Vol. 2: August-September 2012

Message from the Regional Coordinator

By Dr Jeremias Mowo

Dear Readers, this is the second issue of East Africa’s e-Newsletter, The Link, which

shares with you short articles, events, publications and other exciting news from the

region. In this issue, the following articles are featured from undermentioned respective

countries:

Kenya:

ICRAF Kisumu, Eldoret and Uganda staff visit Maseno Child Development Centre

ICRAF Kisumu holds a sports day

Farmers’ perceptions on trees in conservation agriculture-mixed crop-livestock farming systems in western Kenya.

Farmers learning Agroforestry from fellow Farmers Uganda: Validation workshop on strengthening of Sustainable Environment Natural Resources

Management and Climate Change Adaptation /Mitigation project in Uganda Rwanda:

ICRAF Rwanda Office puts a smile on community members faces Tanzania

Promotion of Allanblackia stuhlmannii as a new cash crop In Tanzania

Training of extension personnel and farmers on Evergreen Agriculture in Mbarali (Tanzania) and Machakos (Kenya) In addition, this issue also captured upcoming events as well as the latest in staff matters. Do enjoy the readership.

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News from the countries…

Kenya ICRAF Kisumu, Eldoret and Uganda staff visit Maseno Child Development Centre

By Walter Adongo, Luka Anjeho and Georges Aertssen

Team of ICRAF staff that visited Maseno Child Development Centre at the Maseno Equator point

As part of corporate social responsibility, staff

from ICRAF Kisumu, Eldoret and Uganda offices

visited the Maseno Child Development Centre

(MCDC) on the 1st of September 2012. During

the half-day event, the team interacted with

children, parents, the management committee

and staff of the centre and toured the centres

impressive projects that include a tree nursery,

bead making, welding and horticulture (water

melon and tomato in greenhouses).

The team, under the direction of Kisumu Site

Manager Georges Aertssen handed over gifts

which included text books, stationery, foodstuffs,

tree seedlings, ICRAF bags and copies of the

ICRAF 2011-2012 annual report to the centres

community. MCDC places a lot of importance on

tree planting and each child is required to plant

and take care of 10 tree seedlings per year.

MCDC is affiliated to Compassion International

whose major objective is to assist needy

children. The Centre recruits children from low

family income (less than Ksh. 1,500 per month)

and family assets; suffering from chronic illness

and / or malnutrition; unable to attend school or

showing low progress in school; orphaned,

abandoned or exploited children; physically

impaired but can read and write; between the

age of 3 and 9 years; good access of the child

from the project; and a maximum of three

children per family.

At the end of the visit, Georges Aertssen

thanked the staff and the children for the

wonderful and entertaining morning, stressing

that it was encouraging to see less fortunate

children living in an open environment, where

they are still attached to their families or

guardians, as opposed to most commonly

known homes, where children live in homes

without much exposure to the outside world. The

Project Director, Mrs Regina Angatia, expressed

heartfelt gratitude and requested for closer

working relations with ICRAF Kisumu office. She

indicated that the center’s tree seedling raising

and tree growing activities were learnt from

ICRAF way back in 2000 and that they wished to

do much more.

Farmers’ Perceptions of Conservation

Agriculture with Trees System in Mixed

Crop-Livestock Farming Systems of

Western Kenya By Kenneth Masuki, Jonathan Muriuki, Peter Gachie,

and Rick Kamugisha

Farmers in Western Kenya are aware of the trees

that suit their agro-ecosystems; a series of

community group discussions held by ICRAF

scientists in Kenya’s Siaya and Bungoma districts

have shown. The discussions that were centered

around changes observed over 40 years, are aimed

at understanding the interactions between crops and

livestock in target farming communities; and

identifying opportunities for incorporation of trees

and shrubs into smallholder Conservation Agriculture

(CA) based systems through participatory research

in target communities.

Farmers listening carefully to Dr Okitoi, one of the facilitators of the focus group discussions held in Western Kenya.

According to ICRAF scientists, the findings present

an entry point for including the tree component in

their CA systems. Such entry points however should

consider the available/existing tree species through

participatory tree domestication approaches while

evaluating the adaptation of the new species that are

proven to be of value in the CA with trees systems

note the scientists.

During the discussions, various challenges faced by

farmers in incorporating trees on farms in the

different gender groups were identified. In general,

the women said that they didn’t own land and had to

get permission from husbands for any farm

development activity they intended to do. Eucalyptus

spp. were mostly planted in the area despite its

negative effect on crops as they are source of

income, poles and firewood. This was followed by

Grevillea robusta due to the economic value of the

species. Men said that tree seeds were not readily

available for farmers to raise in their farms especially

the indigenous

species.

Other challenges met

by farmers include

lack of finance to

support tree planting.

Specifically, the

farmers mentioned

lack of finances to buy

tree seeds and termite

attack especially on

the exotic species.

Farmers also had

limited knowledge in

tree and seed

management, limited

access to appropriate

tree seeds for use in

CAWT system and lack

of materials to raise tree nursery.

Community discussions were held as part of the

“Conservation Agriculture with Trees (CAWT)”

project under the framework of Evergreen

Agriculture practices. This focused on the

incorporation of agroforestry options into CA-based

systems. The initiative is premised on giving a

solution to problems observed in adoption of CA

especially arising from livestock-crop enterprise

competition. It offers numerous opportunities for

beneficial incorporation of tree and shrub species

into CA systems by providing alternative sources of

fodder, fencing to keep livestock away from farms

managed under CA as well as other products such

as firewood.

Other interesting findings revolved around changes

observed over 40 years and the role of trees in the

agro-ecosystem. A full report can be obtained by

contacting Kenneth Masuki on k.masuki@cgiar.org

Makhamia lutea, one of the tree species found in the farm lands in the western Kenya

ICRAF Kisumu holds sports day By Walter Adongo, Luka Anjeho and Georges Aertssen

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Kisumu

Office held a sports day at Lions High School in

Kisumu on 31st August 2012. A total of 82 ICRAF

staff members drawn from Kisumu, Eldoret and

Uganda offices, representatives from partners

including the Millennium Villages Project Kisumu,

World Neighbours and farmer communities working

with ICRAF Western Kenya Projects which include:

Mitigation of Climate Change in Africa (MICCA),

COMART and CCAFS took part in the activity.

In the welcoming address, the ICRAF Kisumu site

manager Georges Aertssen reiterated the

importance of the social activity not only as a

competition but also as a team building activity

involving ICRAF’s key partners and stakeholders. He

had earlier received a donation of 25 t-shirts from

Silverline Services Kisumu, one of ICRAF’s service

providers, to be used during the event. Participants

formed four groups who competed against each

other. Activities carried out included a relay egg

race, netball, football, volley ball, sack race, 4X100m

race and a tug of war.

The winning team members and the four groups

each received a shopping voucher as a token. At the

end of the successful event, representatives of each

participating institution and the farmer communities

expressed their gratitude to the ICRAF Kisumu office

for facilitating the event.

Uganda

National strategy for Agroforestry Research and Development in Uganda By

Joy Tukahirwa Uganda Country Office

The ICRAF Uganda Country office in partnership

with national institutions in Uganda, including; the

National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO),

National Planning Authority (NPA), National

Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) and

Makerere University has spearheaded the

development of a national strategy for agroforestry

research and development in Uganda. The ICRAF

Senior Leadership has been behind this initiative

and provided seed support for the process. The

strategy is part of ongoing efforts to revitalize

agroforestry in Uganda. This is in acknowledgement

of various success stories associated with ICRAF

partnership with national partners such as fruit

trees on farm including temperate fruits in South

West Uganda, fodder innovations for intensive dairy

industry and Integrated Natural Resources

Management (INRM).

The strategy builds on an enabling national

institutional framework while harmoniously

anchoring into the current Eastern Africa region and

ICRAF global strategies to target the promotion of

science and agroforestry practices. The strategy

highlights the vision to “attain sustainable rural

development through AF interventions that are

responsive to specific needs of farmers in the 12

agro-ecological zones of Uganda”. The mission

is to “implement science-based AF programs to

optimize flow of economic, social and

environmental benefits to local communities as

well as contribute to improved conservation of

natural forests”. The political will exhibited by a

high-level support and government commitment

during the preparation of the strategy provides the

critical foundation that will translate into firm action

on the ground for the benefit of the country and

eastern Africa region.

For more information contact:

j.tukahirwa@cgiar.org

Consultations with champion farmers during the strategy development

Rwanda

ICRAF Rwanda puts a smile on community members faces

By Angelique Kubwimana

Dr Athanase Mukuralinda (second from Right) presents a goat to the Huye District Survivors Representative

On the 3rd

of July 2012, as part of corporate social

responsibility (CSR) activities, World Agroforestry

Centre (ICRAF) Rwanda office staff visited the

community in Mukura sector, Huye district. Led by

ICRAF country representative Dr Athanase

Mukuralinda, the team interacted with farmers, the

local community and local authorities, and distributed

goats to about 50 of the farmers, all survivors of the

Rwanda genocide.

The day-long event included a visit to the Genocide

Memorial Site located in Mukura to honour those

who lost their lives in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

For this visit, the vice-mayor in charge of social

affairs, the executive secretary of Mukura Sector,

and a representative of genocide survivors in Huye

district joined the team. An estimated 800,000

people were massacred in the space of 100 days

between April and July 1994 in the Rwanda

genocide.

The ICRAF office in Rwanda was opened in May

2010 and is hosted by the Institute of Scientific and

Technological Research (IRST) in Huye.

Currently, ICRAF in Rwanda implements projects in

four districts, namely Bugesera, Kayonza, Gatsibo

and Nyabihu. Since its inception, the office has been

involved in a wide range of activities aimed at

improving the quality of the local communities.

The donation of livestock was guided by the fact that

livestock are some of the most precious assets of

farming families in Rwanda. At the end of the visit,

one of the beneficiaries suggested that those who

had received the goats form a cooperative to

continue sharing their experiences and to work

closely with ICRAF.

The staff is planning other CSR activities during the

year, which will include tree-planting activities in

various settlements.

One of the beneficiaries admires her goat

Tanzania

Promotion of Allanblackia Stuhlmannii as a new cash crop in Tanzania

By Daniel Ofori

Participants of the Allanblackia meeting held at MAFSC, Dar es Salaam, 9th July 2012

A draft concept to promote Allanblackia

Stuhlmannii as a new cash crop in Tanzania

was presented to the Tanzania Ministry of

Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives

(MAFSC) on 9th July 2012. The concept note,

developed by a taskforce formed in November

2011, has 5 main components as follows:

Component 1: Participatory characterization

of superior Allanblackia germplasm and

selection of the most suitable Allanblackia

propagation methods.

Component 2: Establishing sustainable

Allanblackia planting material supply systems by

using the ‘Rural Resource Centre’ approach.

Component 3: Development of knowledge

and information sharing products about

sustainable Allanblackia selection, propagation

and on-farm management.

Component 4: Building the capacity of

smallholder farmers and other key stakeholders

along the Allanblackia value chain for effective

adoption of Allanblackia propagation and

cultivation practices.

Component 5: Scaling out Allanblackia

cultivation in Tanzania. This sub-component will

focus on transfer of Allanblackia technology to

farmers in order to promote wide cultivation of

the tree on farm, analysing policy and

institutional framework to support Allanblackia

value chain development and identifying other

areas in Tanzania, which are suitable for

Allanblackia cultivation.

While presenting the concept note, Dr. Daniel

Ofori of ICRAF emphasised that the success of

the programme will largely depend on the

MAFSC through policy support for Allanblackia

and through allocating some money for its

promotion in the Ministry’s budget. This would

motivate farmers, donors and other stakeholders

to invest time and money in Allanblackia. He

further noted that endorsement of the concept

note by the Ministry can serve as useful tool to

seek for financial support for Allanblackia

promotion.

Dr. Fidelis Myaka, the Director of Research and

Development of the MAFCS reiterated the

readiness of the ministry to collaborate with

various stakeholders to boost up agricultural

productivity in Tanzania. He further

acknowledged the current collaborative

initiatives being undertaken by ICRAF and its

partners in promoting Cocoa and Allanblackia in

Tanzania.

ICRAF is championing the domestication

aspects of Allanblackia whilst Novel Tanzania

leads the supply chain and market development.

Development of propagation methods is at an

advanced stage and 4 years old grafts of A.

floribunda in Cameroon have fruited as opposed

to over ten years when seedlings are planted.

Current efforts are being concentrated on

production and dissemination of quality planting

stocks to farmers. Furthermore, efforts are

underway to probe on other potential suitable

zones where Allanblackia can perform well in

Tanzania, and the best model for integration of

Allanblackia with other crops.

Training of extension personnel on Evergreen Agriculture in Mbarali (Tanzania)

and Machakos (Kenya)

By Lydia Wafula, Jude Capis, Mieke Bourne

A participant presenting group work during the workshop in Mbarali Tanzania

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the

Kenya Network for the Dissemination of

Agricultural Technologies (KENDAT) have been

carrying out a series of trainings on

Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Agroforestry

(AF) for extension personnel drawn from the

Ministry of Agriculture in both Kenya and

Tanzania, World Vision in Kenya and the World

Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Tanzania.

These trainings, being part of the Conservation

Agriculture with Trees (CAWT) project, were

held in the period May-August 2012. The

extension staff are now being supported to take

the technologies to 44 Groups in Machakos

(Mwala, Kangundo and Machakos central

districts) and 39 in Mbarali (Chimala, Mapogoro,

Mawindi and Igava wards).

CAWT seeks to address problems facing

farmers including soil erosion, low soil fertility

and low yield. CAWT combines the principles of

Conservation Agriculture and Agroforestry. This

is based on five important principles; minimizing

soil disturbance, maintaining land/soil cover,

practicing crop rotation and associations, good

agronomic management practices, and

incorporating fertilizer and high value trees into

the cropping system. The combination has the

potential to increase farm productivity while

conserving the natural resources base and

environment.

The practical session, participant practicing how to use a

jab planter in Mbarali Tanzania

The training of extension personnel aimed at

equipping them with the necessary information

on CAWT theory and practical application so

that they can train farmers in groups on the

same technology.

Topics covered during the training

During these trainings the extension personnel

were trained on CA principles and AF practices.

Extension personnel gave their own experiences

of using conventional agriculture as well as the

differences between practicing conventional

agriculture and CA. Also taught was the use of

CA equipment, their maintenance and

calibration.

In AF, the participants were taught on the

importance of having trees on farms and how to

integrate them in farming systems. Also, they

were enlightened on how to integrate trees in a

CA system through incorporating fertilizer trees

and high value tree species and got a chance to

learn more about tree species such as

Faidherbia albida, Gliricidia sepium, Calliandra

calothyrsus, Luecaena luecocephala, Sesbania

sesban, Terminalia brownii, Macamia lutea,

Moringa oliforia, Tamarinda indica, Senna

siamea, Mangifera indica and Grevillea robusta,

among other preferred tree species growing in

both Machakos and Mbarali.

In weed control and management, the

participants were equipped with skills on how to

identify weeds based on their leaves and

morphology. Herbicide use as a method of

eradicating weeds was also part of the topics

covered with the use of pre-emergence and post

emergence herbicides among other weed

control options discussed. It was noted that no

weeds control option is effective independently

and therefore there is need to combine several

weeds control options in order to eliminate

weeds from farms.

Groups under Landcare (formerly WWF groups),

were trained on CAWT in July-August 2012, and

they came up with work plans to start the

activities before the next rains. Groups in

Machakos are currently being trained and those

in Mbarali will initiate training soon.

Demonstration plots will be incorporated into the

group training system and will allow in-depth

studies of tree crop interactions. Following the

next harvest, trained group members will be

surveyed to measure levels of adoption of

CAWT technologies and access to seedlings.

Lessons from concluded projects

CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE WITH TREES (CAWT) PROJECT: SCALING-UP THE SCIENCE AND

PRACTICE OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Jonathan Muriuki, Kenneth masuki and Jeremias Mowo

Supported by Sida, the World Agroforestry

Centre (ICRAF) and the African Conservation

Tillage Network (ACT) launched the

Conservation Agriculture with Trees (CAWT)

pilot project in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and

Zambia in January 2011 and concluded its

implementation in May 2012. The project was

premised on the hypothesis that integrating

trees in conservation agriculture systems has

the potential to enable smallholder farmers to

attain more sustainable production and agro-

ecosystems. The purpose was to develop a solid

knowledge and partnership base for effective

up-scaling of a continent-wide campaign for

CAWT among smallholder farmers in Sub-

Saharan Africa including awareness, capacity

development and policy guidance. This was

addressed through the generation of the

following three major outputs:

(i) The extent of adoption of conservation

agriculture by smallholder farmers

identified and documented, and the

institutional and organizational

infrastructure to support up-scaling

mapped and analyzed;

(ii) Policy and institutional factors promoting or

hindering large scale adoption of

conservation agriculture identified,

quantified and documented; and

(iii) A regional facilitation mechanism for scaling

up agroforestry based CA identified.

The results of the study reveal that adoption of

CA is still very low and slow in the four study

countries, with less than 5% of smallholder

farmers adopting all three components of CA.

More common is the adoption of one or two

components of CA. Agroforestry (tree-crop

intercropping) is fairly supported by farmers

and this provides hope and impetus for efforts

to scale-up CAWT. However, this has to be

approached with caution since there are

specific factors that would encourage adoption

by farmers that should be looked into during

design and dissemination of interventions. The

study also finds that there is need for further

research on how CA and CAWT can be packaged

and targeted so as to reach large numbers of

farmers and those other players who stand to

benefit.

The results of this study reveal that although

there is no single policy on CAWT, there are

adequate policies related to sustainable land

and water management that could potentially

advance scaling-up efforts at regional and

national levels. The study however notes that a

blanket policy to fit all countries and their

unique social, economic, environmental,

physical or political situations may not be

practical. As such, the study proposes that

CAWT be integrated into existing policy

instruments to mitigate challenges facing

landuse and water management practices.

There is also need for further studies into policy

strategies and instruments that could

potentially boost scaling-up of CAWT.

The study also observed that, in general,

adequate institutional frameworks exist that

are favourable for the adoption of CAWT but

that there is low level of awareness of CAWT

practices and poor coordination of promotion

activities in the countries - with possible

exception of Zambia. There is also very little or

no coordination among all the various actors

and stakeholders that develop and promote

CAWT technologies in the other three countries.

In many instances, CAWT activities are carried

out in isolation by various actors and

institutions. This suggests that CA can best be

promoted in collaboration with the existing CBO

structures active at the community level. These

results suggest that there is a need for formal

institutional frameworks to incorporate existing

local institutions in the efforts to scale-up

adoption of CAWT. The formation of National

and Regional Task Forces for pushing CAWT

agenda and activities from farm to policy level

support is also necessary.

Recently concluded and upcoming events

Landcare conference: 1st to 5th October, South Africa

ACIAR Modelling Workshop: 1st to 5th October, Ethiopia

DGIS Stakeholders meeting: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

WHaTeR Stakeholders meeting: 16th November, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

SearNet Conference: 5 – 9 November, Nairobi and Naivasha, Kenya

WHaTeR Stakeholders meeting: 22th November, Pietermatitzburg, South Africa

We welcome your feedback and ideas on how we can improve The Link; please send any comments to ICRAF EA Editorial team

composed of Alex Oduor, Vivian Atakos, Mieke Bourne and Angela Ndanu via the following email address: editorial-icraf-

EA@cgiar.org