The NFU raised over £200,000 for Farm Africa as part of its Africa 100 campaign which was launched in its Centenary year, 2008. The money was used to fund a Cassava cultivation project in northern Kenya. If you would like to support Farm Africa or find out more about the work they do then please visit the Farm Africa website here.
Africa 100 Appeal update - October 2011 - Videos available on the Related Links tab
Sharon Hockley, NFU Senior Press and PR Officer, visited Kenya in October 2011 to look at the progress made on a cassava farming project which was started in 2008, the NFU's Centenary year.
The harvest for 2011 was certainly not without its hitches. As the nail-biting season drew to a close there was a mixed picture across much of England and Wales. However the horror forecasts for most did not bear fruit with fields yielding below average tonnage but by no means the write-off feared during the long, spring drought.
Transfer this story to Eastern Kenya, where subsistence farmers live hand to mouth, and the threat of a failed harvest can mean the difference between life and death. This is the area where the proceeds from the NFU’s centenary Africa 100 Appeal are making a difference.
Launched back in 2008, the NFU’s 100-year celebrations were marked by a partnership formed with a charity FARM-Africa. It works to improve food security across East Africa.
The Africa 100 Appeal has seen more than £200,000 donated to the charity enabling a new farming project to be launched in Western Kenya. The Cassava Project aims to resurrect this traditional but beleaguered staple crop after it was hit by a disease called Mosaic virus, as well as earning itself a poor reputation for being a bland food.
“The essence of FARM-Africa’s success is very simple”, said NFU senior press officer Sharon Hockley, who worked on the original appeal. “It uses partnerships from the UK, working with colleagues in Kenya, who then work with project groups in the field, to ensure that the money raised, and the subsequent farming projects created, have direct impact to those that matter on the ground.
“Visiting the Cassava Project for myself in October, I have been overwhelmed by the impact that this project is having; it is literally changing lives.”
Top of the list for the charity was changing the cassava seed to ensure the new varieties are resistant to disease – and can withstand the drought-like conditions of Western Kenya. With climate change affecting both the long spring rains and the shorter autumn rains, this was essential.
Convincing farmers, who have grown crops such as maize and cash crops like sugar cane to make the switch, was the next challenge. Human nature dictates, particularly in areas where traditions are more steadfast, change is sometimes an easy word to say but a much harder word to put into practice. Again FARM-Africa’s model works by simply showing farmers exactly what they will get by planting demonstration plots. Farmers can see for themselves what the new varieties will look like – and more importantly what they can expect to harvest.
The demonstration plots are planted alongside the local, older varieties; the withered leaves of one crop against the glossy leaves of another. As a result demand for the new seed is high but this is not yet the end of the process. With the disease problems solved, reinventing the staple crop into something Kenyan farmers wanted to grow, and that their families and children enjoyed eating, has also been tackled. Cassava cooking classes are held, showing people how they can turn cassava in to a myriad of meals including some western favourites such as chips, crisps, cake and some traditional goodies like chapattis, cassava stews and flour, which is ground to make the Kenya staple food ugali.
To ensure the success of the project on the ground FARM-Africa works with a local partner, C-REP (Community Rehabilitation and Environmental Protection programme), and champion farmers, or community leaders, are selected by the charity. Each one is tasked with gaining interest from five other farmers in the area.
This next stage of the FARM-Africa model sees multiplication sites planted on farms and the seed for the new varieties is sold on, at a nominal fee, creating demand and a market value for new cassava. This also sees a small return to the farmer and their communities.
“This project is seeing a real impact on the lives of hundreds of people,” said Ms Hockley. “Secure food supplies mean families are able to feed themselves, and this success is being repeated slowly but surely across Western Kenya. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, or in this case mighty cassava. What was once a downward spiral of hunger and desperation has been transformed into an upward spiral of joy and hope.”
Take a look at our case studies here:
Cassava key facts:
Local, old varieties of cassava take two years to mature
Mosaic disease results in diseased plants, small tubers and fewer numbers
New varieties of cassava are quicker to mature, as short as nine months
Very large tubers, sometimes 30 or so in number are produced
New cassava is drought resistant
No inputs are required to grow cassava compared to maize or other crops
New varieties of cassava can grow up to 2ft tall in just four months
- carol - 16/01/2012
Totally amazing how such a small change can make so much life changes a little seed can and does feed so many who are willing to give it a try, and also be proud of the results.