On a positive note, the move to more Regenerative agriculture often supports practices that are likely to be the kinds of agriculture practised more by women** . E.g. diversified farming systems for food security (monocrop cash crops are more likely to be dominated by men (at least in terms of leading the process, women will do a lot of the back breaking labour though)); recycling/reuse of inputs (composting etc); farmer managed seed systems. So it is important point to recognis, valuing and elevating the knowledge and skills that women already have**.
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Iâd be remiss if I didnât mention that good nutrition is essential for adaptation and resilience.
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I second this @sarah.roberts ! Thereâs incredible evidence of the economic and health gains (@ocamp) coming from womenâs âkitchen gardensâ or fields where women are growing food. Moreover, women are not only growing but are central in processing food for markets or managing livestock. So supporting Her Economy and livelihoods is also about the work surrounding farming.
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A1: Iâm Alazar Michael, Co-founder of Hello Erf - an agritech startup in Ethiopia (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alazar-michael-1b7a1217/).
Ensuring both food security and improved livelihood attaches to different challenges. The most pressing ones are lack of access to quality input (seed, fertilizer, agrochemical), mechanization and finance. The last one especially access to finance influences the other components. There needs a system where farmers get input and mechanization pre-finance. In recent years the issue of market access is fading away as market information and demand for food grows.
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The African Research and Impact Network (ARIN) is an impact platform that brings together a network of scholars and policymakers across Africa. Modeled as a network, ARIN seeks to leverage on the capabilities of African talented scholars in a flexible manner. ARINâs core focus is to engage in peer learning and sharing good transformative research and impact practices. Areas of focus include natural resource management, climate change, agriculture, forestry, energy, water, and cities to leverage their knowledge and experiences in promoting research excellence and impact pathways. https://www.arin-africa.org
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In Farm Africa, we are implementing a Regenerative Agriculture project in 2 counties in Kenya where we are addressing the challenge of climate change impacts on production and limited markets through the following strategies.
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Strengthening private sector-led extension services - The project developed a technical curriculum on good agricultural practices for regenerative agriculture and business management. The training course has been delivered to over 350 private village-based advisors (VBAs) and six ward agricultural officers, who in turn are supporting over 50,000 farmers. The VBAs also played a critical role in linking farmers to both input and output markets.
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Increasing productivity - Regenerative agriculture involves farming practices that rejuvenate soil health. The project encouraged cover cropping, mulching, minimum tillage, micro-dosing, use of bio-fertilisers and an inter-cropping system of maize and high-yielding, nitrogen-fixing climbing beans, alongside agroforestry crops to improve soil fertility and provide staking material for the climbing beans. We work with village-based advisors to establish over 200 demonstration plots to spur faster uptake and transfer of skills to individual farms.
These practices were found to contribute to reduced moisture loss and improved soil fertility. Farmers reported a 20% increase in harvest, thus escaping total crop failure following reduced rainfall in 2021.
- Improving collective marketing and aggregation - Collective marketing and aggregation of climbing beans and maize was improved through the training of over 10 aggregators in warehouse management, grain quality, seasonal marketing strategies and production plans. A total of 50 satellite aggregation centres have been established and the aggregatorsâ capital access widened through linkages to financial services providers.
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Iâm interested Felix in whether you think it is possible for smallholder farmers to access price premiums for selling organic produce? While farmers that have certified organic produce can certainly achieve price premiums on the international market - as we are trying to do with our organic saffron project in Afghanistan, I wonder whether this kind of approach is really scale-able for local markets in countries like Kenya and Tanzania?
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Just a word of caution on organic: it isnât necessarily more environmentally sustainable!
In Rwanda and in Burkina Faso, we are using solar power to increase crop production by enabling more regular cropping in socially and politically difficult environments (post coup/refugee camps).
In Rwanda, after many years of working on renewable energy for refugees, we have been working with refugees and host communities on agriculture production for food security and also income. This includes bringing in renewable energy to support production.
We are doing similar work in difficult situations (e.g. post coup) in West Africa.
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@ocamp Iâm reminded of the research of some of my colleagues thatâs evidence supportive of your organizationâs work: Gergel, Powell, et al. 2020 and Zimmerer, Jones, et al. 2022. In case itâs helpful to your evidence base.
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That will depend on the sector of your interest. In the Fair Trade Movement there are other experience of organizations building partnerships between producers and buyers, you may want to take a look at https://wfto.com/
Other experiences are around donor-driven initiatives. That have been a key focus area for organizations like Solidaridad, IHD, IADB, C&CI, CRS, Rikolto, and othesr that Iâm probably missing right now, etcâŚ
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We have a huge global issue with the affordability of healthy diets, so Iâm very nervous about any suggestion that consumers should have to pay more to access nutritious foods (and foods that are produced in more environmentally sustainable ways). We canât expect the business case to be built upon a desire to pay more when people very often simply cannot do so.
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You bring up a valid point. While organic farming has its merits, itâs essential to acknowledge that its environmental sustainability can vary depending on factors like scale, local conditions, and specific practices. Itâs crucial to consider a holistic approach that incorporates various sustainable practices tailored to specific contexts. A well-informed and balanced approach is key!
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Diana, you may already be linked to my Kenyan colleagues but if not it would be really good to connect you, as we are scaling up our work in regenerative agriculture there and very keen to link with others in this space.
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Our third big question to explore today is:
A1: Financial services providers and other businesses can partner with governments, local entities, and other stakeholder to ensure successful support of women working in the agricultural sector. Womenâs World Banking with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is using the WDFI Hub to bring together diverse stakeholders to identify opportunities and share risks as they invest in solutions for womenâs enterprises in agriculture and other sectors.
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A2: For businesses, we know that women are loyal, often lifelong customers once she works with a business responsive to her needs. But the impacts go beyond customer loyalty â by creating solutions to support womenâs agriculture-based livelihoods, businesses are supporting familiesâ nutrition, womenâs small enterprises, and communitiesâ financial health and strength.
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A3: Especially when investing in smallholder women-managed farms, businesses are furthering environmental goals of biodiversity conservation, sustainable land management, and community health. Investing in women farmers has ripple effects through local and national economies.
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Yeah we have had chats at different levels but sure we should further explore collaboration and cross-learning opportunities.
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Risks include top down approaches driven by large donors that donât take local expertise and priorities into account. For example, scaling projects in Central America to replace coffee production with a more drought resistant crop without the input from local farmers. Ever changing climate patterns present additional risks â what might be a viable crop today may not be viable in five years.
Solutions include tapping indigenous knowledge about weather patterns and how to compensate for such. Other solutions include diversifying income streams â crops plus livestock plus processing of crops, etc. so that farmers arenât reliant on a single source of income which may fail at any time due to drought, flooding, disease, etc.
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