The SANE process in Africa
Introduction and Background
African agriculture occurs mainly under rainfed conditions with unpredictable droughts putting no less than 80% of the farmland under climatic risk. In order to survive and adapt to adverse environmental conditions, rural communities have developed a variety of traditional production systems, each adapted to particular ecological and socio-economic conditions1. However, a series of factors have brought about deep changes in the traditional patterns: the introduction of export crops during the colonial era and the opening to a monetary economy; population growth; and subsequent agricultural development policies adopted by national authorities and the international community2. Government agricultural policies have mainly focused on increasing production and productivity of selected cash crops: cotton, cacao, coffee, and groundnut. Such policies promote the 'Green Revolution approach', which includes:
Under these policies, agricultural research and extension programs targeted their efforts on areas with a high potential for export crops and on farmers with a relatively higher income level. Techniques were elaborated on research stations and on pilot farms (often located in better endowed areas) and disseminated among farmers. Although conventional agriculture policies may have contributed to increased global food production, they have brought little in the way of benefits to the majority of smallholders, and in some cases even contributed to worsening their situation3.
In general, smallholders have not adopted techniques promoted by the Green Revolution, either because it does not match their own conditions, or simply because they were not in a position to do so due to the unavailability or high cost of external inputs. Thus modern agricultural systems not only failed to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, but inadvertently contributed to:
To cope with this situation, many resource-poor smallholders, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, aided by several local and international NGOs, are now adopting production techniques outside the Green Revolution framework. Agroecology constitutes one of the major sources of these techniques and is being promoted by SANE to create agricultural production systems in Africa that are more ecologically sound, economically sustainable, and socially just. Specifically, the SANE program in Africa aims at building capacities for action within sub-Saharan NGOs and CBOs (Community-Based Organizations) in order to overcome key limitations to their work: precariousness of coordination and communication systems, low technical capabilities, lack of training and information on proven practices and technologies, and dissemination problems.
SANE Process in Africa
SANE’s objective is to create a critical mass of personnel who, equipped with solid agroecological knowledge and techniques, will be capable of taking up the challenges of sustainable agriculture (SA) and able to solve production problems at the regional level. The creation and effective use of local human and institutional resources in order to develop SA in rural communities is undoubtedly the most crucial challenge facing SANE.
Preliminary Consultation between Actors
SANE began its activities in Africa with a regional consultation that included more than twenty representatives of national and international NGOs, CBOs, sub-regional (CILSS) and international Institutions (FAO, UNDP, etc.). The gathering, held in May 1994 at Mbour, Senegal, focused on:
The outcome of the regional consultation was the identification of key constraints facing farmers and possible solutions to such problems, as well as the selection of the key institutions that would implement the activities to further SANE’s goals (Table 5). These activities include training, extension, communication-information, research, and demonstration modules.
Four countries were selected (Cameroon, Mali, Uganda and Senegal) to implement lighthouses under the auspices of national NGOs working with CBOs. In order to complete the consultation process, it was recommended that
those NGOs organize national level consultations in order to select projects that would:
These national consultations were subsequently held in the four target countries between December 1994 and January 1995.
Coordination Activities in Africa and their Impacts
The meeting was crucial for initiating SANE activities in Africa as it allowed the SANE Global Program to become known by the representatives of 7 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Uganda and Senegal). The workshop also permitted them to address the difficulties encountered in the field in SA development and to define the main focus of SANE activities in Africa:
Instructors and students visiting a farm during the regional agroecology course held in Cameroon
The above set of regional and local activities was coordinated by ENDA-PRONAT, which organized workshops, distributed information and relevant literature, produced a regional newsletter, and maintained networking with many organizations (Figure 5).
Technical support and follow-up
The technical support and follow-up of the lighthouses provided by the African Regional Coordination spearheaded by ENDA-PRONAT aimed at:
Human resources were mobilized at the international level in the form of consultancies with the support of the SANE General Coordination. The follow-up of lighthouses in the four countries allowed the regional coordinator to thoroughly evaluate implemented activities4. During such monitoring, technical, financial and institutional difficulties were analyzed and proposals were made towards improvement. The meeting and discussions with farmers participating in the projects were an important part of the monitoring.
Training courses on Agroecology and rural development
During this first stage of the SANE process, two courses on various issues in agroecology and rural development were organized in Africa by the Regional Coordination with the support of selected national NGOs (see SANE-Africa organization chart) and the SANE general coordination.
The first course, held in January 1995 at Bafoussam in Cameroon, gathered more than twenty NGO representatives from 6 African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Uganda and Senegal4.
The following topics were covered:
The course also included field activities featuring methods of agroecosystem diagnosis and rapid rural appraisal. The course provided the various SANE-Africa partners an opportunity for in-depth discussions on the lighthouse concept and the methodological aspects of implementing lighthouses.
The second course focused on replenishing soil fertility in Africa. It was organized in collaboration with ICRAF, TSBF, CGIAR-NGO Committee, and was conducted immediately after the workshop "Approaches to Replenishing Soil Fertility in Africa - NGO Perspectives", held in June
1997 at Nairobi, Kenya, in which all SANE partners participated.
The course covered:
Course participants visiting a composting urban project in Bafoussam
Field visits to Western Kenya allowed participants to witness the results of collaboration between research institutions, NGOs and farmers within the context of a program of soil fertility replenishment. Productive discussions about participatory research and outreach methods took place between students and the project's leaders.
Communication and Networking
The medium for communication among SANE regional partners has been through the publication of a newsletter and direct contacts have been through mail, Fax, E-mail, and telephone. Two issues of the SANE-Africa regional newsletter have been published in English and French. A total of some 2,000 copies were circulated among NGO and CBO SANE partners as well as non-partners in Africa and the Third World.
Dissemination of information on SA
In order to help overcome the lack of information on agroecology in Africa, the Regional Coordination designed with the support of the General Coordination an "Agroecology Reader for Africa". This 1,017 page two-volume document with has been handed out to all SANE partners in Africa, contains "state of the art" articles on theory and application of agroecology. NGOs have extensively used the reader in their training activities.
Establishment of agroecology documentation centers have been crucial for information disemination throughout the region
A series of articles and manuals on various SA topics were handed out to NGOs during the Training Courses. In addition, the UNDP booklet "Agroecology: Creating the Synergism for a Sustainable Agriculture" has already been translated into French and has been distributed throughout francophone Africa.
Conclusions and Recommendations
After three years of developing SA for smallholders in Africa, a number of lessons can be drawn.
At the community level, SANE partners succeeded with various levels of sophistication in demonstrating the sustainability of agroecological techniques as alternatives to modern conventional agriculture. The adoption of these techniques and the enthusiastic engagement of farmers in the SANE projects are indications of the appropriateness of the approach. Some specific means that enhanced the spread and use of agroecological systems included:
These activities could be multiplied to benefit a greater number of resource-poor smallholders for whom increasing food security is a major concern.
Besides providing technical advice to farmers, the SANE process also contributed to heightening farmers’ awareness of their accountability in the development of SA. Farmers involved in the SANE lighthouses became aware that their own traditional knowledge is of value in the search for appropriate and ecologically-sound agriculture. Such a reversal of farmer attitudes was particularly obvious in the Malian communities involved in the lighthouses.
Successful SA projects led by NGOs and CBOs do exist in Africa, but unfortunately, these remain isolated. Development workers facing similar difficulties would benefit from sharing their valuable experiences. However, the experience and knowledge gained from these projects often remain unknown in other countries or in other regions of the same country even when development projects take place in the same agroecological areas with the same socio-economic realities. This is due to the absence of a collaborative and coordinating framework. SANE has begun to fill this gap, but much remains to be done.
The Regional Coordination has worked to prevent successful experiences and initiatives from remaining isolated. In addition to achieving their initial goals (assessing the main constraints to sustainable agriculture in Africa and initiating the implementation of lighthouses), the Africa-wide and national consultations were also productive in bringing together a wide variety of important development actors (Figure 1). Audio and visual media have proven to be highly appropriate and powerful means for documenting and disseminating experience and SA information. Future outreach efforts should include these tools. More emphasis should be placed on publications, and particularly on improving the technical content of the Newsletter so that it can become a reliable source of technical information on SA. Enhancing communication capacities between partner NGOs is a pressing need. It will be necessary to equip NGOs with communication equipment (computers, fax, E-mail and internet). Improved communication will allow NGOs to demonstrate the viability of alternatives to conventional agriculture to a wider audience, to acquire new tools for developing SA, and to conduct more efficient concerted action.
The capacity for action of the African SANE partners could be further strengthened, in terms of both competence and networking. The regional training courses on agroecology and rural development were a valuable step in providing a better understanding of the philosophy of agroecology and the field visits gave participants the opportunity to acquire a larger understanding of SA problems as well as concrete solutions.
It is essential that follow-up and evaluation of lighthouses continue within the framework of the Regional Coordination so that a common protocol is followed. To achieve a wider impact, training courses, while responding to the needs of partner NGOs, should also be open to NGOs not directly involved in the implementation of SANE lighthouses.
On a larger scale, South-South communication and networking has also much to offer. At the Cuba global SANE meeting, it was realized that strengthening cooperation between African NGOs and CBOs and fellow organizations in Asia and Latin America is key to a profitable exchange of experiences on the most effective technologies and methodologies for accelerating a shift towards sustainable agriculture. African NGO partners that visited the various Cuban lighthouses and other demonstration farms, learned about techniques that are directly applicable to the circumstances of their African farmers. South-to-South cooperation could focus on two types of activities: technical advice and consultation, and experience exchange. In this regard, the Regional Coordination should take the following steps:
NGOs are well suited for bridging the gap between national and international agricultural research institutions (IARCs and NARS) and the actual needs of the most underprivileged farmers, which represent the majority of rural people. Already, the SANE process in Africa has resulted in collaboration between community-based organizations, NGOs, agricultural research institutes and universities. There are many NGOs and CBOs committed to the development and promotion of a more ecologically oriented agriculture in Sub-Saharan African countries. The SANE NGO partners in particular, with their extensive field experience and mastery of participatory methods can ensure that the design and implementation of development projects are appropriate to the needs and potentials of rural communities. Their experience in training, extension and developing agroecological techniques should be utilized. The Lighthouse Projects implemented in Cameroon, Mali, Uganda and Senegal can now serve as resources for other NGOs and CBOs in Africa around the development of SA.
Agricultural sustainability has not yet become the focus of African governments’ policies. In the long-term, it is important that the SANE process in Africa eventually exert an influence on national agricultural policies, the only way to guarantee a wider adoption of SA. Inclusion of SANE partners in the CGIAR-NGO committee and in the recently established Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) is a good starting point for bringing the concerns of NGOs and farmers to those engaged in formulating agricultural research policy. If politicians support SANE’s mission, agricultural research policies have a better chance of being changed.
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