BEATING FAMINE SOUTHERN AFRICA CONFERENCELILONGWE, MALAWI

14-17 April, 2015

THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTING FMNRSCALE UP AT NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS

Presented By: Susan Karimi, Resilience and Livelihoods Learning Centre,

World Vision, East Africa Regional Office

Project profile

FMNR E.A REGIONAL LEVEL STRATEGIES FOR SCALE UP

AND IMPLEMENTATION Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability

Monash University

A Research Agenda forFarmer Managed Natural Regeneration

(FMNR)

“…..Land is very important to household welfare……..”.“….child schooling is adversely affected by a lack of adult labour. The net result of all this is the need for more investment in assets that improve the productivity of labour – improving soil quality, water management, providing tools and other agricultural inputs, teaching improved agricultural practices, etc – that allow more to be produced with the same or less labour input. This frees up children to benefit from schooling, and adults to pursue other income producing activities”.

• Policy influence- Government engagement; - Policy briefs

• Evidence gathering and building knowledge base- Research- Documentation- GIS mapping and ground photography

• Partnerships - National FMNR networks- ICRAF, Govt ministries, Universities

• Staff capacity building and facilitating cross country Learning

• Institutional strengthening and capacity building• Regional monitoring tool (community friendly)

FMNR E.A NATIONAL LEVEL STRATEGIES FOR SCALE UP

AND IMPLEMENTATION• Policy change through community members; giving

the community members the power to change things through their leaders-(demand driven policy change)

• Integrating Tree regeneration with livelihoods and energy saving options

• Farmer to Farmer training; through FMNR champions and agents

• Community learning sites and resource centres• Children as agents of change; integrating FMNR in

school curriculum • Use of existing local structures

- CBOs, churches, registered herbalists, school clubs etc

• Use of radio, drama and bill boards for messaging and advocacy on FMNR

• Embedding FMNR in national office strategies

RISK FACTORS WE ARE CONSIDERING WHEN IMPLEMENTING FMNR

RISK FACTOR• Illegal harvesting of

forestry resources in conserved/ regenerated areas

• Land tenure, that may hinder /delay adoption of FMNR on communal land

RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH

• Facilitate the local governance structures to expedite the formulation of the by-laws meant to govern the reforested areas.

• Strengthen community based monitoring of conserved areas.

• Implementing together with the government to enable integrate FMNR concept in government ministries, and with other stakeholders advocate for passing of the favourable land bills.

RISK FACTORS WE ARE CONSIDERING WHEN IMPLEMENTING FMNR (cont’)

RISK FACTOR• Insecurity may hinder

FMNR adoption in some areas

• Unfavourable climatic conditions ( parts of Uganda and Kenya)

RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH

• Connecting FMNR benefits to improvement of community livelihood, sell integrate conservation (FMNR) as a peace building initiative

• Sustainable land management integrated as a core component within the project to encourage farmers to make use of the limited precipitation for better yields. Drought resistant and quick maturing crop

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER1. Increased community demand for FMNR training• Requests by community members for the community-based FMNR champions to

provide training and awareness on the FMNR approach continue to increase, resulting in 15,184 people trained in FMNR across the four countries. As a result, 9253 (Kenya- 3207, R-836, T-2267, U- 2943) people have been trained through the established extension agents.

• In terms of institutional uptake, FMNR is now implemented by 42 schools (5 Kenya, 6 Rwanda, 31 Uganda), 4 NGOs (2 Uganda, 2 Tanzania), 9 government institutions in Kenya and Uganda and one dairy society in Kenya.

• Community members commonly cite that their desire to uptake FMNR is based on the visible transformative effects realised by early adopters of FMNR.

- eg increased quantity of forage in their pastures, resulting in increased milk production from livestock, increased firewood production, increased food production etc

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER1. Impact at household level• Community members commonly cite that their desire to uptake FMNR is based on

the visible transformative effects realised by early adopters of FMNR. - eg increased quantity of forage in their pastures, resulting in increased milk production from livestock, - increased firewood production, resulting in increased food production time, thus nutrient dense nutrition for children and more time for families together

• 30 village savings and loans (VSL) groups have been formed as an incentive to enable the farmers to access loans for their farming needs.

• 1789 Farmers adopting alternative income generating activities (alternative income ventures undertaken alongside FMNR include beekeeping, poultry farming, rabbit farming and kitchen gardens, growing of fruit trees, crop production such as beans, simsim etc. 651 people who have adopted alternative sources of energy, mainly solar lanterns and energy saving cook stoves.

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER2. Increased vegetative cover• Through the range of FMNR activities, including sensitization, mobilisation of

community champions and direct training, 3537 hectares (128ha - Kenya, 2325ha - Uganda, 49ha (communal land, not counting farm land - Rwanda and 1035ha - Tanzania) of land have been put under regeneration resulting in improved vegetation cover with nascent increases in biodiversity through the re-emergence of some species that had been rendered locally extinct, such as with the re-emergence of locally valuable medicinal herbs reported in Kenya and Rwanda (e.g. Zanthoxylum chalybeum, Terminalia brownee, Rrhus natalensis, Pappea capansis, and Boscia angustifolia).

- In Rwanda, youth are busy grafting and growing indigenous trees and fruit trees for sale to complement the natural regeneration and growth in the much degraded areas. Approximately 250,000 seedlings have been planted to date, with a further 1 million seedlings prepared and awaiting planting.

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER3. Impact in schools• As FMNR promotes more rapid tree growth and associated increased availability of

firewood, children spend less time in the afternoons collecting firewood for the preparation of school meals. – In Emarangishu primary school, children previously spent 3 hours 2-3 per week collecting firewood,

which has now been reduced to 1 hour once per week. This provides up to 4 extra hours free time per week for Emarangishu students, which many devote to school club activities. Others schools in Kenya report an increase in school income due to FMNR. Legetetwet primary school in Kenya has reported an income increase of Kshs 6,000 (approximately $70), per harvest, through selling grass as a result of FMNR adoption.

– The FMNR concept has been proposed to be a component of the Regreening school initiative. Once rolled out, the concept will spread to more schools beyond the project area.

– The tangible results from early adopting school are supporting a major increase in the number of schools wanting to learn and adopt FMNR, with teachers increasingly integrating FMNR into the school curriculum as part of the environmental studies.

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER4. Policy influence and change• The increased uptake of FMNR by the community members has emphasized to

local governments and partners that FMNR is a favourable method of achieving reforestation in a cost effective manner. Several Government entities across the four countries implementing this program have formally included FMNR in natural resource management policy and advocate its adoption.

- Eg in Kenya, the county governments of Baringo and Nakuru have adopted FMNR in their county development plans, (County Forest Bill, Environment and Natural Resource Sectorial Plan and Ministry of Environment Strategic Plans). Upon its adoption, the project plans to ensure implementation of the concept through CVA (Community Voice and Action).

- Local partner organisations are also pushing for more of their staff to be trained so that they may also train others within their areas of operation eg in Tanzania, Mwanga Environment Conservation Association Office (SMECAO) and FLORESTA have adopted FMNR and are in the forefront of training others on FMNR in their area of operation

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER5. Public awareness• At the international level, the project has contributed in raising the awareness of the positive

environmental benefits accrued from FMNR activities. This has resulted in FMNR gaining support in international arenas.

- The EA FMNR Project was instrumental in driving the FMNR concept to recognition in various forums such as the ECHO symposium held in Machakos, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania.- National drought management forums where FMNR was recommended as a DRR interrvention - During the Caux Dialogue conference on Land and Security in Switzerland , where we showcased on how farmers and County Government are benefiting from the low cost FMNR.

• Information, education and communication (IEC) materials were produced to create awareness. • Use of drama episodes depicting FMNR interactions on local radio stations, local workshops

and meetings to expand local coverage and national forums including government, academics and researchers and civil society.

- In Kenya, the local radio stations used have a reach of approximately 4 million people (as per the media station listener population records).

- While radio population coverage has not yet been determined for the other countries (efforts are underway to do so), coverage would be in the millions as radio is a key communication tool throughout the rural communities

- Tanzania have put up 24 bill boards in local languages

PROGRESS/ SUCCESS; TWO YEARS LATER6. Community and child participation:• Community led monitoring after holding an FMNR monitoring learning for

capacity building on undertaking project monitoring with community members • In FY14 the project has increased the number of children participating in FMNR

to 2315 (2015- Kenya, and 300- Uganda) in environmental clubs across 47 schools (10- Uganda, 37- Kenya). These are spearheading FMNR education in their schools. Knowledge transfer on FMNR from children to parents has been experienced as some of the farmers have confessed having learnt from their children

7. Mainstreaming FMNR practice across World Vision ADPs• Approximately 24 WV ADPs have benefited from training on FMNR and are

rolling out FMNR in their areas. Mainstreaming of FMNR into existing World Vision programs will ensure that the FMNR model is spread beyond the project target areas, hence increasing opportunities for compelling Government to take it on.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS IN IMPLEMENTING FMNR

• Understand your geographical landscape; same country, different geographical landscape

• Quick farmer adoption v/s vast area coverage needs enough staffing to help move with the community pace

• Existing government policies and/or community perception on certain trees

• On-boarding government on policy changes; slow process• Results don’t come quick; incentives to keep the farmers

going• Land ownership issues (what roles to play on communal land)• Gaps in research making it difficult to build a case for FMNR• On boarding of our implementing partners early

Lessons Learnt• Urban charcoal use was identified as the main drive for the charcoal

demand in the rural areas thus driving farmers to cut down trees for sale of charcoal.

• Children are good catalysts in the transfer of FMNR knowledge at the community and household level. This has been witnessed by the knowledge transfer on FMNR from schools to homes.

• Integrating FMNR with IGAs and other climate change adaptation activities, acts as a motivating incentive for the farmers interested in sharing about FMNR in order to keep the momentum.

• Land ownership is proving to be of paramount importance in the adoption of FMNR. In areas where people do not own any land or where communal lands are targeted, adoption of FMNR has been a challenge as people are not willing to undertake such in land where they feel they have no individual ownership.

• Use of existing local structures instead of creating others has helped greatly in speeding up acceptance and adoption of FMNR.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REGIONAL TEAMS FOCUS

• Getting FMNR linked to regional policies through regional bodies such as AU

• Up-scaling of FMNR to all countries• Using the regional FMNR platform to build a case for FMNR (to the regions

and national strategies)• Research to build the body of knowledge through linking with credible

research institutions

The story of Nelson Morogo of Chemasis village in Nakuru Kenya.

Nelson Morogo a 70 year old retired senior chief “When I first heard FMNR, the term was very unique to me but after being introduced to it, I liked it and agreed to being one

of the extension agents in my village” states Nelson Morogo.

“To date I have managed to harvest 106 bags of grass which will be enough to feed my cows for 4 months”. My milk production has increased from 10 litres to 28 Litres per day, which I supply to the dairy at 45 shillings per litre. This has changed my earnings from Ksh450 ($5) to Ksh1260 ($14) per day”, says a delighted Morogo.

From the proceeds he got from firewood and milk, Morogo has started bee keeping on his FMNR site. He has 2 bee hives and plans to add eight more. “I am now waiting to harvest the honey in 3 months‟ time and this will

boost my income after selling it.”

From his tomato farming he anticipates to harvest 20 crates and sell at 3000 ksh per crate. This will earn him Ksh60,00shillings ($668) This growth in crop production income is as a result of the extra income generated from the sale of the milk which was realised as a result of increased pastures resulting from the FMNR practice in his 1 hectare piece of land.

So far, Morogo Nelson has since sold 100 bundles of firewood at 100 shillings per bundle earning him 10,000 shillings ($111).

“I am happy that I live a better life unlike before since I am able to cater for the needs of my family without straining”

To date Morogo’s farm has been one of the Farmer Field School site for FMNR where 41 farmers have learned of the concept.

From a retired chief, Morogo has become one of the facilitators on FMNR whenever his farm is used as a learning site. “FMNR has changed my life and now I am more valuable than before. I have taught many and very big people have visited my farm”,

……

THANK YOU