have broadened our thinking."

"We learned how to speak Arabic and how to pray and cite the Koran"

"Before the training, our meals were sorghum porridge or Kasha, now we cook vegetables and meat; prepare special meals for children and pregnant women."

“Before we did not care when the vaccination team came for our children, now we all go out and know how important it is”

Day 6 – Conservation Agriculture: Bearing the Torch from Brazil To Africa

Greetings from Foz do Iguaçu – the town of Iguassu Falls – where we are wrapping up our intense workshop. We began the day with presentations and discussions – including an eye-opener from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA): the cost of environmental degradation in Africa ranges from 4% to 12% of GDP! Enormous.

Day 5 conservation agriculture project breadbasket field workshop in brazil

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Then we visited the Itaipu Dam, the operators of which provide payments to municipalities along the reservoir lake to provide the environmental service of implementing no-till agriculture to reduce siltation at the dam. The dam provides 25% of Brazil’s energy.

So how to adapt and adopt the Brazilian experience to the African reality? AGRA’s Rebbie Harawa called on all workshop participants to be "torchbearers" in their respective countries, to promote and support conservation agriculture practices and reverse the trend of degradation. The teams spent the afternoon and evening working with IAPAR, FEBRAPDP, FEPAGRO and CIRAD coaches preparing ideas to present to the group tomorrow - the last day of the workshop - on how what they have learned and observed can be applied in sub-saharan Africa. We will post all presentations early next week in a wrap up blog.

So that's it from Brazil - but we will be back with another post from IFAD HQ in Rome on Monday.

This blog prepared by Jeff Brez and Waltteri Katajamaki.

Day 5 – Is Conservation Agriculture Better for Women?

Sorry about being late with Day 5 post - we were just too tired after arriving late last night. Today we will share with you reflections on the Day 5 activities, and below that (scroll down!) analyse the question:



Does conservation agriculture increase or reduce labour for women?

After waking up on Day 5 in Santa Helena, we started with a very enlightening visit to a research centre CAP (Centro Avancada de Pesquisa) in Missal, which aims at searching for solutions for family farmers of the south-western Paraná region. Traditionally, smallholder farmers have used high levels of pesticides in maize, bean and soy production, and in 2003 the CAP was formed to search for ways to diversify production and make it environmentally sustainable as well as economically profitable for farmers. The CAP concentrates on capacity building of farmers, and on validating results through demonstration of innovative cropping systems, including mixed crop-livestock systems, and agro-processing. This local adaptive research is especially relevant for the area such as south-west Paraná, where temperatures vary between 0 and 45 degrees Celsius. The CAP research centre includes a 7-hectare area for demonstrations of sustainable and diversified farming, including intercropping, use of cover crops, production of seeds and seedlings, and processing of for example various fruits.

Another interesting aspect of the CAP is the way it works with public and private entities, including the second largest dam in the world, the Itaipú Dam. The electricity company provides financial assistance to the CAP as a form of payment for environmental services, because keeping erosion under control reduces operating costs of the dam. The smallholders farmers, the municipality of Missal, and the wider environment all benefit.

As examples of diversified production systems that CAP promotes, we also visited two family farms in the Missal area. The first farm, managed by Luis and Terezinha Trevisan, is dedicated to dairy production. With the help of the PRONAF loans that we also mentioned in Day 4's entry (2% interest per year over 8 years with 2-year grace period) and EMATER technical assistance they have been able to diversify their production to pasteurized milk and cheese on their farm. Daily they produce and process about 200 litres of milk from their 20 heads of cattle.

Finally we had an opportunity to visit a smallholder association market. The Bauernhouse market, located in town, sells the products of over 80 family farmers from the municipality of Missal, and also sells to governmental programmes such as school feeding. This market is a great example on how organized smallholders can sell their outputs effectively in the local market. Farmers receive 79% of sales with 21% going to the association. They hope to upgrade to cooperative status so they can issue forward contracts and other services.

Conservation Agriculture and Women


Does CA increase women’s workload – for example by shifting labor from planting to weeding? And what about that troublesome transition period of 1 - 15 years? Today a group of participants discussed the issue. Marietha Owenya of SARI (Tanzania), Rebbie Harawa of AGRA (Kenya) and Phillis Mwansa, Ministry of Agriculture, (Zambia) share their insights and experiences here.

Not surprisingly it is difficult to make a blanket assessment, because agro-ecological, social, cultural and cropping systems (and enabling environments) vary so markedly from zone to zone, including within countries. Success depends largely on the ability to accumulate enough biomass for groundcover. Research indicates that weed control is a major labour constraint without the use of herbicides under most conditions (see slide 4 of Marc Corbeels’ ppt from Day 1 – and the paper referenced below). That said, participants feel that CA is a winner for women – including women headed households: here’s why.

Conventional versus Conservation Agriculture: Division of Labor

Field preparation – less labour for both women and men with CA: In conventional systems with no machinery or animal traction available, women prepare fields/their farms using hand hoes. Men will prepare the land if machinery or animal traction is available regardless of the crop. CA reduces the time necessary to perform this task in either case because ploughing is discarded in favour of: 1) digging basins (this is labour intensive initially but the labour can be spread over months, and give women more flexibility in time use, and lessens over the years). Men also may participate in digging basins, 2) ripping into the ground cover, which is quicker than ploughing a whole plot/field and requires less energy from animals. Also, the conservation agriculture tools are lighter and more easy to use.

demonstration video: knife roller

Planting/Seeding/Sowing – less labour for women with CA: In conventional systems both women and men are involved, with women planting beans and other crops by themselves and women and men planting maize and cash crops together. The man will plant generally when animal traction or machinery is available, opening the furrow, with the woman following immediately behind (often with a baby on her back) to plant the seed. Women plant legumes, including beans, by themselves. If a “planting stick” / “dibbler” is in use, the man will make the holes and the woman, again, will follow behind to seed. In any case, the woman is always involved and almost always linked directly to the man. With conservation agriculture, women will use the jab planter or hand/hoe seed by themselves – and the jab planter does 4 things at once: opens the hole, plants the seed, fertilizes, covers the seed. The jab planter saves women time and renders them more autonomous in managing their time. Where animal traction (or machinery) is available their labour is freed as men use the CA seed planters, which both seed and fertilizer.

demonstration video: manual jab seeder

demonstration video: animal traction seeder

Weeding – less labour for women with CA with caveats: Weeding will tend to fall to women in either conventional or conservation agriculture systems, except, at times, in the case of crops that men consider particularly important such as maize or cash crops. Ploughing has the advantage of clearing the field of weeds for up to a few weeks while the newly planted crop grows, with weeding coming later to differing degrees depending on crop type and climatic conditions. Under conservation agriculture if herbicide is used (glyphosate has been promoted as part and parcel of transitioning to CA systems in Africa) labour is greatly reduced for women initially. As the main crop grows, weeding can become more complex depending on the cover crop in use and the herbicide and tools/instruments available, and can be very time consuming, substantially increasing labour for women. If the household owns a backpack herbicide sprayer or a sprayer implement (see demonstration video Day 2) then the man will tend to do the pre-emergence “weeding,” significantly reducing labour for the woman. Post-emergence weeding is more expensive (additional herbicide, implements and necessary know-how costs) and tends to fall to women in the absence of extra herbicide or tools. Women will either hoe-scratch the weeds for minimal soil disturbance or manually uproot. The better the soil cover the shorter the transition period to significantly reduced weeding.

demonstration video: manual sprayer

Harvesting – no difference in labour for women: In systems where the family harvests its own outputs, there is no difference in division of labour. Certain changes will, however occur under CA, including increased yields which increase labour / time spent on harvesting, However it is more efficient harvesting because the same field is producing more. The participants have observed that families tend to plant the same crops under CA, although proportions of crops may change due to the crop rotation requirement.

Increased Productivity - benefits to women: Marietha (participant from SARI, Tanzania) tells the story of Maria Erro, a widow with six children in Karatu, Arusha, Tanzania who, four years after adopting conservation agriculture on her 1.5 hectares of land was able to upgrade her home from thatched to corrugated iron.
In general: Increased productivity of main crop and introduction of legume cover crop (lablab, pigeon peas) outputs bring food security and extra protein for the family. The woman can invest her time saved in her children and preparing better meals – “food brings harmony to the couple / household.” Diversified production on the field spreads risk of the family and may result in extra outputs or cash with which the woman can procure food to improve the nutrition of the children. Extra income that comes from surplus can be invested (usually by the man) in inputs for the farm, health care and/or education of children, and improvement of the family dwelling.

Nota bene!! Decreases in yield
during transition periods of up to 10 - 15 years are observed (refer paper by Rusinamhodzi, Corbeels, van Wijk, Rufino, Nyamangara & Giller: A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions). Households need support from extension services if they experience reduced productivity during the transition periods.

Access all workshop blog posts (ppts, demonstration videos)here

Thanks also to Waltteri Katajamaki for his contribution to this blog post.

Family farmers are key to ensuring peace, prosperity and progress

Invest ‘big farming’ gains in new opportunities for small-scale producers
By Kanayo F. Nwanze

Family farmers are the future. We need to invest in their well-being and prosperity in Argentina – and across the globe - if we are to ensure food security, peace and sustainable natural resource management over the next 50 years.

Argentina is making sound economic progress in the area of mechanized “Big Farm” agriculture, and has become a world leader in soy production. I applaud these efforts. Nevertheless, a country with an annual per capita income of around US$7500 still claims a national poverty rate of 12 per cent. In the Northeast the rate is even higher. More worrying to me are the reports that eight children died of malnutrition in the Province of Salta this February.

And rural poverty, inequality and food security are not just a problem facing Argentina or Latin America. Sustainable rural poverty reduction is a global issue, and needs to become a global priority.

The Rural Poverty Report 2011 issued by my organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), shows that around 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people – that’s people living on less than US$1.25 a day – live in rural areas. The report also underlined the need to increase production, reduce risk and ensure sound natural resource management practices. In fact, global food production will have to increase 70 per cent by 2050 – with a double in output from the developing world – in order to feed the 9 billion people who will inhabit the earth by then.

So how can Argentina – and the rest of Latin America – increase production, all the while ensuring sustained rural poverty reduction, environmental protection and inclusion? The answer is quite simple. We need to invest in family farmers.

The scale and possibilities for these investments are massive. In the MERCOSUR – a common market that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – there are around 4.9 million farms, covering some 120 million hectares. Of these, 83 per cent are family-operated, providing as much as 70 per cent of the food for the region.

The first step is to create pro-poor policies that empower smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs to take the reins of their own destinies, and make family farming a profitable and sustainable enterprise.

I am happy to say that Argentina is making good progress in fostering proactive dialogue with family farmers. And IFAD has played an active role as an honest broker between large institutions, government and family farmers by supporting policy dialogue platforms like the National Family Farming Forum and the MERCOSUR Regional Specialized Meeting on Family Farming (REAF MERCOSUR).

In last year’s REAF MERCOSUR in Brasilia, Argentina agreed to buy more produce from family farmers for use in public institutions. I’ve seen this policy at work in Brazil, where 30 per cent of the food used in schools comes from family farmers. It’s a policy that works. And I am hopeful that Argentina will make good on its pledge and move forward with this important public policy.

But sound policy alone is not the answer. You also need to invest in productive resources, youth and women, technology and training, and natural resource protection if you ever hope to create lasting poverty reduction in Argentina’s rural areas.

Here, too, Argentina is making slow upward progress. At the end of 2009, the responsibilities of implementation of all IFAD-funded projects in Argentina were transferred to the newly created Unit for Rural Change at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. This welcome reform has allowed the projects funded by IFAD in Argentina - the North Western Rural Development Project (PRODENOA), the Patagonia Rural Development Project (PRODERPA), and the Rural Areas Development Programme (PRODEAR) – to synchronize their projects on the national level all the while ensuring demand-driven decision making by local stakeholders.

In these projects, we are seeing sound evidence that farmers are learning new skills to protect our Mother Earth and build sustainable rural enterprises. For instance, in the North East new beekeeping associations are allowing area farmers to collectively bargain and earn more money. The bees also provide much needed services to pollinate local fields and protect the forests. In the end, with most of the world’s biodiversity housed in rural areas, these family farmers will be the protectors of our natural patrimony, and we need to invest in them today if we are to see a better world tomorrow.

Also worth noting is the key role women and youth are playing. In Argentina and the rest of the world, we’ve seen that an investment in these two key agents of change will be a driving force in poverty reduction.

Investing in Argentina’s rural youth is especially important. These will be the farmers that will feed the nation 25 years from now. And creating improved opportunities in the countryside – with better training and schools, and more resources to work in off-farm industries like agricultural processing and craftsmanship – will work to stem Argentina’s urban flight, in the end, reducing urban poverty as well.

But Argentina does not simply have a responsibility to invest in rural poverty reduction and family farmers within its borders. The nation has taken giant leaps in creating new techniques and technologies in for-export agricultural production, making it a world leader in soy and beef production. These new resources and technologies need to be shared with the rest of Latin America and the rest of the world. ‘Big farming’ has resuscitated the nation’s economy. It’s time to take those resources and re-invest them in the ‘small farmers’ that will keep us whole for centuries to come.

About the author

Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze is the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to ending rural poverty. In early July, Dr. Nwanze, along with the Director of IFAD's Latin America and the Caribbean Division Josefina Stubbs, Argentina Country Program Manager Paolo Silveri, and the Director of the Office of the President Sirpa Jarvenpaa met with high-level government officials in Buenos Aires and visited the IFAD-funded PRODEAR project in Chaco and Misiones.

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This article was originally published in Spanish in Argentina's La Nacion on 13 July. Check it out online.

Spanish speakers should also check out the Testimonio Directo, from small-scale tea producer Evo Albrecht.

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Smart choices in Argentina

IFAD President Nwanze reflects on Argentina, MICs and the future of rural development
On his recent mission to Argentina we caught up with IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze for an impromptu interview on the role of IFAD in Middle-Income Countries like Argentina. Nwanze's reflections provide unique insight into the way IFAD does business in large emerging economies. It also pans out to provide us with new ideas on how IFAD should work over the next six years, where we should invest our funds to reduce rural poverty, and how smart investments can be leveraged to create peace, prosperity and long-term sustainability.

Tune in to Nwanze's press conference in Chaco, Argentina.

See photos from the mission.

Learn more about the mission to Argentina.

Snapshot Argentina

Travel with IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze to Argentina with this in-depth photo essay. Along the way, you'll learn how IFAD can work with Middle-Income Countries like Argentina to end rural poverty, how new processing facilities are improving incomes in Argentina's Chaco and Misiones Provinces, and how a simple tractor can make the world of difference.

Check out more photos from the President's visit.

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Day 4 – Conservation Agriculture Needs an Enabling Environment

After a dinner reception hosted by the mayor of the municipality of Pato Branco on Tuesday evening, the workshop resumed Wednesday morning slightly later than usual. We travelled to Coronel Vivida to learn about microcredit opportunities for smallholder farmers in the state of Paraná, after which we had a chance to visit an idyllic and successful organic family farm outside the town (fish pond surrounded by indigenous fruit trees, pasture up the hill and beyhond that sugar cane).

(The below ppt was delivered on Day 3, and has great background on conservation agriculture and cover crops)

Day 3 conservation agriculture field workshop project breadbasket calegari, iapar, july 12, 2011

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

Thirteen years ago Adir Lino (at left) completed his farm's transition into organic production. He chose organic farming because he could not make ends meet with conventional (chemical / input intensive) farming of soybeans and noticed negative health effects on his family. Today his farm has high levels of diversity, and all of the production is integrated into one system (the meat and honey production is not fully organic). This, Adir says, has been the key for success. For the Paraná region the farm is relatively small – a total of 17 hectares, half of which is under cultivation while the other half is kept as a reserve forest (more than the federally mandated 20%).

The farm uses only family labour, with Adir, his wife and his parents working together . And it sounds like there might be quite a bit of work to do with all the different products of the farm: sugar cane, corn, beans, rice, fruits integrated in the agroforestry system, cassava, vegetables, honey, fish, poultry, dairy… You name it! Where possible, the production is organic, and minimum tillage and cover crops such as black oat, ryegrass and radish are used. In addition, agroprocessing is being done at the farm to further add value to the products, which are then sold to Brazil’s school feeding programme, in regional markets, and to customers directly at the farm.

Today, Adir’s family farm is a shining example of what can be achieved through using diversified and integrated farming systems. As workshop participant August Basson, from Lesotho, put it, Adir’s farm is something of a paradise. The question remains as to how these practices can be adapted to the realities of African smallholder farms.

Parana State has seen incredible yield and productivity increases since 1992 thanks to conservation agriculture, but other things have changed, too.

As Dr. Ricardo Ralisch of EMBRAPA and University of Londrina and Danilo Rheinheimer dos Santos of FEPAGRO (Rio Grande Do Sul) tell it, in the 1980s no-till was increasing for big farmers and mechanized (tractor-powered) farms, but smallholders were not in the picture at scale. During this time the research institutes (EMBRAPA, IAPAR, universities) were learning about conservation agriculture to help farmers become more efficient and smallholders more productive. The turning point for smallholders was the introduction of animal traction tools for conservation agriculture, which IAPAR designed. With financing from Monsanto and Semeato, the first 36 prototype animal traction planters, “gralha azuls,” were produced in 1985. They were provided to the extension agency EMATER, who then worked with smallholder farmers, IAPAR and others to introduce conservation agriculture through countless field demonstrations.

Conservation agriculture helped the struggling smallholders who previously produced only grain or cash crops, to develop integrated crop-livestock systems. Now Parana state is a major producer of dairy products, powered by smallholder production.
In 1992, the conservation agriculture federation FEBRADPDP was founded and the revolution was in motion.

During the 1990’s some government support for small farmer programmes came in the form of loans through PRONAF to cooperative investments for agro-processing and storage systems. Work also continued on improving infrastructure including rural roads for market access.

As incomes steadily grew, smallholder communities became more organized and asked municipal leaders and politicians for stronger support. In the 2000s, government investment in smallholders increased through beefed up credit programmes through PRONAF and the creation of a new Ministry for Agrarian Development, which implemented policies and programmes specifically targeting smallholders. One key policy now regulates market for smallholders and includes a programme of direct buying from small farmers by municipalities – each municipality must purchase at least 30% of food it supplies to schools, welfare programmes and military needs from small farms.

Adir Lino accessed credit from PRONAF to buy his agroprocessing equipment (a 5 year group loan at 1.2%/yr interest) and also sells his produce to the municipality, among others. Clearly, his family's success is the result of organic and conservation agriculture approaches together with a strong enabling environment.

Reporting by Jeff Brez and Waltteri Katajamaki

Horn of Africa: The Rains will fail in 2015, 2016, or 2017, but must we also fail?

By Kevin Cleaver, IFAD Associate Vice President

The current drought in the Horn of Africa, the worst in the past 60 years, has governments in the region and the international donor community scrambling to raise additional funds for emergency relief and provide desperately required food, medical care and shelter to the affected populations in Somalia, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya to address their dire immediate needs.

Drought in this part of the continent is not unknown and has been an increasingly frequent occurrence. Datelines change (2005, 2006, 2008 and now, 2011) but the stories of unimaginable hardship, death and depravation, while differing in magnitude from one drought to the next, remain much the same. Drought never only has localized consequences. Its effects cascade through countries in the form of higher food and fodder prices, civil unrest and diminished social services as governments redeploy budgets to meet the most pressing needs of their citizens. These effects multiply the impact of the drought, dragging millions of families who had improved their living conditions back into poverty and deepening the hole of those fighting to climb out of poverty.

Although governments and their development partners cannot make the rains come, they can mitigate the impact of these recurring droughts in East Africa by helping farmers and herders build resilience to these inevitable meteorological occurrences. This is a cornerstone of the work the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the region. Much greater investment in agricultural research, an area long neglected by both governments and donors, is essential to develop and diffuse drought and disease-resistant food and fodder crops which are better able to withstand moisture stress. There needs to be greater government and donor support for integrated soil fertility management, erosion control, agro-forestry, and reforestation, which are fundamental to preserving the natural resources — the principal capital asset of smallholder farmers and herders. Minimizing post-harvest food and fodder losses through better on-farm storage facilities, improving farmer and herder access to credit to purchase agricultural and veterinary inputs, supporting transparent and accessible markets, and strengthening farmer and herders’ organizations are all critical to building the resilience to mitigate the effects of drought.

News coverage of the unfolding events in East Africa brings stark images of desperation, disease and death into the living rooms, boardrooms and government offices in developed countries, eliciting sympathy, and hopefully the necessary financial support to address this growing emergency. But building resilience of farming and herding communities in East Africa requires a long term, sustained commitment on the part of the region’s governments and the international donor community. When the next drought comes in 2015, 2016, or 2017, will there be fewer refugees, walking fewer miles to get the help they desperately need? Will there be more water points, and greater availability of livestock feed and supplements? Will the granaries be full enough to tide over many who are now hungry? The answers to these questions depend largely on the continued commitment of the international community. The rains will fail. But let us not fail, too.

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Day 3 – Conservation Agriculture Success? Institutional Partnerships with research and farmers at the center

Today we visited a thriving smallholder farm as well as IAPAR’s research station in Pato Branco. In the 1970s and 1980s Parana State was losing 100 tonnes of soil per hectare per year - that’s a loss rate of 1 centimetre/ha per year, while it takes nature 400 years to make 1 centimetre per year of soil! (source: IAPAR, Parana State Agricultural Research Institute) Something needed to be done.

So in the early 1970s, soon after Herbert Bratz made his pioneering trip to the USA, IAPAR began research into conservation agriculture methods. What has become crystal clear to the workshop participants, is that integrated institutional partnerships – with farmers themselves and their associations and cooperatives at the center– are necessary for changing mindsets and affecting change. The hard work paid off beginning in the early 1990s when the number of hectares under CA began to skyrocket.


One of the keys to the success of CA in Parana state was a focus on its crop-livestock systems. Not only permanent soil cover, but also more livestock forage was necessary, and IAPAR’s research helped determine which winter crops could best serve as both cover crops and forage for dairy cattle. Before 1992 there was almost no no-till in Parana State, while now, 20 years later, it is almost all no-till. Of course, IAPAR has not achieved this alone – it has worked with the national extension service, EMATER, with EMBRAPA, with municipalities, with SEAB, with FEBRAPDP, often sharing and embedding staff.

Iapar presentation day 3 conservation agriculture virtual field workshop in brazil

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development.

On the bus ride back to town, participants from AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and Lesotho stressed that demonstrations need to be guided by researchers and extension staff, but also carried out in farmers’ fields, so farmers can see firsthand the comparative advantages, benefits and costs of adopting conservation agriculture. An EMBRAPA participant enthusiastically agreed, saying this was the modus operandi in Parana State and elsewhere in Brazil.

Pictured at left, (Marietha Owenya, SARI, Tanzania) Marc Corbeels (CIRAD) and Waltteri Katajamaki (IFAD).