Empowering Farmers to Effectively Exploit Markets: building assets of cooperatives and SACCOs

1. After three years of full operation the project has helped a total of 9,850 smallholder farmers to achieve a 30% increase in average prices in their major enterprises of Maize, Beans, Sorghum, Cotton, and coffee. This is a result of two Area Cooperative Enterprises (ACEs) and two linked Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in western Uganda being empowered through a warehouse receipt system (WRS) owned and operated by the farmers themselves. This has led to both ACEs securing contract farming agreements.

2. One of the cooperatives, the Kisiita ACE has secured annual contract to supply 4,000MT of sorghum to Nile Breweries (over a period of 5 years), 580MT of maize to the World Food Programme, and 200 MT of sorghum seed to a private seed company. It is also employing its own extension staff to support its members. Furthermore, due to reliable storage, and guaranteed markets and premium prices, farmers have increased the use of improved varieties and seed, and tractors to improve productivity and expand production. The two SACCOs linked to the ACEs have jointly increased their capital base (Share capital and Saving Deposits) from an equivalent of US$ 268,991 to US$ 459,560 enhancing financial ability to operate the WRS.

More Cash from Cashew Nut: enabling small holders in Tanzania to retain higher proportion of the value

3. Cashew nut is the cash crop in south-eastern Tanzania – an area with a high prevalence of poverty. However, farm-gate prices offered to farmers have historically been low; middlemen have long taken advantage of producers; and monopolies have become an impediment to trade. A pilot project supported by Kilimo Trust has proven that all these can be changed for the benefit of producers.

4. The project has assisted cashew farmers in Masasi District to improve profitability by adding value to their commodity. Also by securing a license to purchase inputs in bulk directly from manufacturers, the farmers have reduced the cost of, for example, sulphur from US$1,000/MT to US$150/MT. The six well organized farmer groups have registered a trading company which has delivered tremendous self empowerment for the small holders. With a parallel support from FAO the six groups through their company have installed a cashew shelling factory commissioned in 2009 to process about 200MT /year while employing up to 190 people. The farmer groups have established an extension service run by the farmers themselves. They have also obtained an organic certification and executed sales contracts directly with final buyers for their value added cashew products.

Linking Nutritional and Income Security: commercializing African indigenous foods in Tanzania and Kenya

5. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to hundreds of African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs), which can supply the vitamins and minerals needed to combat malnutrition. Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) contains more vitamin A than varieties that are commonly available in the market. A project funded by Kilimo Trust and implemented by a consortium of three institutions – the International Potato Center, The World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC), and Farm Concern International, has proved that opportunities exist for smallholder farmers to turn these previously under-valued but nutritious crops into commercial cash crops.

6. The purpose of the intervention was to create beneficial "private-private" partnerships between farmers and formal markets in Nairobi, Arusha, Kisumu, Busia and other local markets in the target districts. This opened up a market opportunity with annual sales of AIVs and OFSP worth over US$200,000. Farm incomes increased by over US$400 per hectare per season while the land area planted with AIVs and OFSP increased by 20%. More importantly, the producer households increased their consumption of the AIVs and OFSP, thereby boosting the quality of nutrition in the households.

Enhancing Beneficial Conservation: mainstreaming clonal forestry technology for tree growers in East Africa

7. Kilimo Trust, and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation have invested in a regional programme to mainstream commercial private nurseries for the production of clonal plantlets and improved seedlings in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Using moving average prices/value of trees (US$ 0.18, US$ 4.5 and US$ 75, for 0-3 year, 4-5 year and over 5 year-old trees, respectively), it has been estimated that the generated value in terms of well established trees, translates to US$ 370 million, nearly 100-fold higher than investment in the Programme. Furthermore, small-scale commercial nurseries are making profits of about US$ 17,500 for Kenya, US$ 14,286 in Uganda and US$ 10, 000 for Tanzania per year.

8. The programme has assisted in the development of several central nurseries based on long term research, which in turn have supported the establishment of over 80 commercial nursery businesses in the region. To date some 21 million trees have been grown by about 20,000 growers supported by the programme in the 3 countries. The Programme has contributed immensely to the current global effort of Reducing Emissions from forest Degradation and Deforestation (REDD).

9. The programme was started in 1997 in partnership with Mondi Forests Ltd of South Africa to select and introduce Eucalyptus hybrids that are well suited for large scale production by smallholder farmers in East Africa. The selection was implemented through trials (in 40 sites) conducted by the relevant National Forestry Research Institutes in the three countries.

10. In Kenya, the programme has resulted in privately run Tree Biotechnology Programme Trust (TBPT) of Kenya (www.tree-biotech.com). It operates a modern central nursery in Karura, Nairobi to supply materials to private nurseries, woodlots, and plantations in East Africa. This has helped to create over 2,500 jobs in forestry sectors in areas of private nursery business and woodlots management. The TBPT has also supported the formation and registration of the School Woodlot and Energy Management Network, Kenya Forest Growers Associations, and Forest Tree Nurseries Association of Kenya.

11. In Uganda, a Private Company has been registered to manage a central nursery in Kifu, Mukono District, and secondary nurseries in Kabarole, Mbale, and Lira districts.

In Tanzania the programme will soon be registered as an independent trust. A central nursery has been established in Korogwe near Tanga, to produce some 3million planting materials (clonal plantlets and seedlings) per year. Small nursery businesses for distributing clones have been set up by local entrepreneurs.

Natural Resources Management for Income Generation: building honey value chains in Uganda's West Nile Region

12. The remote West Nile Region of Uganda, just emerging from the effects of a long civil strife, has limited options for the reduction of poverty through agriculture. Honey and bee products potentially offer a novel way of increasing income and improving the livelihoods of the rural communities in this region. This is because there is a strong market for honey and bee products while their production is environmentally friendly and plays a big role in pollinating other crops.

13. A project involving Kilimo Trust (KT), AAC, Bee Natural Uganda (a private honey processing company), SNV-Netherlands, and Centenary Bank, is being implemented to link bee keepers and the processor to investment financing and markets. The project has trained over 715 in modern bee keeping practices. Some 330 of them have formed 20 farmer business units which have started the process of establishing honey collection centers that in future will also undertake primary processing. Introduction of new modern beehives has been accelerated by the loan scheme. This is expected to lead to an extra production of up to 70MT/year of honey by the end of 2012. This will result in an extra US$ 112,000 income/year to the bee keepers, at a current factory price of US$ 1.8/kg for comb honey.