May 2005
GFAR Secretariat News
Embrapa and Family Agriculture in the Brazilian Semi-Arid
The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - Embrapa started studying family agriculture in the 80's, mainly in the Northeast region, where it was found that technologies generated or adapted in experimental stations were poorly disseminated among what were called "small-scale producers". The National Agricultural Research System has been efficient in modernizing Brazilian agriculture and has contributed to large increases in agricultural production. However, the modernization process has been selective and a source of social and territorial discrimination, particularly with respect to farmers in the semi-arid region of the country.
In order to deal with agricultural modernization of this neglected sub-sector, Embrapa's orientation for the tropical semi-arid region has been based on international references to agrarian policies, and from which a European agricultural model was chosen. As a result, Embrapa has studied, together with farmers, the potential of family agriculture for achieving modern and equitable development in rural areas.
As a starting point, action-research and farming system methodologies were used at the farm level to bring together the production experiences of family farmers. The results clearly show that the problem of technology viability cannot be separated from other components such as social organization and rural credit. It was therefore decided to embark on a new stage of local development, using an approach that brings together local actors in a project, from which plans and programs emerge, and creating the conditions for local actors to negotiate the necessary support for the project�s implementation. The results demonstrate the potential of family agriculture and the need for defining specific public policies to support it.
Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid has undertaken several experiences involving active partnerships with rural communities. From this cooperation, methodological tools have been produced (zoning, typology, among others) and a reflection on the possibilities for the development of family farm. Together with other institutions, Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid has contributed to the recognition by the State of family agriculture and as a consequence the establishment of specific public policies, such as PRONAF, the National Family Agriculture Program.
PRONAF was conceived with the objective of providing support to rural development, and based on the principle of strengthening family agriculture as a source of jobs and income, "so as to establish a new model of sustainable development which aims at achieving satisfaction and welfare of farmers and consumers with respect to economic, social and environmental problems, producing a new pattern of national agricultural" (BRASIL, 1996, p.11).
Besides choosing family agriculture as the target for its actions, PRONAF assumes, in its orientation and implementation, a mode of decentralized and participative administration, through Municipal Councils for Rural Development (CMDR), which guarantee majority membership for family farmers. This proposal represents a change in the methodology for intervention of the State on rural development.
Today, the main challenge for Embrapa is to deal with the diversity of family agriculture and to implement differentiated projects, respecting the specific situations of different farmer categories - a project of integration, which aims at widening and consolidating the participation of family farms in markets, for those that have the means, either through complementing them with agro-industries, or developing "organic product chains". In addition, there is a project for social inclusion, which addresses those family farmers that face production difficulties. This combines social policies for the establishment of infrastructure and the development of economic activities for job creation. This is, for example, the big challenge for the "Fome Zero" (No Hunger) Project - PFZ, which distinguishes between emergency support actions and those of a structural nature.
In 2003, Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid, together with the Extraordinary Ministry for Food Safety and Fighting Hunger, FAO, CIRAD and two local NGOs, has been involved in the PFZ. The project supports the development of family farm production activities based on a process of capacity building and apprenticeship for local rural development actors. The main objective is the elaboration of a technical and organizational road map, methods and tools, which can be disseminated by the program. The proposal contemplates:
- Carrying out a diagnostic study for the identification of the limitations, potentialities and proper use of the natural resources of the region and the generation of information about the agrarian and agricultural systems, so that farmers and development agents can recognize and integrate their knowledge and their practices. The results of the diagnostic study are also the support for discussion and programming of projects with the population (at community level) or with representatives of support institutions (at municipal and micro-regional level).
- Process of adaptation of technologies developed in 'field schools', in cooperation with groups of farmers/researchers. These activities foster the integration of researchers and the creation of new relationships between them and the communities, based on knowledge interchange.
- Capacity building of rural development agents and farmers. This has the objective of facilitating both the diffusion (geographic extension) and the consolidation and continuity of the program's actions. The central idea is that farmers themselves assume the extension process and that the intervention of the institutions is limited to providing technical support and the necessary methodological and pedagogic tools. This option is valid for the stages of the diagnostic study, programming and the validation of technologies.
Embrapa focuses its work on technological production solutions to consolidate a renewed and sustainable family agriculture, which take into account social and geographic diversity, and favoring social integration and support for all possible economic opportunities. Today, the elements of the approach - co-existing with the reality of the semi-arid, making use of biodiversity, rational use of external inputs, pursuit of autonomy, diversification of economic activities and recognition of the multi-functionality of agriculture - are shared by civil society groups. On such group is the "Semi-Arid Joint Endeavor", which is an umbrella group that brings together more than 700 institutions working in a coordinated fashion to improve livelihoods in the region.
Jean Philippe Tonneau
Pedro Carlos Gama da Silva
Main milestones: MTM and forthcoming GFAR Steering Committee Meeting
This is the first edition of the newsletter for this year, which shows signs of being a very busy one for the Secretariat. We are just a quarter of the way and it feels like we are close to the end of the year. The Secretariat participated in the organization of a number of meetings and facilitated the participation of several GFAR member organizations in such meetings. For example, in March (7th to 9th) in collaboration with AARINENA a workshop was held in Antalya, Turkey to move forward the development of the Global Post Harvest Initiative. Some more information on this workshop is provided below under the news from regional fora section. In April (13th to 15th), FORAGRO held its 4th International Conference hosted by the Institute of Crop and Livestock Research in Panama (IDIAP), with a focus on the theme of technological innovation and agri-business priorities. Executive Secretaries and Representatives of other regional Fora participated in the meeting and seized the opportunity during a special panel discussion session on �Intercontinental cooperation under the aegis of the GFAR� to share ideas on how to continue with the implementation of the inter-regional collaboration pillar of the GFAR business plan. During the same month of April (27th to 30th) the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) held its fourth triennial conference in Zurich, focused on the theme of European responses to changing global needs. The Secretariat facilitated and ensured the participation of representatives of GFAR stakeholder groups from Farmers Organizations, NGOS, the private sector and regional fora who actively contributed to the conference, by identifying how Europe could respond to their varied changing needs imposed by current global trends. The Secretariat also organized a special workshop on north-south research partnerships to contribute to on-going discussions on how to ensure that these partnerships work for the mutual benefit of the partners. Some details on all of the above activities are given under news from regional fora section.
The Secretariat is now preparing for two important statutory meetings, the Management Team Meeting scheduled for the 23rd of May in Rome, and the GFAR Steering Committee Meeting that will take place on the 7th of June during the FARA General Assembly (6th to 12th June) in Entebbe Uganda. The Management Team Meeting, which will serve as a preparatory meeting to the Steering Committee, will focus mainly on the GFAR charter review and the GFAR 2006 conference, in order to make appropriate recommendations to the Steering Committee. In addition to these statutory meetings, the Secretariat will organize and host the second meeting of the Stakeholder Committee of the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) from the 5th to the 6th of May 2005. During this meeting, the committee will conclude discussions on its inputs into four issues of importance to the GCP and to their own constituencies.
Look out for a report on all of these activities in the next edition of the newsletter.
Moving forward within the ICM4ARD proposal: the CAIRO Meeting, 10-11 May 2005
Under the GLOBal Alliance of the Regional Agricultural Information Systems (GLOBAL.RAIS), funded by the European Commission, GFAR Secretariat launched in 2003 and 2004 a set of regional consultations, which culminated in June 2004 with an inter-regional consultation in FAO headquarters, Rome, the main purpose of which was to define a global agenda in the area of ICM for ARD, while achieving economies of scale and synergism to the RAIS. The main output of this meeting was the achievement of the ICM4ARD proposal, endorsed during the GFAR Steering Committee meeting held in Mexico in October 2004.
The total amount of the ICM4ARD project, US$4M, was perceived as an obvious constraint and would require the establishment of a donor consortium. Therefore the idea to split the ICM4ARD project into a consistent set of "sub-projects" emerged and led to consider the ICM4ARD proposal as a framework for action. To achieve the definition of these "sub-projects", in which the different Regional Fora (RFs) would have to play a key leadership, it was decided to launch a second inter-regional consultation.
This Meeting is about to take place in Cairo, 10-11 May 2005. It will be kindly hosted by the AARINENA-RAIS Colleagues. Considering the ICM4ARD proposal as a global framework for action, the Cairo Meeting is expected to achieve the following objectives:
- To further discuss on their respective regional Plan of Work and Budget (PoW&B) for 2005 in the area of ICM for ARD and the development of their RAIS;
- To take stock on existing initiatives involving all principal stakeholders, and to stimulate other initiatives from the Regional Fora in the area of ICM for ARD in order to launch collaborative platforms between and amongst RAIS;
- To define priorities for GFAR financial support accordingly to (i) regional activities or (ii) inter-regional activities within collaborative platforms;
- To define a consistent output oriented list of activities and related budget for each of these collaborative platforms that either GFAR Secretariat can support within its own 2005 PoW&B or define complementary proposals, consistent with the ICM4ARD proposals leading to fund raising activities where GFAR Secretariat could play a leading role.
The following are the expected outcomes of the Meeting:
- Shared vision on the 2005 activities conducted by the various RFs in the area of ICM for ARD;
- GFAR Secretariat and FAO support to RAIS initiatives defined through a bottom up process;
- Collaborative platforms and their related POW&B well defined, and follow up mechanisms of these collaborative platforms defined and/or put in place in the 2005 within the GFAR Secretariat budget.
All the documents pertaining to this Meeting can be downloaded from the GFAR web site (egfar.org).
In order to facilitate the launching of so called �collaborative platforms� between various regional Fora and GFAR, two preliminary studies have been conducted. The first one, prepared by Prof. Ajit Maru is a comparative study on the already existing agricultural information systems dealing with information on institutions, experts, research activities and outputs of these activities. The second one, prepared by Prof. Ahmed Rafea, is related to a preliminary proposal of a �collaborative platform� between AARINENA-RAIS and Infosys+. These documents are also online available.
DURASDURAS 2nd Call for Proposals Outcome
Twelve (12) pre=proposals out of 173 submissions received were selected by the DURAS Selection and Scientific Partnership Committee (CSSP) to advance to full proposal development following its meeting held last 15-16 March 2005 in Montpellier, France. Of the 173 submissions, 55% focuses on the theme Agro-ecology and other sustainable farming practices, while 45% tackles the theme Linking farmers to market: support to small and medium agro-enterprises (SMEs). A Euro 5,000 grant was awarded to each of the 12 selected pre-proposals in order to support the preparation of full proposals. The final selection will be made on the basis of these full proposals in June by the CSSP and DURAS Project�s Steering Committee chaired by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pre-proposals received were reviewed on the basis of the following criteria: (a) over-all project design and feasibility; (b) appropriateness and innovativeness; (c) socio-economic consideration; (d) environmental and sustainability considerations; and (e) partnership quality.
Below are the short-listed pre-proposals.
- Theme 3: Agro-ecology and other sustainable farming practices
- Approche intégrative de la gestion des nématodes phytoparasites en systèmes maraichers mediterraaneens et sahéliens (Société MARISSA (Groupe AZURA- Maroc)
- Appropriation par les Organisations de Producteurs d'Afrique de l'Ouest de la technologie d'inoculation avec des microorganismes améliorant la production végétale (CLCOP de Keur Momar Sarr-Sénégal)
- Conditions de l'adoption de systèmes de culture conservateurs de l'environnement par les petits producteurs du Sud (Association pour la Promotion de l'Environnement pour le Développement (APED-Union des Comores)
- Learning across Borders: Cameroon shares its successful experience in scaling up indigenous domestication practices with farmers in Madagascar through south-south exchange (Fanatsarana ny Farim-piainana eny Ambanivohitra-Madagascar)
- Linking farmers to markets through valorisation of local resources: the case for intellectual property rights of indigenous resources (University of Pretoria-South Africa)
- Promouvoir l�expérimentation et l�innovation Paysannes pour Ameliorer la Sécurité Alimentaire et la Conservation des Ressources au Sahel (IIED Sahel Sénégal)
- Theme 4: Linking farmers to market and support to small and medium agro- enterprises (agri SMEs)
- Development of sustainable processing technology that facilitates the use of traditional natural under-utilized bio-resources leading to enhanced socio-economic and rural benefits, through local and international marketing of higher quality products (CONFIREL � Cambodia)
- Improving Efficacy in Product-Chains for Linking Rural Farmers to Profitable Markets and Promote Small and Medium Agro-enterprises in East African Highlands of Tanzania and Ethiopia (Sokoine University of Agriculture-Tanzania)
- Improving the pig and pig meat marketing chain to enable small producers to serve consumer needs in Vietnam and Cambodia (Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (VASI)
- Increasing productivity and income of small scale fruit processors through improved quality assurance and marketing in Tanzania and Uganda (Sokoine University of Agriculture � Tanzania)
- Poverty and Pace Setters (POPS). From sector support for farm products marketing to targeting entrepreneurs by building networks among poverty struck (Centre for Rural Economic Development Research-Vietnam)
- Production de malts de sorgho ou de mil de qualité pour la production alimentaire artisanale ou semi-industrielle en Afrique de l�Ouest (CERNA/FSA/UAC-Bénin)
The Competitive Grants was open to all stakeholders involved in agricultural research, provided that the Lead Proponent (LP) � a university, national research center or a civil society organization (CSO) - is from a ZSP (Priority Solidarity Zone) country covered by the project.
Table 1 : Percentage distribution of pre-proposals received per stakeholder and per theme
| Theme 3 | Theme 4 | |
| NARIs | 40 % | 29 % |
| Farmers organization / community-based organizations | 1 % | 8 % |
| Universities | 24 % | 24 % |
| NGOs | 27 % | 35 % |
| Agri-SMEs | 6 % | 3 % |
| Others (e.g. Professional organization, IARCs) | 2 % | 1 % |
| Total | 100 % | 100 % |
The proposed project should involve (a) a minimum of two (2) countries from the South which may not necessarily be from the same region/sub-region; and (b) at least three (3) stakeholder groups, one of which should either be an NGO, a farmers organization, or an agro-SME. Proponents were required to submit Letter(s) of Intent (LOI) of their collaborating organizations stating their willingness and commitment to participate in the proposed project.
DURAS is a GFAR-Agropolis project supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Priority Solidarity Fund (PSF). It aims to contribute to strengthening the involvement and enhancing the scientific potential of southern stakeholders in agricultural research for sustainable development (ARSD). This three-year project covers countries from Africa, Near East and some parts of Asia that are listed in France�s Priority Solidarity Zone (PSZ).
Contact
Oliver Oliveros
DURAS Project Coordinator
Agropolis International
Avenue Agropolis F-34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Tel. : +33 (0)4 67 04 3747
Fax : +33 (0)4 67 04 7599
Email: [email protected]
website: www.duras-project.net
Oliver Oliveros
DURAS Project Coordinator
GFAR 2006 Conference
The next GFAR triennial General conference will be held in 2006. All of the regional fora which are yet to host this conference which was hosted by Germany in 2000 and Senegal in 2003 were consulted as to their willingness and readiness to host the 2006 version. APAARI sent very strong and positive signals, and during the Extraordinary Steering Committee meeting held in December 2004 in Rome, the Executive Secretary of APAARI, Dr Raj Paroda informed the committee of the willingness of the Indian Government to host the Conference in India. The Executive Secretaries of APAARI and GFAR have since then had further discussions with the Indian authorities with regards to the dates, venue and other important details. Based on these preliminary discussions, some recommendations on the dates and venue of the meeting will be presented to the Steering Committee for a discussion and approval during its meeting in Uganda, following which a formal announcement on the venue and dates for GFAR 2006 will be posted on EGFAR.
GFAR Secretariat
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