From the life of Lucy Wanjiru

Category: Allgemeines, Landwirtschaft | By: Redaktion

“Before, we had enough rain and good harvests here”, remembers Lucy Wanjiru, a sixty year old farmer from Kigio in central Kenya. “I could sell the surplus at our local market or even in Thika, the city nearby. It was enough to live on and to send our three children to school.”

Then her husband died of liver cancer. That was in 1982. From then on her life became steadily harder. She had to take her children out of school because she could no longer afford the fees. She also had repeatedly bad harvests as the rains became increasingly unpredictable. “In extreme years the yields were so bad that the state gave out food aid to the elderly and orphans.” Mrs Wanjiru was not considered for aid and so instead of three meals a day, her family ate only in the evening. “The children cried. They were hunger and had stomach ache and they lost weight”, she says bitterly.

Today her daughter and two sons are grown up and married. But in 2004 one of her daughters in law contracted meningitis and left six children behind. Lucy brought the children to her, since her son seeks his income as a casual labourer and is away most of the time. Since then she has done everything for her grandchildren. But she is worried about the future. “I am getting older and my strength is failing” she confesses. “I don’t know how I am going to manage.” But Mrs Wanjiru has no choice and seizes her fate. Since 2010 she has attended courses in sustainable farming. In these practice-oriented trainings, financed by Biovision and supervised by the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), she learns how to make compost and how to combat maize pests organically. Lucy Wanjiru is very interested in organic farming – not least because artificial fertiliser and agrochemicals are unaffordable for her now. In addition, she has experienced that sufficient harvests are possible even with a lack of rain, if the soil has been ploughed deeply enough and enriched with compost. Mrs Wanjiru is satisfied with the project: “It is very helpful”, she says. “I was able to increase the maize yield and milk production considerably. With this, my six grandchildren and I will get by”.

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Regional Preparations in Europe for the Rio+20 conference, Biovision is on board

Category: IAASTD, Politik | By: admin

The team of Biovision’s Changing Course in Global Agriculture (CCGA), headed by President Hans Herren just had an incredibly busy day at the United Nations in Geneva. The CCGA program aims at a paradigm shift in global agricultural policies based on the 2008 IAASTD report and calling for a strengthening of smallholder farmers, respecting the natural boundaries set for agriculture and helping to truly fight poverty and hunger in the world.

We believe that the knowledge and possibilities to get to a sustainable development exist – what is missing is effective action. That’s why we brought together diplomats of the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden and representatives of UN agencies and NGOs. For almost two hours different possibilities to finally start implementing measures of sustainable agriculture were put forth. Biovision and its partners presented several possible actions based on its position paper. Dr. Hans Herren stated that Rio+20 must put forth a mandate for a UN agency to work out a plan on how to implement the findings of the 2008 IAASTD report. This call for a mandate was welcomed by many panellists. At the same time Fritz Holzwarth of the German delegation asked to work out concrete action on the issues of land- and watergrab and to end the ongoing waste of food in the world.

Apart from the side-event Biovision was also directly involved in an official roundtable at the UN conference and held a media briefing on agriculture at Rio+20 in the morning.

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Interview of the Week 48: Hudson Shiraku, Programme Officer for Biovision in Nairobi

Category: Landwirtschaft | By: Alexandra Pellanda

photo.axdHudson Shiraku works for Biovision’s Farmer Communication Programme (FCP) in Nairobi. As part of his job he keeps an eye on technological aspects of the programme activities. In our interview he explains the importance of the mobile phone in general and particularily M-Pesa, an SMS-based payment system with more than 17 million users in Kenya.


Why is M-Pesa so popular in Kenya?
Banks are seen by many as expensive to operate in terms of fees: They charge their customers for the storage and withdrawal services. Their services can only be accessed in major towns or even only in Nairobi. M-Pesa is cheap, convenient and you only need to go to one of these M-Pesa kiosks and agents.

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(Photo: Simon Kihiko Kimani)

For many Kenyans it is uneconomical to save 500 shillings in a bank when the bank’s minimum balance is 200 shillings and it costs 50 shillings to withdraw it. A phone can cost from as little as 999 to over 50,000 shillings depending on the type of phone and the person who is buying it. So the affordability of phones and the fact that they all have the same M-Pesa features have contributed to the popularity of M-Pesa.


Do Kenyans think that it’s expensive or complicated to use a mobile phone?
It is a yes and a no depending on the type of phone and the person who is using it. Some illiterate and old people who are not technologically savvy have just mustered the art of calling and receiving calls – the green and red buttons and they don’t bother about other applications. In this context, it’s not complicated but when they think of other applications it is. Expensive or not? It depends on the person who is buying it and the type of phone also.


What might happen if more and more people have mobile phones with internet connection?
I can do emailing and even search for information from the internet anytime and from anywhere. This is the kind of empowerment that people will get by this and I’m sure that they will accrue all benefits that come with it. It is usually said here that information is power.

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Interview of the Week 46: Janet Maro, Agronomist and expert for organic agriculture from Tanzania

Category: Landwirtschaft | By: Alexandra Pellanda

Bild 23Janet Maro runs Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) and Bustani ya Tushikamane (Garden of Solidarity). Both projets are supported by Biovision and teach farmers in organic and sustainable agriculture. She was our guest during the Symposium which took place in Zurich last Saturday, so we could meet her for this interview.


How widespread is organic farming in Tanzania?
Tanzania has about 85,000 hectares for large scale and small scale certified organic farms. About 100,000 farmers are contracted by companies to produce organic products for export. There are about 36 companies and cooperatives which are certified to export organic products. Research on benefits of organic agriculture ecologically, socially and economically is still on-going. In Tanzania organic farming is mostly confused by traditional farming in which no inputs are used and therefore on this basis one can say that many small scale farms are organic by default. When it comes to certified organic farming, there are very few certified large scale organic farms which mostly produce coffee, cotton, cocoa, spices like lemongrass and paprika, tea and fruits. Tanzania is still behind as compared to neighbors Kenya and Uganda, the few organic products here are mostly for export.


What does the situation look like with regard to consumption?
There are very few certified organic products in the local market and they fetch more or less the same price as conventional products. This is because there are no organic shops and consumers are not aware about the existence of organic products in the local market. Experience with the few products in our demonstration garden has shown that there is a high demand for organic products. The research which we conducted on willingness to pay for organic products show that people highly appreciate safe (organic products) and are even willing to pay more. Since we are aware about this fact, we are focusing with our project activities to enhance awareness about organic products among all stakeholders (producers, buyers, consumers). For the local market, there are no standards specifically for Tanzania but the East Africa Organic Products Standards (EAOPS) can be used. These standards are existing since 2007, at the moment in Tanzania there are no small scale farmers certified.


What is the mission of Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) and Bustani ya Tushikamane (Garden of Solidarity)?
In Tanzania many farmers are small scale and therefore different technics can be used so as to enable these farmers to have assurance of food security and income generation. My mission with the organization Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) as a partner in development and the project Bustani ya Tushikamane (ByT) is to see that small scale farmers are able to increase their yields in an environmentally friendly way so as to be able to attain food security and improve their incomes. This is achieved through training and facilitation on sustainable agriculture. We work at the grass root level where we build up on farmers’ knowledge and get feedback.


What is your personal role?
I work in the field closely with farmers and together with the ByT team. We identify and practice simple technologies that are affordable and readily available for use in production of healthy crops and animals. We involve students from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), who I work closely with, to conduct research on questions that need more detailed answers. Working in the field of sustainable agriculture and closely with farmers is a lifetime experience, there are always new plants and methods coming up, this makes my work very interesting. Being the director of SAT means that I am responsible for the smooth running of the organization, I am grateful to my colleagues who are working tirelessly towards realizing the goal of the organization. I am also very grateful to the Biovision foundation for supporting SAT and ByT.


What message would you like to get across to the audience of our Symposium?
The only way to survive and feed 9 billion people like the IAASTD report has shown is sustainable agriculture. In tropical parts of the world, specifically Tanzania, a production system which reduces costs is the most appropriate. Other production systems are expensive and not affordable by farmers and moreover they negatively influence the environment and health.

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Interview of the Week 45: Pipaluk de Groot, Co-author and protagonist of “Silent Snow”

Category: Malariabekämpfung | By: Alexandra Pellanda

PipalukDuring our Symposium next Saturday in Zurich we will show “Silent Snow”, a film about the risks of DDT. Pipaluk de Groot, who is co-author and protagonist, will be our guest and also participates in the discussion after the screening. In this interview she shares her experiences during the production phase and after screenings around the world.


How did you and Jan van den Berg, who is director and co-author of the film, meet before the project started?
I read on the Greenlandic news online about the premiere of the short film. I had just moved to the Netherlands and was very interested in seeing a film about my own country, so I actually just contacted Jan and he invited me to the premiere. After that we kept contact and he asked me to take part in the project of the feature length documentary of “Silent Snow” – and of course I couldn’t say no to this offer.


What were the challenges or special moments during the production phase?
A big challenge was to get off from my current job, but actually they gave me unpaid leave so I could travel with Jan one week a month. This meant that we had to film in small steps, but as you can see it did work out. We did have many special moments during filming – I think one specific part was sleeping on the ice in Greenland. This was a great experience! How often do you get this opportunity? I woke up to the sound of pieces of ice breaking of a nearby glacier, that was just an amazing sound. I have slept under the sky in Greenland before and in other countries, but this experience on the ice beats it all.


What are the key messages of the films, the short version and the documentary?
The short version raised awareness about the global problem of pollution which affects us all. The feature length documentary goes more into details of the same threat by talking to people from all around the world who are fighting for a better life and a better, cleaner world. For me travelling with “Silent Snow” taught me so much, not just about other cultures but also that we can all make a difference. This is our shared world and as also stated in the film: Pollution respects no country borders. A polluting plant will not only affect the vicinity but will spread to other countries as well. This makes it clear that we all need to take action.


What reactions from the audience do you observe during or after the screenings?
I see many different reactions which also depend on where the screening takes place: One scene shows a dead seal being cut open and the reaction in Paris was people closing their eyes, whereas the indigenous audience in Costa Rica weren’t impressed by this sight. I am very proud of my heritage and I do respect people’s reactions, but the suburban consumers often don’t think about meat coming from a real animal. Often after the screenings people thank me for my work and this is very positive. It’s great to learn that all of us can make a difference and that so many people are willing to do their part.

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