New Agriculturist Developments 01-5 Striking a 'COARD' in Uganda
For the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda, agricultural research remains a priority, and yet, in common with many developing countries, new technologies are often not being adopted by farmers. In too many projects, scientists continue to have preconceived ideas of the problems facing farmers and how they should be solved. However, in recent years, an increasing number of projects have become “client-oriented”. This means that not only is research done in response to farmers' needs but that the farmers are involved in the process of validating the results. But how is this being put into practice at the Serere Agricultural and Animal Production Research Institute (SAARI) of NARO near Soroti? Driving along the highway to Soroti from Mbale small villages can be seen in scattered clearings away from the road. Most consist of half a dozen round huts with thatched roofs. A more substantial brick building with a corrugated roof may be seen although, more often than not, the brick buildings remain half-built and unfinished. A few goats browse on the vegetation around the houses, a cow or two may be seen tethered and chickens scratch around in the dust. Unlike the patchwork of large monocropped fields bordered by hedges or ditches in the UK, the fields in which these subsistence farmers work are not always obvious. The land they own may be no more than half a hectare with cassava or maize, sweet potatoes and some millet. A few trees may grow around the house from which fruit is collected and laid in piles at the roadside to be collected for sale at the nearest market by passing lorries. The farms in this region were once very productive but years of insurgency during the 1980s resulted in a loss of livestock through cattle raiding and a general deterioration of the farming systems as inputs became unavailable. Consequently, the area is now one of the poorest in the country and over the last few decades, research has had little impact particularly as the local research station, SAARI, was in need of repair and capacity building. Although NARO has begun in the last few years to become more client-oriented, it is with assistance from DFID that the Client-Oriented Agricultural Research and Dissemination Project has become possible at SAARI. Known as the COARD project, it supports not only demand-driven research but also investigates methods for improving technology dissemination in the Teso and Lango farming systems of north-eastern Uganda through the establishment of two competitive Agricultural Technology Funds (ATFs). These funds are governed by a local committee of scientists, local government extensionists, non-governmental organizations, farmer and private sector representatives and are made available for participatory on-farm research and for dissemination activities, such as the initial multiplication of improved technologies (seed, cuttings, improved livestock, tools and machinery). Five projects to date have been awarded contracts through the ATFs and funds have been released and activities started. These include a project working with a women's group for improvement of indigenous chickens; research on soil fertility enhancing technologies across the Teso and Lango farming systems and the development of extension material for improvements in cowpea storage. Although the research is lead by a particular organization, all involve collaboration with at least two or three partner organizations and all must involve farmers throughout the process of the project. A second call for proposals was made in March 2001 and funding for further projects is currently being considered. Training for researchers and project partners is provided by a team based at SAARI, the Client-Oriented Agricultural Support Unit (CORSU), which manages the ATFs and provides technical assistance to the projects. The training is specifically geared towards the elements that make up client-oriented research such as stakeholder and gender analysis, teamwork and participatory evaluation of technologies. For example, really understanding who has a role in producing new groundnut varieties or trying to understand the role of women in developing and using new technologies. It has been realized that communication systems are underdeveloped in the region, particularly in the availability and access of agricultural information. Most organizations working directly with farmers, such as NGOs, community based organizations and farmer groups have no strategy to disseminate new technologies or other agricultural information. So as well as promoting partnerships and providing training, the communication strategy is another important aspect of the COARD project which is currently being developed. NARO is utilizing some experiences gained on the COARD project in its move to enhance the client-orientation of agricultural research and to improve access to new technologies through establishing a network of agricultural research and development centres (ARDCs) across Uganda. But whatever the overall outcome of the project across Uganda, it has already been observed that the COARD project is hitting the right note in terms of bringing organizations to working together in order to improve the provision of agricultural services to farmers in the Teso and Lango farming systems.
From darkness into light
It takes a minute or two for your eyes to adjust, especially if, like me, you are no longer young. From the bright white light of the tropical midday sun, we have shuffled blindly into the complete darkness of a small, windowless room. The only entrance for light is the doorway through which we have entered, and that is effectively blocked by others who, like me, are intrigued by the idea of what we have come to see - a village laboratory. It sounds unlikely. Certainly the surroundings that gradually take form fit better with the idea of 'village' than 'laboratory'. But then, as the scientist-in-charge explains what is happening, out of the darkness dawns enlightenment and respect begins to grow. For within these humble surroundings, a biological crop protection spray is being produced for controlling pod borers (Helicoverpa). Podborers cause severe damage to chickpea and pigeonpea crops and farmers resort to many different ways to keep them under control, not least up to fifteen applications of commercial insecticide per season. The biological spray that we have come to learn about is based on a fatal virus disease to which podborers are naturally prone. By using the spray, farmers are able to cut dramatically the cost of crop protection as well as eliminate the peripheral damage caused by commercial insecticides not only to beneficial insects but also to themselves. The spray is called NPV, for nuclear polyhydrosis virus. Although it can be obtained from commercial sources who produce it through tissue culture, the real beauty of the the village process is that a perfectly satisfactory product can be made at a fraction of the cost. It also goes some way towards satisfying an instinct that is probably shared by farmers throughout the world, that of revenge upon the pests that destroy their crops. Farmers normally reduce the podborer population by gently shaking their crops of pigeonpea as they begin to set pods. The podborer larvae fall on to polythene sheets spread upon the ground and, usually, are put in gunny bags and burnt, or thrown on to the road to be squashed by passing vehicles. But scientists at ICRISAT, the International Crops Reseach Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, realized that these larvae could serve farmers better if used to carry fatal disease back to the podborers that inevitably remain within the crop after shaking. Healthy larvae are selected at about 1.5 cm long and these are put, one per cell, into what looks suspiciously like an ice cube tray. The larvae must be kept separate from each other because podborers are cannibalistic. They are fed on chickpea seeds previously soaked in and infected by the NPV virus. Within four to five days the larvae die, at which point they are ground into what we are told is called 'larva juice'. Domestic references return because the container for the larva juice strongly resembles a coffee pot. A centrifuge separates the pure, concentrated virus from the waste, and the resulting pure NPV virus paste is kept in plastic bottles inside a fridge. Whenever farmers need to spray their fields, they can dilute the NPV according to the needs of the crop. Pigeonpea needs 500 'larvae equivalents' per hectare and chickpea about half that quantity. One slight problem with the technique is that bright sunlight kills the disease. However domesticity again returns because a small quantity of Robin Blue, when added to the solution, has proved to be an effective and cheap UV filter. Farmers are also advised that they should spray after sunset. There are now seven NPV village laboratories. Each costs about Rs20,000 (US$500) and farmers are quite ready to invest that much money to produce their own, quality controlled, product. ICRISAT trains the farmers, through a project funded by DFID and IFAD, and this season the seven village laboratories produced NPV of 2 million 'larvae equivalents'. The spray is being applied successfully to cotton, tomatoes, cabbage and cauliflowers as well as pigeonpea and chickpea. As we move outside, temporarily blinded by the sun reflecting off the building's whitewashed walls, we realize that a successful laboratory depends more upon good ideas, competent people and sound science - than upon sophisticated equipment and elegant buildings. Enlightenment indeed.
For further information see: www.icrisat.org DFID - UK Department for International Development IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development
Keeping PACE with change
High quality veterinary services have always been a problem for the vast majority of livestock owners in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that there are 20 million pastoralists and 240 million people who combine livestock with other farming activities. Nearly all of these people, many of whom are very poor, have to rely on the informal sector for veterinary advice and drugs. How can they get access to affordable, reliable, animal health care? The informal private sector is, by definition, illegal and unregulated. The problems are not hard to imagine. Illiterate, vulnerable people, who may be heavily dependent upon their livestock for their livelihoods, fall easy prey to unscrupulous traders. There is no quality control over the drugs that are being sold nor over the advice, if any, with which they are dispensed. There is therefore a very real risk that drugs are misused. The consequences of this include health risks for those handling the medicines, harmful residues in meat and milk, and the emergence of
'super-bugs' - new strains of human and animal disease that resist treatment. The most successful and widely used of the alternatives open to poorer livestock owners are the NGO trained community-based animal health workers or 'barefoot vets'. Where they have been properly selected and trained, and given ongoing support, they have shown that they can deliver valuable, effective, high quality services for which even the poorest farmers will pay. But, not surprisingly, there has been distrust, and even hostility, from the professionally trained veterinarians who have qualified only after five or six years' university training. In Kenya there has been a real breakthrough to far greater understanding and acceptance that there is a need for both barefoot and well-shod veterinarians. The development has come about partly through the efforts of the DFID-supported CAPE project (Community-based Animal health and Participatory Epidemiology unit) which is implemented by OAU-IBAR (Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources). CAPE works with the NGOs that deliver community based animal health services by providing financial or technical support. It has also helped to develop public and private sector solutions to animal health service delivery. For example, a number of community animal health workers may be linked to a professional vet who provides a quality assurance and referral service. Work has also been undertaken at policy level. The CAPE project has brought interested parties together to work on the development of policy and legislative frameworks that will enable quality animal health services to reach all farmers. Policy and legislation must be supported by a system of enforcement which is clear, simple and cost effective. By brokering discussion about the policies to be enacted between both regulators and those who are to be regulated, CAPE believes that regulations have a much better chance of being accepted and adhered to. A recent example of this in Kenya is work undertaken with the Veterinary Board. This is the official professional body that supervises the veterinary profession in that country. Following training to the Board's standardized curriculum, community animal health workers will be registered to work in strict compliance with the Board's guidelines. It is hoped that, if all goes according to plan, some of the other 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa may be interested in this new model of co-operation within the animal health sector. The benefits this could bring to owners of livestock, especially the poor, would be incalculable.
From gentle streams do mighty rivers flow
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, they came to Zambia to discuss water supply and demand, water pollution and treatment, sanitation, cost recovery, institutional policies and water resource management in all its forms. It was the 27th annual WEDC* conference "People and systems for water, sanitation and health", held 20-24 August in Lusaka, Zambia. With 600 delegates from over thirty countries, it was the largest WEDC conference yet, and everything flowed smoothly, as indeed it should at a conference about water engineering. It was no mean task trying to channel the many pools of individual knowledge into coherent streams from which all could benefit. Loosely gathered into such themes as 'User issues', 'Water resources', 'Water quality and treatment', 'Water services' etc., the discussions covered institutional, financial, technical and social issues. Equally important was the opportunity to meet others facing similar challenges and from complementary disciplines. Pollution control, urban drainage and sanitation are more closely linked to supply and treatment of potable water than one might like to think. Cost recovery at national, district and community levels was a major issue (see Points of View ). How can public utilities maintain a satisfactory service unless they are properly financed? What are their prospects of being properly financed unless they provide a satisfactory service? At community level, why do so many water points lie abandoned and overgrown, with pumps and other fittings broken? Instilling a sense of community ownership and responsibility for operation and maintenance is the goal of development partners working in the rural areas, but their best efforts often fail, despite the training offered in management and cost recovery. So are there lessons for NGOs in how to improve the way they do things? Delegates heard many examples of good practice and sometimes unexpected consequences of development interventions in the water supply sector; the added safety, for example, felt by young girls who are no longer forced to grant sexual favours in return for water sourced far from their own homes. But the increasing attention given now to imparting skills in conflict resolution indicates that a new source of water may attract unwanted newcomers and unplanned, water-guzzling activities. Water may flow downhill but finding equitable ways of sharing what is an increasingly scarce resource is often an uphill struggle. Planning for next year's conference is already well in hand. It is to be held in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Readers interested in further information about WEDC conferences may like to visit the website: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/wedc/conferences/
*WEDC (Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Loughborough University, UK)