Africa Harvest Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
Africa Harvest
Annual Technical & Financial Report 2008
Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI)
P.O. Box 3655, Pinegowrie 2123 Gauteng, South Africa Tel: 27 11-781-4447 Fax: 27 11-886-0152
1025 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 1012 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: 1-202-828-1215 Fax: 1-202-857-9799
www.africaharvest.org Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition 400xxx_Cover.indd 1
AHBFI
P.O. Box 642 Village Market 00621 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: 254-20-444-1113/5/6 Fax: 254-20-444-1121
Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition
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Contents
About Africa Harvest
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Message from the Chairman
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Message from the Chief Executive Officer
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The Technology Program ABS Project
4 5
Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program TC Banana Project Trees for Energy Project
10 11 20
Communication Program Dr Florence Wambugu – Yara Laureate 2008 Communication Program: A Pictorial
30 35 37
Finance and Business Development Program Corporate Governance Senior Management and Staff Financial Report
42 46 50 55
Acronyms and Abbreviations
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Cover: (l-r): A scientist inspects a sorghum field; a eucalyptus forest; and a farmer showing off a bunch of bananas. These are the three crops that have been the main focus for Africa Harvest during 2008. Above: Farmers weigh bananas at one of the collection and marketing centers
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Africa Harvest
Annual Technical & Financial Report 2008
Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI) Nairobi • Johannesburg • Washington DC
2009
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Citation: Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI) 2009. Africa Harvest Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008. Nairobi, Kenya; Johannesburg, South Africa; Washington DC, USA. 60 pp All information in this booklet may be quoted or reproduced, provided the source is properly acknowledged, as cited above. © 2009 Africa Harvest ISBN 978-0-620-43889-6
For further information about Africa Harvest or additional copies of this publication, contact Africa Harvest at: NAIROBI (HQ) 3rd Floor, Whitefield Place, School Lane, Westlands PO Box 642 Village Market 00621 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: + 254 20 444 1113 Fax: + 254 20 444 1121 Email: kenya@africaharvest.org
JOHANNESBURG Fernridge Office Park 5 Hunter Street, Randburg PO Box 3655 Pinegowrie 2123 Gauteng, South Africa Tel: + 27 11 781 4447 Fax: + 27 11 886 0152 Email: southafrica@africaharvest.org
WASHINGTON DC Blake Building Farragut Square 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 1012 Washington DC 20036, USA Tel: +1 202 828 1215 Fax: +1 202 857 9799 E-mail: usa@africaharvest.org
Or visit the Africa Harvest website: www.africaharvest.org Compiled by: Daniel Kamanga, Director, Communications Program, Africa Harvest Julia Kagunda, Senior Communications and Administrative Officer, Africa Harvest Editing and design: BluePencil Infodesign, Hyderabad, India • www.bluepencil.in Printing: Pragati Offset Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, India • www.pragati.com
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About Africa Harvest VISION Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition
Mission To use science and technology, especially biotechnology, to help the poor in Africa achieve food security, economic well-being and sustainable rural development.
Africa Harvest approach for achieving its mission and vision 1. Implementing technical projects with rural communities. 2. Scaling up the impact of successful model projects. 3. Sharing lessons learned through modern communication-for-development approaches. 4. Facilitating research and development of new crops and products using genetic modification techniques in partnership with others. 5. Building human and institutional resources with a focus on strengthening science and technology in Africa.
Collaborating partners • AfricaBio • African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) • Agricultural Research Council (ARC), SA • Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), SA • African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) • Environmental and Agricultural Research Institute (INERA) • Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) • International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) • International Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) • Kenya Banana Growers Association • National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Nigeria • New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
PARTNERS
• DuPont, through its business Pioneer Hi-Bred
Development partners
• TechnoServe Incorporation (TNS)
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • CropLife International • DuPont USA
• The Rockefeller Foundation (RF)
• University of California, Berkeley • University of Pretoria • West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD)
(l-r) Making sorghum biscuits in Burkina Faso; cleaning up a river in Kenya; and admiring tissue culture bananas in an Australian lab. These pictures represent areas where Africa Harvest programs seek to add value.
About Africa Harvest
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Message from the Chairman The ever-growing pressure to increase agricultural production in the light of the current food crisis has led to extensive destruction of the environment. Take the case of Kenya, where for the last 15 years human activity has led to the destruction of more than 100,000 hectares, representing over 24 per Africa Harvest Chairman, cent of the Mau Forest Dr. Kanayo Nwanze receives a Complex. Continued degbunch of bananas from Esther Mbau, a farmer. radation of the forest is estimated to lead to a loss of more than $300 million each year to the tea, tourism, and energy sectors alone. The complex is the most expansive closed canopy forest ecosystem in Kenya and an asset of national importance but it is being destroyed at a rapid rate, mainly for agricultural purposes. Food security and environmental conservation are intertwined, and when one area is neglected, inevitably the other suffers. This led Africa Harvest to start the implementation of the “Trees for Energy” project last year in partnership with the Ministry of Energy, Government of Kenya.
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Dr Kanayo Nwanze change the lives of smallholder farmers while at the same time attracting partnership with other development partners who focus on impact at the grassroots level. The community engagement approach plays a critical role in the successful transfer of technology, realizing that any new technology is bound to face some form of resistance. The productive use of agricultural technologies is a prerequisite to increasing agricultural productivity! Yet, technology adoption is still very low in Africa and calls for institutional strengthening to facilitate the ongoing process of technology transfer. Africa Harvest continues to demonstrate its commitment to a Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach in supporting small-scale agricultural producers as one of the major steps in boosting agricultural productivity through technology transfer. In the year under review our CEO, Dr. Wambugu, was awarded the 2008 Yara Prize for her efforts in boosting smallholder agricultural productivity and the nutritional value of crops, and Africa Harvest’s work over the years in contributing to improving the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa.
One of the key objectives of the project is conservation of the Kenya water towers like the Mau Forest complex. Alongside the other projects that focus on agriculture and nutrition, Africa Harvest focused on mobilizing local communities to plant trees for domestic use, conservation of water and soil and for income generation through the sale of wooden poles.
However, Africa Harvest is cognizant of the support of development partners who believe in the vision and mission of Africa Harvest. In conclusion, I wish to extend our appreciation to the Government of Kenya, The Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Queensland University of Technology—Australia, CropLife, USAID, Dupont and the nine ABS Consortium institutions who have partnered with Africa Harvest. The support of the Board of Directors, and the dedication and hard work of the CEO and her Management Team and Staff are well recognized. The 2008 achievements were the result of your diligence and commitment!
The Africa Harvest 3-tier approach, which entails community engagement, good agronomic practices and employment of the whole value chain, has continued to
*In February 2009, the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), elected Dr Nwanze as its President, necessitating his resignation as Chairman of Africa Harvest in April 2009.
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Message from the Chief Executive Officer The year under review started on a hazy note due to the post-election violence in Kenya, where Africa Harvest’s head office is located. The year however ended on a high note with the passage of Kenya’s Biosafety Bill on 16 December, 2008. The bill was first tabled in Parliament in 2007 where it went up to the second reading, however, Parliament was prorogued before the final reading. The bill was tabled again in 2008 and was overwhelmingly supported by the members of Parliament. During the year under review, Africa Harvest was awarded the permit to grow ABS1 in the green house in South Africa. In April, Africa Harvest added another project to its portfolio—the Trees for Energy Project (TEP). The project is being funded by the Ministry of Energy— and implemented by Africa Harvest —as part of Kenya Energy Sector Environment and Social Responsibility Program (KEEP). The development agenda of the Project is to create visible and nationwide environmental restoration and conservation projects with high impact and sustainable socio-economic benefits. In line with that, a number of activities were carried out as outlined in this report. The Tissue Culture Banana Project almost doubled the number of new farmers reached, from 3,500 the previous year, to 6,000 during the year under review. Apart from the overwhelming demand for the technology, 2008 also saw the demand for planting material outstripping the current supply from Kenyan nurseries and labs, creating a need for more commercial-oriented labs to increase the current production. However, one of the major challenges facing tissue cultured bananas is ensuring that all materials are virus indexed (becoming free of viruses). In view of this, Africa Harvest, through the Queensland University of Technology—Australia Project and in partnership with National Agricultural Research Institutes in East Africa, is working towards setting up virus
Dr Florence Wambugu
indexing diagnostic facilities that will also promote interregional germplasm exchange. The Foundation’s rapid growth necessitated the relocation of the Nairobi office; from its birthplace, Runda, the office moved to Westlands, which is more spacious, more accessible and provides possibilities for future growth
Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu and Vice-President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution, Dr. Akin Adesina, fly the Kenyan flag high after she won the Yara Award
The Yara Award came as a pleasant surprise and I attribute this worldwide recognition to the staff of Africa Harvest, the board of directors, collaborators and partners who have worked with me tirelessly. The Yara Award proceeds were shared with the institution, Africa Harvest staff and the Tissue Culture banana community. Overall, 2008 saw rapid, but managed growth. I extend my gratitude to a dedicated team of staff, a supportive governance board of directors, collaborators and partners.
Message from the CEO
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The Technology Program
“Small scale farming families represent about half of the hungry worldwide and probably three quarters of the hungry in Africa. Raising the productivity of their crops, vegetables, trees, and livestock is a major priority in the fight against hunger” (UN Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger: 2005). Dr. James Onsando (right) and Dr. Silas Obukosia admire sorghum in the field…realizing that the biofortified sorghum has the potential to increase the nutritional levels for close to 3 million people in Africa keeps Africa Harvest staff on their toes to see that the ABS project is successful. 4
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To support the vision of Africa Harvest, the Technical Program offers “need-driven technical interventions that offer practical solutions to the challenges facing resource-poor smallholder farmers in rural communities throughout Africa,” says Dr. James Onsando, the Program’s Director. During 2008, the major areas of focus continued to be project management within the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project, providing expert support to the TC Banana Project and Virus Indexing Project (being implemented in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology) and the Trees for Energy Project.
ABS Project Sorghum is a very important and one of the much used indigenous crops throughout Africa. In Burkina Faso, it is the most productive crop, constituting 40–45% of annual cereal production. Combined with millet production, sorghum forms the core basis of food security as the most consumed crop in the country. The Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project therefore seeks to provide a long-term solution to malnutrition by using biotechnology to create a highly nutritious biofortified sorghum that grows well in the semi-arid and arid environments of Africa. The Project seeks to develop a more nutritious but also easily digestible sorghum that contains increased levels of essential amino acids, especially lysine, increased levels of Vitamins A, and
more available iron and zinc. The Project brings together nine African and two US institutions in partnership with the Institut de l’Environnement et Recherches Agricoles (INERA) and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/ WECARD) to conduct research and development of the biofortified sorghum. During the period under review, the ABS Project was approaching the fourth year. Overall, the Project had had several breakthroughs and a sterling performance. The bio-safety terrain in the countries of ABS deployment improved greatly. “Africa Harvest was awarded the permit to grow ABS1 in the green house in South Africa. Additionally, several African countries have the biosafety law in place. The Kenya Biosafety Bill was successfully
Project consortium members who attended the 4th ABS Planning Meeting.
The Technology Program
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Sorghum is: • An indigenous African crop. • The 5th most important cereal in the world. • Is drought tolerant. • Is especially important in arid regions. • However, sorghum has nutritional deficiencies of lysine, threonine, tryptophan, Vitamins A & E, low bio-availability of iron and zinc and poor digestibility. • The ABS Project (www.biosorghum.org), aims to develop nutritionally enhanced sorghum for the arid and semi-arid tropics of Africa.
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Africa Harvest Board Member, Gisele d’Almeida (right), organized a meeting in Burkina Faso for the ABS Project Steering Committee (PSC). Team Members, Dr Florence Wambugu (Africa Harvest CEO and Project Coordinator) and Dr. Rachael Chikwamba (CSIR). With them is Prof. Basile Guissou, Director General, National Center for Research in Science and Technology (CNRST).
(l-r) Africa Harvest Director, Mme. Gisele D’Almeida; Biosafety and Regulatory Director, Dr. Silas Obukosia; INERA’s Team Leader in the ABS Project, Mme. Clarisse Barro, and the INERA Director, Dr. Gnissa Konate.
INERA Scientist Mr Hamidou Traore showing a map that displays sorghum proliferation in Burkina Faso to the visiting ABS group. In the background is ABS-INERA team leader Mme. Clarisse Barro.
passed in Parliament,” says Dr. Silas Obukosia, Africa Harvest’s Director for Regulatory Affairs. Technically, according to Dr. Onsando, the following were achieved:
• Successful segregation of the bar gene in the biosorghum product, that is, more available iron and zinc, higher lysine and better digestibility.
• A higher transformation efficiency by the technology team at Pioneer Seeds. • A decision on the events to move to product development.
• Successful field evaluation of bio-sorghum in USA. • A successful crossing of the nutritional traits to some of the popular African sorghum varieties in USA.
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Capacity building of African scientists “Capacity building of our African institutions is a vital component of the Project” says, Dr. Onsando. “The Project focuses on building both infrastructure and human capacity at the research level and enabling environment levels to help move the project forward and to create a conducive environment for future projects”. Several scientists have been trained through the ABS project to strengthen the scientific capacity in Africa. In the year under review, Kenneth Mburu of Kenyatta University, Kenya, was trained at the Pioneer Hi-Bred facility in Johnston, Iowa, USA. Breeders from Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI), Kenya; the
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Kenya; and INERA, Burkina Faso were also trained. The training was done by Pioneer and the emphasis was on high throughput sorghum breeding for commercial purposes. In addition, scientists were trained locally by the Africa Harvest staff on the execution of contained (greenhouse) experimentation in compliance with regulatory requirements. Scientists from KARI and four staff members from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) were trained as also the INERA staff in Burkina Faso. Mme Clarisse Barro, a sorghum breeder at INERA, was part of a team that underwent three weeks of
Capacity building of African scientists is one of the ABS mandates. Scientists from Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) after a training session on Biosafety-Containment and Confined Trial of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), led by Dr. Silas Obukosia, Director of Regulatory Affairs.
The Technology Program
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ABS Planning meeting, Mombasa, Kenya, September 2008. Planning meetings are held twice a year, where all the consortium members meet for updates and exchange of information.
intensive training at Pioneer Hi-bred facilities in USA. “We received theoretical and practical training on the selection methods, data management, germplasm assessment, development of varieties, hybrids creation and various related subjects and field exercises,” said Mme Barro. The new knowledge, she added, reinforced work she had already done in INERA. However, it was a new experience working with hybrids as most of their local research was with open-pollinated varieties. INERA is the public agricultural research institute mandated by the government in Burkina Faso to build capacity, develop policy, transfer technology and manage agricultural research. Sorghum is a priority cereal in their agricultural research program; hence the partnership with the ABS Project to access new technologies that would enhance their sorghum research agenda. Dr Florence Wambugu, ABS Project Coordinator, adds that trained scientists help create sustainability of the Project and form a pool of expertise for the region. “The ABS Project is about to enter its second phase where product 8
development and deployment will be critical. The current generation of upcoming scientists are the future leaders who will be at the forefront of developing and deploying the ABS product for the countries that will be receptive to new agricultural technologies in Africa.” In terms of communication and outreach, a French and English ABS video was developed. The harmonization and standardization of the ABS Project messages commenced in the year and progressed well with the development of branded folders, brochures and presentation templates. Consequently, realizing the gene flow concerns, an External Advisory Board was constituted to provide views on gene flow in sorghum since it is a crop indigenous to Africa. In their deliberations, the panel of experts concluded that ABS genes will flow but their ecological impact will largely be neutral. In the panel were, among others, Prof. Ayiecho Olwenyi, a sorghum breeder from Kenya, and Dr. Jeremy Ouedraogo, a genetist from Burkina Faso. The gene flow experiments that are categorized into gene flow without pollen competition
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and gene flow with pollen competition progressed well in the year. The tests carried out have indicated isolation distances that should be more than adequate to restrict gene flow to unwanted areas at least for South Africa and Kenya. Technically, in the year under review, different consortium institutions made breakthroughs in different aspects of the project. For instance the focus of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) changed to development of a secondary product with Vitamin-A only, known as golden sorghum. Development of the main biosorghum, showed enhanced improvement in vitro digestibility, both in raw and cooked flour, showing that the transgenic approach of bio-fortifying sorghum gives rise to a product with improved digestibility. The technology team at Pioneer achieved the following: a PMI Agrobacterium test vector was built; the components to be included in the complete stacked ABS product were determined; several new transgenic events were sent to the green house and there was a big breakthrough for sorghum transformation efficiency. In terms of trait analysis, the T2 seeds of six ABS032 lines in tannincontaining P8 germplasm planted in Puerto Rico were
analyzed. Additionally, T1 seeds of three ABS053 tannin-containing P8 lines were analyzed and showed construct efficacy at the T1 level. Field and greenhouse work: Six events of ABS032 were crossed to four African sorghum varieties early in the year, and the F1 seeds were planted in Johnston Field by Pioneer in Iowa, USA in June 2008, and harvested in late October 2008. Newly produced T1 seeds from three new events, one ABS032 and two ABS053 transformed in TX430 (non-tannin sorghum line) were planted in greenhouse in late November in the same year. More than 900 seedlings have germinated in flats. In terms of compilation and management of the applications for experimental release permits, the internal environmental assessment team continued to collect the information needed for the new permit applications for the US However, the Pioneer regulatory group submitted two separate permit applications. During the period under review, all the Intellectual Property (IP) donations to the project were reviewed and found to be compliant. The freedom to operate (FTO) assessment for the project was completed.
Mme Clarisse Barro shows delegates INERA’s sorghum seed store; and Prof. Sangare (left) and Dr. Paul Anderson, the ABS Project’s Principal Investigator, during a meeting.
The Technology Program
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Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
Dr. Rose Njeru, Director for Capacity Building & Technology Deployment addressing farmers, policy makers and Members of Parliament during a Farmers Day in Wangige, Kiambu district, Kenya.
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The Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program focuses on raising the yields and income levels of grassroots smallholder farmers. “Technology transfer is where the rubber meets the road; the improved agricultural products are transferred to the beneficiaries who are mainly smallholder farmers. However, the “transfer” is a process that determines the adoption rate and the sustainability of a crop,” says Dr. Rose Njeru, Africa Harvest’s Director, Capacity Building and Technology Deployment. In the year under review, this Program successfully undertook three grassroots projects, namely: Tissue Culture Banana Project, Trees for Energy Project (TEP), and Virus Indexing Project.
TC Banana Project From laboratory to the markets Book keeping was a foreign concept for Douglas Kauri, who never viewed farming as a business. However, through Africa Harvest’s TC Banana Project, Douglas had a paradigm shift. “This is my business and I must manage it well!” he says as he shows off his records. Today, he has planted 220 TC banana plantlets on his 0.75 acres in Eastern Province of Kenya. The training in capacity building has empowered him, resulting in good orchard establishment and management, post-harvest handling and he is now a member of a cohesive farmer group. One of the outstanding milestones for Douglas is adding six wheelbarrows of manure to every banana stool each year, and using furrow irrigation method to water his orchard at least twice a week. His gross income from the banana
orchard is around Ksh 60,000 per year; more than he ever earned from coffee on the same size of land. “Coffee had even greater input cost”, says Douglas. His farm has been a point of reference and widely visited during farmer-tofarmer exchange programs. In addition to TC banana farming, development-ready-small scale farmers have incorporated several enterprises in their farm: pig, fish, dairy, maize and beans farming. Ntharene TC Banana group hosted about 700 smallholder farmers during the farmer exchange program in 2008. The group also benefited from the K-Rep and Equity microfinance schemes. Lately, the group has started other income-generating activities including banana value addition, soap making, fish rearing, afforestation, dairy and goat rearing. Some of the group’s assets include regional TC banana satellite nursery worth Sh. 50,000, a weighing scale worth Sh.200,000 and a demonstration site. They also actively participated in major field days within the region.
TC Banana plays two important critical roles—food security and as a source of income generation for small holder farmers. Here, women pause to enjoy the fruit of their labor.
Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
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Factsheet on TC Banana • Assurance of pest and disease-free plantlets • Faster maturity of plants • Uniformity in growth thus facilitates marketing • Higher yields when compared with conventional suckers • Enables access to huge volumes of seedlings at one go, if need be The Project, “Tilting the benefits of tissue culture (TC) banana technology to create a sustainable rural development through banana value chain in Kenya” contributes directly to the vision of Africa Harvest —Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition. In the midst of the world wide food crisis, TC Banana farmers have not only been food secure but have had surplus for income generation. Today, the grassroots communities describe the once-neglected orphan crop, as a cash cow that fills their pockets. Africa Harvest’s involvement with the TC Banana Project has directly or indirectly made substantial impact to the lives of over 500,000 Kenyan farmer households. The overall adoption of TC banana by the grassroots communities for 2008 was about 59.8 ha (147.7 acres) of bananas. According to Dr Wambugu, the high adoption of TC Bananas had extended to seven districts in Kenya. Having seen the drastic household economic benefits to the grassroots communities, members of parliament endorsed the Project and began inviting Africa Harvest to start the Project in their constituencies. Hon. Cecily Mbarire, a Member of Parliament, joined Africa Harvest field team in a week-long awareness creation campaign, which was instrumental in boosting adoption of the technology. Hon. Mbiuki Kareke, the Assistant Minister for Agriculture, was at the forefront selling the benefits of TC banana to his constituents and went further to 12
introduce an additional 50% subsidy for about 6,000 banana plantlets in order to boost adoption. Realizing the potential of banana, the Assistant Minister also called upon the Kenyan government to make appropriate policies for banana, due to its evident benefits in ensuring food security and sustainable rural development. “One of the biggest challenges facing TC banana farmers is lack of sufficient water,” said Hon. Kareke. “Banana is a water-hungry crop and the government will step in and see how they can assist farmers, for example, through Constituency Development Fund (CDF). However, I am calling on the development partners to consider supporting entrepreneurs pursuing banana value addition. Such a venture would open up the TC banana market further, to the farmer’s advantage”, the Assistant Minister added during the Yara-Farmer Celebration. In the year under review, the TC banana adoption in the seven targeted districts increased from 49 ha (121 acres) to 109 ha (269 acres). The overall adoption of TC bananas by the grassroots communities for 2008 was about 36,421 ha (90,000 acres) bananas. More development-ready groups were also formed, which acted as an entry point for other development partners. As a result, smallholders benefited in several ways and other projects like bee keeping, goat rearing, dairy cows were initiated. Banks and other micro-credit institutions extended credit services. According to Dr. Florence Wambugu, the high adoption of Africa Harvest TC banana by smallholder farmers is attributable to three cross-cutting approaches: • Community engagement • Good agronomic practices • Application of the whole value chain strategic approach. As evidenced by the experience on the ground, community engagement is sustained through establishing relationships, working with formal and
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informal leaderships, and a “buy in” from the local community. The year under review was the second year of the Project, hence more efforts were put into capacity building of the already mobilized groups—this was given as much importance as mobilization of new groups. Africa Harvest field staff executed several farmer exchange visits and field trips, because ‘seeing is believing’, especially with new technologies. Realizing that market access has been a bottleneck to technology adoption, marketing centers were popular destinations for exposure to farmers. “I got motivated to plant TC bananas after visiting Kamahuha Market Service Centre where I witnessed well-organized market transactions involving delivery of bananas, grading, weighing, and recording of sales and payment for the produce,” says Hannah, a farmer. Similarly, “farmer exchange visits contributed to increased adoption that exceeded the set targets when new farmers learnt from those with successful TC-banana production and marketing”, says Eugene Kiogora, one of the field officers based in the Eastern Province of Kenya. Using the field day forum, Africa Harvest reached out to over 7,500 small scale farmers.
Africa Harvest facilitated the establishment of satellite nurseries during the life span of the Project. Further, Africa Harvest introduced provision of subsidies through a fund. In 2008, about 90,000 plantlets worth about Kshs. 7.2 million were disbursed to farmers through the Revolving Fund Scheme. Capacity building information empowers smallholders: Farmers were trained in group dynamics, record keeping, orchard establishment and management and post-harvest handling skills. Consequently, farmers received knowledge on the management of major diseases and pests prevalent in their respective areas. Africa Harvest continued to work with Technoserve towards market accessibility. Monitoring TC Project: three project Harvest field
and Evaluation—the benchmark of Four update meetings were held and review updates organized by the Africa officers, management and Technoserve
Africa Harvest Director for Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Silas Obukosia (left) presents a gift to one of the best-performing farmers during the farmers prize-giving day in Kirinyaga.
In partnership with Technoserve and KARI, Africa Harvest trained about 100 farmers in the Trainer of Trainers (TOT) workshop. The trainees, who were selected from all the districts, were trained on banana technology, agronomics, group management skills, banana socio-economics, post-harvest management, and banana marketing systems. The trainees have progressively played two critical roles: acted as a measure of sustainability and also trained farmers at the group level while mobilizing other farmers to adopt the technology. Plantlets at the doorstep: Accessibility to clean TC banana plantlets coupled with good agronomic practices contributed significantly to the technology adoption. Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
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Field Officers. These strategic evaluation meetings reviewed the progress, highlighted challenges and devised the way forward. About 1,000 farmers from seven districts attended a function organized by Africa Harvest. About 10 Africa Harvest collaborators exhibited their products during the occasion. Mr Ponziano Kimemba, a farmer from Meru, said, “The celebration accorded us an opportunity to interact with other small scale farmers from the Eastern and Central provinces. We learnt from each other while the awards motivated groups and individual farmers to work hard so that they can Time to rejoice for small holder farmers as they receive an award for being the best farmer group with the highest sales in Tissue Culture Banana, during the Yara Award celebration and farmers prize-giving day in Kirinyaga. Yara Celebration with farmers: Africa Harvest’s success is the farmers’ success. Upon receiving the Yara Award, Dr. Wambugu was out celebrating with farmers. And what better way to celebrate than talk about banana value addition and the benefits accrued from this? Left: Dr. Wambugu receiving traditionally made mashed bananas from Njoki Wainaina, a banana value addition entrepreneur, who teaches women about banana value addition. Right: Dr. Wambugu preparing banana porridge; on the table are other banana products like crisps, pancakes, and banana flour.
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receive awards next year during the prize giving day.” After seeing and hearing testimonies from small holders, Hon. Jebii Kilimo, (Assistant Minister for Cooperative Development, the Guest of Honor) said she believed that simple technologies could benefit small scale farmers. As a result she invited the Africa Harvest staff to carry out a feasibility study on TC Banana in her constituency—Marakwet East, Rift Valley. The study found that Marakwet has good potential for commercial banana growing.
Africa Harvest Board joins farmers in celebration of success stories After a successful board meeting in May 2008, the Africa Harvest board visited the Githembe banana self help group, a TC banana farmers’ group. Africa Harvest investment in group formation became a vehicle of community development as other stakeholders used these groups to channel other development projects for long-term sustainability. The Githembe group, which
was formed 3 years ago, sold about 100,000 kg of banana fruit worth around Ksh 900,000 in 2008. Through the dynamism of the group, other development organizations such as KREP bank offered them a microfinance scheme, and as result, members purchased cows and irrigation appliances. A dairy project has been initiated and over 50,000 liters of milk accrued. Through collaboration with GTZ and Ministry of Agriculture, the energy-saving jikos program was initiated and the Githembe group sold and installed to the community over 300 cook stoves liners and metal cradles worth about Ksh 90,000. In addition, the group attracted the popular IFAD-Equity Bank and Ministry of Agriculture funded scheme, with 10 members receiving maize seeds and fertilizer for three seasons. The 10 members would act as learning sites for best practices in maize growing and after harvest, redistribute the seeds to other members of the group. The group realized over Ksh. 1 million in 2008. To harness the above proceeds, the group collectively started to invest in the Nairobi Stock Exchange and has already bought shares.
The Africa Harvest Board members after visiting farmers and being shown the impact that Africa Harvest is making on the ground.
Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
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AH Unique Model: The Whole Value chain implementation strategy employed by Africa Harvest focuses on ensuring that farmers are empowered, they have access to plantlets, orchard management and post-harvest handling skills are imparted and producers are linked to markets.
1. Awareness creation and baseline survey 2. Seedling availability and affordability 3. Growing and orchard management 4. Post-harvest handling and treatment 5. Marketing and consumer acceptance 16
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“Our partnership with Africa Harvest made it easier for farmers to receive a complete ‘package’, i.e., high-quality tissue culture materials, technology services and linkages to functional markets, resulting in an efficient banana value chain and higher incomes for smallholder farmers and other industry players,” Henry Kinyua, Team Leader, Horticulture Program, Techno-serve. In their own words…smallholder farmers’ voices • “We moved from a group of 15–85 members when Africa Harvest introduced the TC banana project. We access clean plantlets at an affordable price of ksh.80. At this time when there is famine, nobody with bananas can go hungry… we are enemies of hunger.” George Mwenda, Koroma Fresh Growers, Kirinyaga. • “My group was formed when I was in dire need of growing bananas after my retirement. When Africa Harvest came with this project, I mobilized my fellow villagers and we were trained on TC bananas and given a soft loan. Easy access to markets, coupled with high quality bananas, has doubled our income. Further, IFAD has come along and helped us to start a project for dairy goat keeping.” Stanley Kariuki, Athuri TC banana Growers. • “If more small scale farmers planted TC bananas we would have enough food to eat and attract a huge market. That would triple our cash flow. Banana has a lot of potential and capacity to break the poverty cycle.” Alice Kariuki – Trainer of Trainers, Maji Kiboko Fruit Growers, Thika. • “When Africa Harvest took us to Kenya Agriculture Research Institute for training of trainers we were trained on orchard management, disease and pest identification and control, suckers removal and post harvest handling. The knowledge increased the farmers’ confidence because they have somebody on the ground whom they contact about their crop. Sharing information on record keeping helps the farmers to know when they are making losses or profit.” Justus Kinyanjui, Karuangi Group. • “Our group is now legible for loan application from banks as we have proof of consistent income. Lack of school fees for my daughter is a thing of the past. As of now I earn at least five thousand shillings per month from my 150 plantlets orchard that I adopted from Africa Harvest. They are also very tasty when mashed with boiled legumes and vegetables.” 27-year-old Titus Mutuma, Ndikandoto Self Help group, Imenti North District. Right: Smallholder farmer Titus Mutuma Imenti North District. Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
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helped in making the Chura Project have long-term sustainability. Support to Virus Indexing Project: The goal of the Virus Indexing Project is the establishment of a government-regulated virus indexing system for the supply of tissue culture banana planting materials in the East African Region. Africa Harvest, in partnership with the project lead institution, Queensland University of Technology—Australia, and the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARI) in East Africa are working towards developing virus diagnostic techniques and facilities that will ensure that locally propagated TC banana plantlets are virus indexed, and this will promote safe interregional germplasm exchange. The indexing system will ensure that TC banana plantlets multiplied by local laboratories are virus free and that farmers will have access to high-quality plantlets. Establishing orchards with clean plantlets would help minimize the Mrs. Mungai of Thindigua Self-help Group shares with Members of Parliament, local administration and farmers, how the TC banana project started by Africa Harvest has impacted her family and community.
TCBEL Company: The Technical Program provided support to the Technology Deployment team, especially on the marketing end of the whole value chain. This was particularly possible through the Tee Cee Banana Enterprises Ltd (TCBEL), which was started through the initiative of Africa Harvest. One of the challenges facing the company is efficiently staggering the production of bananas among several of their smallholder farmers, as well as effectively modeling their production outputs for their wholesale and institutional markets. In 2008, TCBEL was successful in helping reduce post-harvest losses and increased market outlets for bananas, thereby creating value for the small-holder farmers. The need to add volumes of banana sold during the year by TCBEL and the amount of money reaching farmers and other services rendered, for example, the seedling nursery 18
Attending farmers celebration organized by Africa Harvest are the two farmer representative board members of TCBel—Charles Kimani (left) and Patrick Njogu (center). On the extreme right is Mike Njuguna, Africa Harvest Deputy CEO, who is also a member of the TCBEL board.
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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spread of diseases, therefore increasing yields, improving fruit quality and raising incomes for the benefit of banana producers and consumers. Africa Harvest’s role is to link the NARS diagnostic laboratories with relevant stakeholders such as private and public sector tissue culture laboratories and nurseries that are producing seedlings as well as to bring on board government (for example, KEPHIS) phytosanitation and certification for quality control, ensuring sustainability of TC business. Right: Hon. Jebii Kilimo, Assistant Minister for Cooperative Development, carrying farming equipment and receiving a bunch of bananas from the CEO of Africa Harvest. Hon. Kilimo was a guest of honor at the Africa Harvest farmers’ prize-giving day and the Yara Celebrations in Kirinyaga, Central Province of Kenya. Below: Diseases affecting, especially conventional banana are common. Tissue Culture bananas would normally have escaped the disease cycle in the early months, giving them the opportunity to be healthy and have higher yields. Left: Banana Bunch Top Virus (BBTV). Note the severely affected dwarfed plant, compared with the plant in the background, which was planted at the same time. Center: A fully grown banana plant infected by BBTV. Right: An infected plant.
Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
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Trees for Energy Project through the planting of multipurpose trees for energy. A holistic approach should be adopted in order to acheive sustainable rural development. Similarly, the need for food security should be integrated with the supply of energy. At the same time, it is also necessary to seek ways of generating income.
Have you ever wondered how a typical rural woman copes with her chores, which range from scavenging for firewood to fetching water, and still attends to her small farm? She often finds herself in a Catch 22 situation—on the one hand, there is the inevitable need for firewood; yet she is equally desperate for water. The connection between firewood and water is obvious— conserving the environment plays a critical role in meeting people’s water needs, a fact that farmers have, time and again been reminded of. But over 70% of the rural population depend on firewood, and they are desperate. The spiral continues as this desperation, caused by the scarcity of firewood, drives them to use cow dung instead of firewood. However, cow dung is better used as Farm Yard Manure because it is a very reliable source of soil nutrients. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide rural families with woodlots for household energy needs 20
In line with Africa Harvest’s mission of helping the poor in Africa achieve food security, economic well-being and sustainable rural development, in 2008, Africa Harvest began work on another project—the Trees for Energy Project (TEP). Africa Harvest is the implementer of the project while the Ministry of Energy (MOE), Government of Kenya, has funded the project. The overall goal of the project is to increase the availability of energy in Kenya through the planting of: • Multipurpose trees and shrubs on farms • Fast-growing Eucalyptus for power distribution poles. • Indigenous tree species on degraded water catchment areas linked to hydro dams. • Investigating the potential of Jatropha carcus for biofuel production. In the year under review, the following were successfully achieved through the Africa Harvest strategy implementation: Increase in the production of wood fuel and charcoal. To meet the deficit of close to 20 million tonnes of wood fuel, the rural communities poach trees from forests, use crops residues and sometimes
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cow dung, which denies soil the nutrients that it badly requires. Charcoal is also a Ksh 32 billion trade in Kenya, and employs about 22,000 people. Unfortunately, the current charcoal-burning techniques are poor (they use a lot of wood) with a recovery rate of only 12%. The rest of the wood just turns to ashes! To curb the situation, Africa Harvest, through the Trees for Energy Project initiated growing of multi-purpose tree species and shrubs for the grassroots communities. In conjunction with youth groups, women’s groups and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (a nationwide grassroots women’s organization), and other stakeholders, Africa Harvest made tree seedlings accessible to smallholder farmers.To conserve wood in charcoal burning, efficient charcoal conversion technologies have increased recovery
rates to 35% through the use of brick or metal kiln methods. Through the project, there was identification of suitable species for charcoal and firewood. In the past, any wood that is “burnable” has been used, yet there are species that produce wood of high caloric value, suitable for charcoal and firewood. Within the year under review, Africa Harvest trained 21 charcoal burners from eight districts on efficient methods of charcoal making. Additionally, the use of efficient devices for charcoal and wood burning like the Kenya ceramic jiko was promoted as an economical source of energy and the grassroots communities were taught simple methods of drying firewood. In all, Africa Harvest has facilitated the establishment of over 200 tree nurseries distributed within the 15
“It is (also) vital to enhance and sustain the productivity of forests…, which provides the livelihood of significant proportions of hungry people.” (UN Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger, 2005).
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target districts where the project is currently being implemented. Africa Harvest trained 15 tree nursery entrepreneurs in nursery management and enhanced their business practices, while simultaneously exposing them to forest clonal technology and giving them information on the existing credit facilities. Training of farmers, groups and communities is done on weekly basis by Africa Harvest field officers, who focus on seed sourcing, seed storage, nursery site selection and layout, water harvesting and control structure excavation, potting, seed pre-treatment, sowing and watering, land preparation, woodlot establishment including spacing, pitting and refilling, and seedling transplanting. Community members were trained on local seed collection and storage and the best methods of sowing seeds were demonstrated. “Sometimes germination of seeds is poor due to poor method of sowing and poor soil mix. Farmer groups are trained on how to mix soil and prepare seed beds to increase the probability of germination”, says Philip Wamahiu, Africa Harvest’s TEP Manager. Proper nursery management, which entails weeding, watering, root pruning and protection also formed the backbone of training. For power distribution poles: Currently the main partners are from the private sector. Africa Harvest is
establishing a second tier of out-grower schemes to cater to small scale farmers. Energy is central to achieving interrelated economic and social goals for Kenya’s sustainable development. However, the dream for universal electricity connectivity is challenged by limited availability of affordable power distribution poles. The demand for electricity has been rising at about 13% per annum over the last 3 years, translating to more than 110,000 new connections per annum. According to Mr Patrick Nyoike, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy, “this remarkable growth rate calls for us to employ commensurate efforts in providing sufficient quantities of electricity distribution poles, given that the rate of connectivity is expected to be at least 200,000 new consumers per annum over the next five years”. Statistics show that Kenya imports poles worth over Ksh 4 billion annually, which denies revenue to Kenyans and lowers the gross output that would be gained from the entire tree farming enterprise and other complementary industries. The demand for power distribution poles can be met through increased local production. To meet that demand, Africa Harvest facilitated small- and large-scale farmers to grow commercial trees for poles. However, Dr. Wambugu cautions that Africa Harvest has had to employ the Whole Value Chain Strategy, which ranges from tree production to market linkages. “Although it is evident that the poles market is huge and open, farmers need to be linked to those markets. Secondly, we ensure that farmers also produce high-quality trees that would have a competitive market edge.” Towards that goal, Africa Harvest did the following in the year under review:
Building scientific capacity Africa Harvest convened a capacity building training for the Ministry of Energy Center Managers, Africa Harvest field officers, and Clonal Forestry Entrepreneurs. The 22
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An illustration of projected demand and supply for power distribution poles by Kenya Power & Lighting Company —KPLC ( Source: Eng Muriithi & Gatumo 2009 in Commercial Tree Growers Conference).
purpose of the training was to increase their exposure to trees site-matching, disease and pest control as well as to tree value addition. The trainers were tree and forestry experts from Africa Harvest, Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFFRI), Tree Biotechnology Program Trust and K-Rep microfinance agency. “The Ministry of Energy regional centres ”, says Philip, “act as demonstration centers for energy saving technologies and all have established tree nurseries. The AH field officers have scaled up these energy centers by increasing the volume of the nursery seedlings”. This intervention by Africa Harvest has been felt by farmers, as new farmer groups have been established and capacities of the existing groups have been built up. All farmer groups affiliated to Africa Harvest’s TEP Project have established tree nurseries resulting in increased disposable household income and accessibility to high-quality seedlings with high survival rates.
Conference on Commercial Tree Growing In November 2008, the first National Conference on Commercial Tree Growing was held in Kenya, and was
jointly convened and financed by the Ministry of Energy (MOE) and Africa Harvest. The one-day Conference brought together about 200 participants from over 15 organizations, including forestry professionals, researchers, tree growers and nursery operators, non-governmental organizations, Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization members, National Environment Management Authority representatives, consumers of power distribution poles and policy makers, to discuss challenges facing commercial tree growing and develop strategies to address them, and also to discuss existing market opportunities. A total of 10 presentations were made, focusing on an overview of forestry in Kenya, technology for production of power distribution poles, demand for power distribution poles, experiences of tree growers, costs and benefits of producing poles and the legal and regulatory framework of commercial tree growing. The key recommendations to MOE arose from discussions on constraints in the areas of production, marketing and regulatory policies, and on how to remove barriers and bottlenecks to encourage local production. Issues that were highlighted include: Trees for Energy Project
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Commercial tree growing can only be successful if high quality planting material is available. There is need to train nursery entrepreneurs to ensure that they produce high quality planting material Hon. Kiraitu Murungi Minister for Energy Government of Kenya
• The capacity for cloning technology for mass production of seedlings is locally available. • Opportunities for commercial production of trees for poles and other uses exist, given the current and future supply deficits of power distribution poles. • There is sufficient land for commercial tree production in Kenya – an estimated 17 million acres. • Youth is a resource that can be tapped for the production and management of tree production. The chief guest was Hon Kiraitu Murungi, Kenya’s Minister for Energy. A report from the workshop was published by Africa Harvest (Report of the 1st National Conference on Commercial Tree Growing; 2009, Nairobi, Kenya).
Soil and water catchments conservation There are five water towers in Kenya, namely Mt. Kenya, Aberdare Forest, Mau Complex, Cherangani Hills and Mt. Elgon. These five feed the hydro-dams for power gen-
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eration, contributing over 60% of the power produced in Kenya. Unfortunately, the water towers are highly degraded due to cultivation along the river banks. Soil erosion leads to siltation, which makes power generation difficult. In view of this, the project has the mandate to develop a rehabilitation model for degraded riverlines and this will be scaled out to promote conservation of degraded sites. With support of personnel from Kenya Forest Service and Ministry of Agriculture, Africa Harvest involved communities, especially youth and women, in raising seedlings through establishment of tree nurseries. Consequently, indigenous trees were planted on the degraded sites of water towers and riverlines to ensure water and soil conservation. One of the major focuses for 2008 was the rehabilitation of River Ritui in Kirinyaga district.
Rehabilitation of River Rutui River Rutui had degraded to a pathetic state. There was no vegetation along the riverline, in spite of
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the requirement that soil, water and biodiversity be conserved to about 30 m on each side of the river. . On the other hand, the local community had tilled the land up to the riverbank. As a result, the volume of water in the river was decreasing, thus becoming a threat to the hydro dams set up by the community; and clean water for domestic use was becoming scarce. Additionally, a lot of refuse and other waste materials were being discharged into the river, making the water unhygienic and a cause for diseases like typhoid. “Our children and even the adults used to be sick all the time. Every time we went to the hospital we were diagnosed with typhoid; little did we know that the water was unhygienic”, says a community leader, who cooperated with the River Rutui Users Association and stopped the tilling of a big chunk of the riverline for conservation purposes.
Thereafter, the planting of indigenous trees (mainly Cordia africana (Muringa), Podo (muthengera) and Croton macrostachus (Mutundu) along the riverlines commenced. The seedlings were sourced from the local communities and planting was done by the River Rutui association with the support of Africa Harvest field officers and officers from KFS. Blue gum trees that had encroached along the riverline were uprooted and replaced with indigenous trees. Cultivation close to the riverline ceased and regeneration of grass was promoted. “To date over 25,000 indigenous trees, covering a distance of 10 km, have been planted along the riverline of River Rutui in Kirinyaga district. Consequently, the community is aware of the importance of hygiene and the river is clean after the community cleaned it up,” says Dr. Rose Njeru.
River Rutui is a tributary of River Thiba, which drains into River Tana, an important source of water for the Seven Involvement of local communities resulted in protection Folks Dam scheme that provides water for the generation of trees, policing to ensure the river is not polluted of hydro-electric power for most of the supply on the again, and ownership of the activity. Dr. Njeru says that national grid. Realizing the importance of the river to the local community and nationally, Stakeholders involved in rehabilitation of River Rutui, weeding the riverline where the indigenous trees are being planted. Africa Harvest in collaboration with Kenya Forest Service (KFS), District Forest Officers (DFO), Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA), local administration and local communities started the rehabilitation work of the degraded River Rutui. For “buy in” and identification with the project, an association called River Rutui Water Users Association was formed to participate in the rehabilitation of the river. “One of the major activities carried out was awareness creation for the local people to support the project activities and for the project to be sustainable,” says the Project Manager.
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as a result of rehabilitating River Rutui, there is supply of clean water for domestic use, for the nearby schools and coffee factories. The volume of water has increased, soil erosion has been curbed and there are now seven microhydro dams, which the local community depend upon for supply of energy. The local community has gained income from the sale of seedlings and empowerment from the training received from Africa Harvest on nursery and tree management in general. At the national level, there will be regular supply of water to the hydro dams, reduced siltation and creation of employment. Another riverline that was rehabilitated is River Iraru in Meru, Eastern Province where over 25,000 seedlings have been planted so far. The rehabilitation process will continue. Above: Signboard at the River Rutui rehabilitation site. Below: After the cleaning of River Rutui, the local community is keen to remove any unclean material.
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Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Right: Africa Harvest Trees for Energy field officer, David Kithinji, attends to tree seedlings ready for marketing at an entrepreneur nursery in Karatina, Nyeri. The entrepreneur, Joseph Wadetto has more than 100,000 tree seedlings half of which are indigenous. Through Africa Harvest linkage he was evaluated by K-REP and qualified for a loan worth Kshs 200,000. His trees are popular for the rehabilitation of the degraded Aberdare forest and Mt. Kenya
Bottom right: Africa Harvest works with local administration in its projects; looking on is Dr. Rose Njeru, AH Director, Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program.
Below: Africa Harvest field officers inspecting Joseph Wadetto’s seedlings
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Mobilization of grassroots communities to plant improved trees Farmer-to-farmer exchange: (A) Tree group nursery members counting seedlings; (B) Farmers receive an explanation on how solar energy works; and (C) Farmers learn about good nursery management from Africa Harvest officers during a field work trip.
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Above: Ngia women, tree group nursery members in Migori district, weeding and taking count of Eucalyptus to make them ready for marketing. Africa Harvest officers tour various regions and centers to introduce, educate and illustrate various technologies and plant management approaches. Below, a team from AH led by the project manager inspect clonal hedges of Eucalyptus grandis at an entrepreneurs nursery.
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Energy-saving devices: Unlike the conventional jikos, the Kenya ceramic jiko saves energy by 30%. Africa Harvest TEP project promotes use of more efficient energy devices to save wood and forests.
Wood preservation and treatment: Raw power distribution poles have a life of about 10–15 years, however, preserved and treated poles last for over 25 years, thus reducing deforestation. Africa Harvest has identified treatment plants and linked them to producers while the Centre Managers are trained in value addition. Efficient methods of charcoal making: The traditional method of charcoal burning called earth mould kiln saves wood by only 15–20% while the improved kilns (shown here below) increase the efficiency to about 30% hence reducing the amount of wood converts into charcoal.
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Communication Program
“Creating a shared basis of value addition among a plethora of stakeholders in African agriculture is an enormous challenge. This situation is made more complex by democratization of the agricultural ‘space’ where everybody demands to be heard, sometimes resulting with different groups speaking at cross-purpose. Our goal as Africa Harvest is to keep our focus on our key beneficiaries – the small scale farmers – at all times”. Daniel Kamanga, Communications Director
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Knowledge and information are essential for people to respond appropriately to the opportunities and challenges of social, economic and technological changes. Africa Harvest’s Communication Strategy recognizes that people cannot benefit from what they do not know. To realize its vision of an Africa without poverty, hunger and malnutrition, the Foundation faces the challenge of ignorance among its most critical target audiences. The Communication Program’s key objective, therefore, is to empower these audiences by giving them relevant information. The Communication Program understands that to ensure the uptake of agricultural technologies, information and knowledge must be effectively packaged and communicated. During the year under review, the Communication Program continued its attempts at reaching a plethora of audiences through multiple media and approaches: folk media and traditional social groupings, rural radio for community development,
audio and video multimedia on its websites as well as on other sites on the Internet to link researchers, educators, extensionists and producer groups to one another and to global information sources. Africa Harvest realises that to get Africa’s agriculture to deliver, multiple interventions are needed at several levels: governance, inputs, capacity building and functioning markets, to name a few. The Foundation’s interventions have focused on agricultural technology transfer combined with developmental interventions such as provision of high-yielding planting materials and a package that includes farmer training in good agronomic practices, provision of inputs and ensuring functioning markets. As part of its vision to fight malnutrition, Africa Harvest leads the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project consortium, which seeks to develop a more nutritious and easily digestible sorghum containing increased levels
The Communication Program runs regular training on how scientists can effectively communicate to the media. One such session was for scientists from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); the trainers included (l-r), Dr Margaret Karembu of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Ms. Emily Nwankwo, a media expert, and Ms. Stella Kihara of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). .
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KARI Deputy Director, Dr Joseph Mureithi (left), addresses scientists being trained on how to communicate with the media; they included Dr. Simon Gichuki, KARI ABS Team Leader (far right).
of essential amino acids, especially lysine, increased levels of Vitamin A, and more available iron and zinc. Sorghum grain is low in quantity and quality of protein, vitamins and micro-nutrients and is difficult to digest. During the year under review, the Communication Program undertook both external and internal communication activities. The goal of external communications was to continue positioning the Foundation as an African technology champion, which ensures that science and technology works for the betterment of the poor. Internal communications focused on better communication between the Foundation and its Board of Directors, between management and staff and among various programs. Directors were kept informed of program and project activities, which gave them an opportunity to add value where necessary. Internal communications also helped avoid possible disconnect between management and staff while seeking creative synergy among different programs. Activities were designed to ensure a sense of a unified institution, despite multiple programs, projects and activities. 32
For external communication, the Foundation continued to use outreach to the media, especially in Kenya, South Africa and the rest of the continent. The use of various documents, especially to development partners and donor organizations proved to be very effective. During the year under review, the Communication Program produced the Africa Biofortified Sorghum Project MidTerm Report (in English and French), the Tissue Culture Banana: A decade of dedication, the Annual Technical and Financial Report 2007, Africa Harvest Folder and Inserts, ABS Project Folder and Inserts and a quarterly Africa Harvest Newspaper (in print and electronic formats). The Africa Harvest websites – www.africaharvest. org and www.biosorghum.org – were also an effective way of communicating to an international audience. During the year under review, the url of the website www.ahbfi.org was changed to www.africaharvest.org to make internet search easier and to make it consistent with the Africa Harvest brand. The url of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) project website was changed
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from www.supersorghum.org to www.biosorghum.org after discussions among the ABS consortium members. Both websites were updated and re-structured to permit timely and regular updates. As part of strengthening Africa Harvest’s internal communications, two new monthly electronic newsletters were launched: the Africa Harvest Internal Newsletter is emailed to the Board of Directors, Management and Staff while the ABS Project Newsletter is sent to the same databases but also includes project consortium members. The Africa Harvest electronic newspaper is emailed to the entire database and is an effective tool of reaching the external audiences. During the year under review, communication support to various programs was strengthened; for example, Dr. Rose Njeru, Director, Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program—who also heads the Banana Virus
Indexing Project—attended high-level communication training. Daniel Kamanga, Director of Public Acceptance and Communications Program, presented a Case Study of ABS Project’s Issues Management of South African Permit to a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) meeting in Cape Town. The Foundation’s general biotech outreach continued with a slight change in strategy. This involved capacity
Communication Program helps strengthen collaborations Africa Harvest’s Communication Program recognizes that it is imperative to collaborate with like-minded organizations to achieve our goals. During the year under review, the Communication Program continued to work with many other organizations to ensure that our farmers benefit through provision of skills, expertise, networks and other resources. The Foundation continues to nurture collaborations in order to unlock opportunities related to marketing, export and value addition of banana products in Kenya; expansion of TC Banana project to Eastern Africa and deployment of tree seedlings and development of agro-forestry in Kenya. One of the most successful collaboration initiatives during 2008 culminated in a Kenya-government National Biotechnology Awareness Creation Strategy, BioAware. Working with various biotech partners—the African Biotech Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) and ISAAA AfriCentre and AfricaBio — Africa Harvest recognized that despite remarkable progress in application of agricultural biotechnologies in other continents, the uptake in Kenya continued to remain extremely low due to legislation and lack of awareness. Africa Harvest was part of the Kenyan biotech partners who contributed to the National Biotechnology Development Policy and a draft Biosafety Bill (the policy was approved in October 2006 and the bill passed towards the end of 2008). The “National Biotechnology Awareness Creation Strategy” document (BioAware-Kenya) provides a mechanism for awareness creation and raise the level of understanding and appreciation of biotechnology. Africa Harvest is proud to have been part of many individual and institutions that contributed to BioAware and looks forward to seeing this initiative succeed.
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building of scientists and communicators at National Agricultural Research Organizations (NAROs) in an effort to empower these institutions to provide move visible and vocal third party support for biotechnology.
• The target farmers’ readiness and willingness to accept the product.
The Communication Program – for the eighth year in a row – continued to implement the Croplife International (CLI) biotech outreach project. During the year under review, the focus was on Kenya and Uganda. All agreed project milestones were met and quarterly reports were submitted timeously. At the end of the year, CLI confirmed increased funding for 2009 activities.
• A viable pathway for project acceptance in the three target countries.
In 2008, our three major objectives in Kenya were • Get the Biosafety Bill passed through parliament, which was achieved, jointly with other partners • Support the Kenyan government to visibly promote biotechnology—this was achieved through the setting up of BioAware within the Ministry of Agriculture. Speedy response and provision of information for issues management on biotechnology in Kenya—this too was largely achieved. In Uganda, our key focus was the passage of the Biosafety Bill, whose delay has been a cause for concern. However, the government still maintains a positive outlook on biotechnology. The passage of the Kenyan Biosafety Bill should be viewed as an opportunity that will pave the way for Uganda—and later, Tanzania—to adopt regulatory systems similar to those in Kenya. During the year under review, the Communication Program continued its support to the ABS Project, which is expected to achieve proof of concept and evidence of early product development at the end of Year 5, in June 2010. Based on the Communication Program’s strategy, covering a three-year ending in December 2010, its goal for the ABS Project is to demonstrate:
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• A good understanding of the superior nutritional value of the product among key target audiences.
During the ABS Project’s planning meeting in February, the Communication Program held a media capacity building workshop attended by four journalists—two from Kenya (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and the East African), one from South Africa (Channel Africa) and one from Burkina Faso (Sidwaya Daily). Overall, the Communication Program met all agreed ABS Project milestones and provided support to two ABS planning meetings, more specifically, in producing the meeting’s proceedings. Other broad areas of support included Issues Management (especially of the South African permit) and manage ABS Partner, Government and media relations. Towards the end of 2008, Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu, was nominated as one of the recipients of the coveted Yara Award. The Communication Program put together an extensive strategy linking media coverage to her award. The two-pronged communication strategy centered around the fact that thousands of small holders were food secure in the midst of food crisis and that the Kenyan government was more open to biotechnology. Before and after the aware, Africa Harvest received extensive media coverage that included farmer testimonials. It is on this visibility that the Communication Program continued building a fundraising strategy. The program continues to support the CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu, through research, documentation and attending strategic meetings.
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Dr Florence Wambugu—Yara Laureate 2008
Dr Wambugu receiving the Yara Award in Oslo, Norway, in August 2008.
It came as a pleasant surprise when she was on short leave. It was a call from Oslo, Norway! As different thoughts lingered through her mind, she was given the most pleasant news. Dr. Florence Wambugu was pronounced one of the two Yara Award 2008 Laureates. It was a major feat not just for Dr. Wambugu, but for Africa Harvest and Kenya as a nation. Truly, it was one of the major highlights of 2008! Established in 2005, the Yara Prize honors outstanding contributions towards an African Green Revolution in support of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The Yara Foundation recognizes that a major part
of the green revolution in Africa involves strengthening food security, securing both larger quantities of food, and better quality food, by improving both agricultural productivity and the nutritional value of crops. For the Yara Prize 2008, the Yara Foundation focused on candidates who have proven track records in improving food security and entrepreneurial visions for making future contributions. The Board of the Yara Foundation considered Dr. Wambugu, the founder and CEO of Africa Harvest, as an outstanding example of the innovative African, prepared to challenge the status quo and to break new ground in African agriculture, showing great dedication and a willingness to share knowledge.
Dr Florence Wambugu—YARA Laureate 2008
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Dr. Wambugu’s research in the area of crop improvements included work on the East African staple crops such as banana, sweet potato and sorghum, and forestry. A researcher and a networker, Florence Wambugu has several significant achievements to her merit. Indeed, her greatest contribution has been in the awakening of the banana industry which had fallen significantly in Kenya. This has resulted in greatly increased yields, providing income for small-scale producers (mainly women) and improved nutrition for consumers. “The farmers are the real winners of this prize,� Dr. Wambugu constantly said in different forums where she was recognized as one of the two 2008 Yara Laureates. She received the award in Oslo, Norway in August 2008. Dr Wambugu with Chairman Dr Nwanze.
Dr. Wambugu cuts a cake to celebrate the Yara Award in Chura, Kikuyu. She is flanked by Hon Kareke Mbiuki, Asst Minister for Agriculture to her right, and Hon Lewis Nguyai, M.P. for Kabete (to her left). Dr. Wambugu went back to celebrate with smallholders whom she esteems highly.
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Dr. Wambugu admiring plantains from a farmer together with Hon. Jebii Kilimo, M.P. Marakwet East (left), during the celebration of the Yara prize in Kirinyaga.
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Communication Program: A pictorial
Above: Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu addresses the AusBiotech in Melbourne, Australia. Below right: Dr. Wambugu at the BIO meeting with (l-r) Prof. James Dale (Queensland University of Technology), Mr. Peter Beattie, former Premier of Queensland, Australia and Prof. Arun Sharma (QUT). Below right: Dr. Wambugu with Terri Erwin, wife of the late Steve Erwin, Australia’s “crocodile hunter”, television personality, wildlife expert and conservationist.
Communication Program: A Pictorial
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Above: The ABS Project delegation visited Iowa State University. In the picture (front row, l to r) Dr. James Aketch Okeno from the University; Dr Zuo-Yu Zhao, ABS Scientist (Pioneer), Dr Shireen Assem, ABS visiting scientist (AGERI, Egypt); Ms. Maria BerezowskaKaniewska, ABS Project Research Associate (Pioneer); Dr. Florence Wambugu, ABS Coordinator and CEO Africa Harvest; and Mr Kenneth Mburu, ABS Post-doc at Pioneer (Kenyatta University). In the back row (l to r): Dr. Getu Beyene, ABS Post-doc at Pioneer (CSIR); Mr. Mike Njuguna, ABS Finance Manager, Africa Harvest; and Dr. Paul Anderson, ABS Principal Investigator, Danforth Center, USA.
Left: Dr. Wambugu confers with the Minister for Energy, Kiraitu Murungi, during the forestry workshop in Kenya.
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Left: Canadian Ambassador to Kenya, Ms. Elisabeth Jacobsen, addresses the function held in Nairobi to celebrate the Yara Award with Africa Harvest’s stakeholders.
Below: Africa Harvest delegation to the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in Egypt, of the ABS Project target countries consisting of Dr. Wambugu (3rd from right) and Dr. Onsando (1st from right) was welcomed by a team from AGERI; (l to r) Dr. Mohamed Hovny, Head of the Sorghum Breeding Department, Field Crops Research Institute at the ARC; Prof. Dr. Mohamed Eid A.Megeed, Director, Office of Technology Management and Communication at the ARC, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation; Dr. Shireen K. Assem, Senior Scientist and Head of Plant Molecular Biology Department at AGERI; Dr. Hanaiya El-Itriby, former President of ARC and now Head of the National Gene Bank at ARC and (between Dr. Wambugu and Dr. Onsando) Dr. Ramzy Elbedewy, Executive Committee Member of the African Potato Association.
Communication Program: A Pictorial
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All Communication Program team members undergo formal and informal training. Mr. Benson Kariuki, Senior Communication Officer, mentors Ms. Refilwe Moletsane, in South Africa.
Dr. Florence Wambugu, with the Founder and Chairman of the Japan-based Science in Technology Forum (STS), Mr. Koji Omi.
Dr. Wambugu, with the Director of Communication, Mr. Daniel Kamanga (left) and Prof. James Dale from Queensland University of Technology.
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Left: Dr. Florence Wambugu being interviewed by the media in Oslo, Norway, and right: with the Governor of Queensland, Anna Bligh.
Celebrating after the Yara Award (l to r): Gisele D’Almeida, Board Member; Dr. Betty Gikonyo, a friend, who is also the CEO of Karen Hospital in Kenya; Marybeth Wangui, Dr. Wambugu’s daughter, and Dr Florence Wambugu.
Dr. Wambugu with Mr. Terry Medley, Global Director of Corporate Regulatory Affairs, DuPont.
Communication Program: A Pictorial
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Finance and Business Development Program
In its continued efforts to expand and improve the organization, Africa Harvest moved its offices in March 2008, from Runda to Whitefield Place, Westlands, Nairobi. The new offices are modern, spacious, easily accessible to our partners and collaborators, and provide possibilities for future growth. 42
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Africa Harvest’s key goal for the next 5 years is to increase its impact in all of Africa. The Management realizes that to do this successfully, the necessary resources must be in place. One of the key resources focused on was human resource. There were several human resource changes in 2008. Dr. Silas Obukosia: Director, Regulatory Affairs. He brings a wealth of experience as well as a strong educational background. He holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Pennsylvania State University, USA, an MSc. in Genetics and Plant Breeding, and a BSc. in Agriculture from the University of Nairobi. He has also attended several short courses in Biosafety and Intellectual Property Rights at Michigan State University and in Kenya. He joins Africa Harvest from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he worked for 6 years as Biotechnology Advisor to its Kenya Biotechnology Program. During his tenure, he played key roles towards strategizing and facilitating the Biosafety Bill. Dr. Rose Njeru: Director, Capacity Building and Technology Deployment. She is a senior scientist who holds a PhD in Plant Sciences, Virology from Murdoch University in Western Australia. She also holds an MSc. in Plant Pathology and a BSc. in Agriculture from the University of Nairobi. She has attended several short courses with a focus on Agriculture, Science Technology and Innovation systems. Dr. Njeru was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. She joins Africa Harvest from Institut de Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda on a World Bank funded project, where she was the head of Crop Protection unit and headed one of the task forces in the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Project under Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa and implemented in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Phillip Wamahiu: Project Manager, Tree for Energy Project (TEP). He holds a BSc. in Forestry and has other qualifications in forestry and natural resource management. Before joining Africa Harvest, Mr. Wamahiu
worked at Green Belt Movement as a Program Officer where he was in charge of planning and coordinating an Agency for French Development( AFD) Project in the Aberdare Forest Ecosystem. Grace Chivaura: Senior Communications Officer, she joined Africa Harvest South Africa office in the Communications department. She brings a talent for scientific analysis and research writing. Her work involves monitoring print production content and also overseeing the design and content generation for Africa Harvest websites. She is also involved in media issue sensing by regularly monitoring internal and external information on the organization. Grace holds a Masters degree in Biotechnology, specializing in plant biotechnology from the University of Western Cape. Rachel Wacuka: Program Assistant – TEP. She is highly experienced in community development work, having worked for various organizations as a consultant in development research. She is highly skilled in agronomy, documentation, proposal development, business management, monitoring and evaluation, and has previously worked for Africa Harvest in the coordination of major baseline surveys for both Tissue Culture banana and Tree Energy projects. She holds a BSc in Horticulture from Egerton University, Kenya. Mumbi Maina: Administration Assistant, she holds a Bachelors Degree in International Business and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration—Strategic Management. She has over 3 years’ experience in finance and administration roles. Before joining Africa Harvest, she worked with Blue Ocean Group, Uganda, as finance and administrative officer in charge of human resources, administration and accounts issues. Finance and Business Development Program
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Anne Tek: Field officer – TEP, she has a BSc. Forestry from Moi University and also a certificate in Change Agent from Wangare Maathai Empowerment Centre, April–July 2006. Pius Mutinda: Field officer – TEP, he has a BSc. Forestry from Moi University. He has about 4 years’ experience in forest consultancy and he joins Africa Harvest as Field Officer in charge of Kitui region. Eliud Mutahi: Field officer – TEP, he has a BSc in Forestry from Moi University. He joins Africa Harvest as Field Officer in charge of Nyeri region. Mildred Menda: Field officer, TEP, she has a BSc in Forestry from Moi University, and she is the Field Officer in charge of Kakamega and Busia region. Muriungi David: Field officer – TEP; has vast experience in knowledge transfer and capacity building. He has a strong background in education that spans over 10 years. He is the Field Officer in charge of Meru region. Ronald Kazungu: Field officer – TEP; has a BSc. Forestry from Egerton University and is currently pursuing a Post Graduate Diploma course in Project Management. He is the Field Officer in charge of Kilifi region. Africa Harvest Review The Africa Harvest Institutional External Review recommendations started to be implemented in the year under review. The external review had been commissioned by the Board of Directors in 2007 to provide an independent, forward-looking assessment of the progress of Africa Harvest, and to identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the organization. One of the recommendations from the review was for Africa Harvest to revise the organizational strategic plan and organizational structure to reflect the growth in the organization. With regard to this, the Board commissioned a second review on the organizational 44
structure. A South African-based company was mandated to develop a new organizational structure and a framework for a new strategic plan for the next five years. The process of developing a strategic plan is pegged on the rapid growth of the organization. New Projects: Tree for Energy Project The Ministry of Energy together with Africa Harvest embarked on a mission to address the issue of the decline of Kenya’s forestry. The decline is generally caused by the increased demand for wood fuel, the pressure for agricultural land and poor forest management. The decline has forced Kenya to shift from a net exporter to a net importer of timber. The imported poles are expensive and have greatly hampered the government’s effort to improve rural electrification. To address this problem, the government launched the Trees for Energy project under the auspice of Kenya Energy Sector Environment and Social responsibility Program (KEEP) that is funded by the Ministry of Energy and implemented by Africa Harvest in partnership with various stakeholders. The projects main goals are to increase the availability of wood for fuel in targeted regions, to promote agroforestry for the production of electricity transmission poles, to rehabilitate water catchment areas and undertake study to investigate the viability of biodiesel production from Jatropha carcus. Africa Harvest enters into agreement with MYWO Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO) and Africa Harvest entered into strategic partnership to promote growing of tree seedlings for household wood fuel, conservation of water catchment areas and production of KPLC transmission poles in the following 14 districts: Nairobi, Kilifi, Kitui, Nyeri, Uashin Gishu, Kericho, Kisii, Kakamega, Migori, Busia, Bondo, Imenti South, Wajir and Bergut.
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National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and AHBFI Partnership NARDA under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in the Federal Republic of Nigeria), a Parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Nigeria and Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International agreed to broaden cooperative research programs, technology transfer, and commercialization of sorghum as part of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) project, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help achieve food security and alleviate malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). They agreed to enter into strategic partnership for the Coordination and Facilitation of Seed Systems Development and Product Deployment of the ABS Phase II Project.
Africa Harvest incorporation in Canada In the year under review Africa Harvest was incorporated in Canada as a non-government organization, and with that expansion Africa Harvest has offices in Kenya (headquarters), South Africa and in the US. Africa Harvest staff meeting in Nairobi With the expansion of the organizations and its activities, Africa Harvest internal meetings and communication has increased significantly. Towards the end of the year all the staff, both the field and office staff, held a unique staff lunch and meeting. The staff members had time to interact with the Senior Management and they were updated about various projects while at the same time the staff members had time to catch up with one another. Africa Harvest believes that its staff is the backbone of the institution.
End of year party It was all smiles as the Africa Harvest staff partied together and were recognized by the Senior Management for their hard work. They received end of year bonus for “a job well done� as the CEO put it as she applauded every staff member. Here, Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu gives a gift to Mumbi Maina (left) and Terry Amaya (right).
Finance and Business Development Program
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Corporate Governance Board of Directors: Functions and Responsibilities The role of Corporate Governance is to ensure that corporate directors provide oversight for the goals and strategies of a company and to foster their implementation. Corporate governance is the set of interlocking rules by which corporations, stakeholders and management govern their behavior. The AHBFI Constitution stipulates that the affairs of the Organization shall be monitored by a Board of Directors. The Board normally sets up policies, monitors and evaluates the management’s actions, while at
the same time avoiding undue involvement in AHBFI day-to-day operations. Among other functions, the Africa Harvest Board does the following: participates in the development and approves the organization’s long-range strategic plans; reviews and approves the organization’s medium-term plans and its annual program and budget; monitor the organization’s progress toward the achievement of its objectives; assures the organization’s cost effectiveness, financial integrity, and accountability; assist in the raising of funds to support the Organization’s programs. The Board members serve on the Board in their own personal capacities, not as representatives speaking for other institutions, governments, or organized constituencies. In addition to service on specific Board committees, individual
The Africa Harvest Board continued to ensure that corporate governance principles are adhered to and the organization continues to grow while striving for best practices. In 2008, the Africa Harvest board members not only had their crucial board meetings, but got involved in different Africa Harvest activities.
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members share in all Board responsibilities and, in this connection, are expected to suggest any agenda items they consider appropriate for discussion by the full Board and by any one of its sub-committees. In 2008 the Africa Harvest board of Directors held 3 meetings. The first one was a tele-conference meeting held in February; followed by the major meeting in May where all the board members attended a 4 days board meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. During this meeting the board visited the TC Banana small scale farmers who have been working with Africa Harvest. The final BOD was a teleconference meeting that took place in November. Above: The Africa Harvest Board visits farmers: Ms. Prudence Ndlovu (center) with farmers after visiting a TC Banana farm. Right: Andrew Fish is the Board Secretary. He is Senior Vice President for Legal and Government Affairs and General Counsel for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) of the USA. His role is to provide strategic advice on governance issues. Below: Time to learn how to take care of TC Â bananas for David Farber, who is Africa Harvest Legal Counsel. Although not a member of the Board, he contributes enormously to institutional compliance as well as handling all legal matters. He is a Legal Counsel with Patton Boggs LLP.
Corporate Governance
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Dr. Wambugu (right), Dr. Kanyo Nwanze (center) and Gisele d’Almeda, a board member who is also the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance. Above: Caroline A. Kovac, Board member, on a field visit, accompanied by her husband. She is the Managing Director of Burill and Company, a venture capital firm promoting the start-up and growth of life science-based entrepreneurial ventures. She provides the board with strategic leadership in organizational development and growth of entrepreneurial ventures, with a private sector view.
Left: In May 2008, Africa Harvest, led by its Board of Directors had a Partner’s Dinner where all its key partners and collaborators celebrated the growth of Africa Harvest. Board chairman, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze (center), Africa Harvest CEO Dr. Wambugu (left) and a board member Prudence Ndlovu (right) are seen cutting the celebratory cake, with Dr Wambugu.
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Left: Dr. Wambugu (center) addressing a press conference where Africa Harvest launched the “TC Banana Report—A Decade of Banana”. Accompanying Dr Wambugu is Dr. Kanayo Nwanze and Dr. Mary Mackey (BOD Member, Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee) and on the right are two smallscale farmers, representing two out of the districts where Africa Harvest has facilitated the adoption of TC banana.
Right: Attending a dinner hosted by Africa Harvest for its partners and collaborators, is one of the board members, Mr Joseph Kibe (right) accompanied by his wife. Mr. Kibe is the Board Vice Chair and Treasurer, providing Africa Harvest with strategic and governance oversight. He is a former Kenyan Permanent Secretary in five different ministries and currently involved in private business and philanthropic efforts.
Corporate Governance
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Senior Management and Staff Africa Harvest Board of Directors 2008 The Board provides Africa Harvest with the diversity of expertise, good geographical representation and complementary skills that will move the institution forward. Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, Board Chair, provides strategic leadership, focusing on institutional growth and sustainability. Joseph Kibe is the Board Vice Chair and Treasurer, providing Africa Harvest with strategic financial and governance oversight. Andrew Fish is the Board Secretary. His role is to provide strategic advice on governance issues. Dr. Florence Wambugu, Africa Harvest’s CEO, provides strategic leadership to a team of dedicated staff working to
achieve our vision of an Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Gisèle d’Almeida is Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and provides strategic advice on development and promotion of entrepreneurial ventures among smallholder farmers in Africa. Dr. Mary Alton Mackey is Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. Her role on the Africa Harvest Board is to provide strategic advice on audit matters and on programme formulation, design and implementation.
Caroline A. Kovac, Board Member, provides the Board with strategic leadership in organizational development and growth of entrepreneurial ventures, with a unique private sector view. Prudence Ndlovu, Board Member, provides the Board with strategic advice on human resources development issues. David Farber is our Legal Counsel. Although not a Member of the Board, he contributes enormously to institutional compliance as well as handling all legal matters.
Africa Harvest Board in 2008 (l-r): Caroline A. Kovac (USA), Joseph Kibe (Vice Chair, Kenya), Mary Alton Mackey (Canada), Florence Wambugu (CEO, Kenya), Kanayo Nwanze (Chairman, Nigeria), Andrew Fish (USA), Gisele d’Almeida (Senegal), David Faber (Legal Counsel, USA) and Prudence Ndlovu (South Africa).
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Africa Harvest Directors
Dr. Florence Wambugu Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Dr. James Onsando Director Technology Program
Michael Njuguna Deputy CEO
Dr. Rose Njeru Director, Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program
Dr. Silas Obukosia Director Regulatory Affairs
Daniel Kamanga Director, Communication Program
Africa Harvest staff during the end-of-the-year party.
Senior Management and Staff
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Communication Program
Julia Kagunda Senior Communications and Administrative Officer
Benson Kariuki Senior Communications Officer
Yonela Benya Finance and Administration Assistant
Grace Chivauru Senior Communications Officer
Victoria Ndung’u Senior Program Officer
Israel Ikuro Field Assistant
Jane Ndiritu Program Assistant
Eugenio Kiogora Field Officer
Nicholas Mutune Field Officer
Banana Project team
Wangari Kiragu Senior Program Officer
Ken Macharia Field Officer
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David Kimani Field Officer
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Tree Project Team
Phillip Wamahiu Project Manager
Rachael Wachuka Program Assistant Officer
Mildred Menda Field Officer
Mbula Kazungu Field Officer
Eliud Mutahi Field Officer
Anne Tek Field Officer
Githinji Muriungi Field Officer
Pius Mutinda Field Officer
Senior Management and Staff
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Finance, Administration and Business Development Team
James Njane Senior Accountant
Gideon Ndichu Accounts Assistant
Chris Nganga Office Assistant
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Josephine Kilei Senior Administrative Assistant
Terry Amaya Administrative Assistant
John Busaala Site Service Assistant
Mercy Muthui PA, CEO
Rose Kanduthu Procurement Officer
Antony Korir IT Administrator & PA Technical
Mumbi Maina Administrative Assistant
Ane Njeri Site Service Assistant
Africa Harvest: Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
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Financial Report Fund Accountability Statement as at 31 December, 2008 The year under review ushered in the oil and the global financial crisis. In addition, Africa Harvest was affected by the post-election crisis in Kenya. The situation was made worse by the bad weather that affected farming activities. On a positive note, the depreciation of the Kenya shilling and the South African Rand cushioned the Foundation from inflationary pressures. Through prudent treasury management, the Foundation continued to thrive in the midst of economic and political difficulties. INCOME AND EXPENSE INDICATORS
2008
2007
US $ "000"
US $ "000"
5,010
3,410
2,423
1,854
615
472
1,890
1,801
79
52
5,007
4,179
3
(768)
Cash and cash equivalent beginning of the year
3,105
3,034
Cash and cash equivalent end of the year
4,030
3,105
26%
25%
40
31
Grant and Investment Income Expenditure Programme Services General and administration expenses Subgrant to other partners Fundraising Total expenditure Net Suplus/(deficit)
Cashflow
Ratio analysis Performance Remuneration as a percentage of total expenditure Number of employees
Financial Report
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Funding There has been an increase in grant income by 47%, mainly due to the new Tree for Energy Project funded by Ministry of Energy (GOK) and the supplementary grant for the ABS Project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Rockefeller Foundation and University of Queensland, Australia, continued to support the Tissue Culture Banana Project, while Crop life and USAID supported our communication for development program.
Expenditure Africa Harvest expenses are grouped into four areas—program services 48% (2007: 45%), general and administrative expenses 12% (2007: 11%), sub grant to partners 38% (2007: 43%) and fundraising 2% (2007: 1%). Most of the funding has gone towards project implementation 86% (2007: 87%).
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Statement of Financial Position for the Year Ended December 31, 2008 (Compared with year 2007) BALANCESHEET
2008 US$ "000"
2007 US$
327
204
7
8
380 714
400 612
54
159
3,507
1,250
523
1,855
ASSETS Non Current Assets Property and Equipment Intangible Assets Investments
Current Assets Receivables Short term deposits Cash and bank balances Total Assets
4,084
3,264
4,798
3,876
545
541
(103)
(21)
442
520
4,276
3,286
80
70
4,356
3,356
4,798
3,876
FUND AND LIABILITIES Accumulated funds and reserves Accumulated fund Foreign exchange translation reserves Current Liabilities Unexpended Funds Payables
Total Funds and Liabilities
Financial Report
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Acronyms and Abbreviations AFD
Agency for French Development
CDF
Constituency Development Fund
CORAF/WECARD
West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development
CSIR
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
DFO
District Forest Officers
FTO
freedom to operate
GMOs
Genetically Modified Organisms
ICRISAT
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
INERA
Institut de I’Environment et Recherches Agricoles
IP
intellectual property
KARI
Kenya Agriculture Research Institute
KEEP
Kenya Energy Sector Environment and Social Responsibility Program
KEFRI
Kenya Forest Research Institute
KFS
Kenya Forest Service
KEPHIS
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services
NARI
National Agricultural Research Institutes
TCBEL
Tee Cee Banana Enterprises Ltd
TEP
Trees for Energy Project
TOT
Trainer of Trainers
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
Right: Kenya spends Ksh 3.3 billion importing power distribution poles to meet the demand by Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) and Rural Electrification Authority (REA). However, Kenya has the technology to produce the poles locally; and Africa Harvest has been playing a critical role in empowering the local communities to produce the poles to meet this mandate, which results in income generation, employment creation, an increase in forest cover and a saving on foreign exchange. 58
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Contents
About Africa Harvest
1
Message from the Chairman
2
Message from the Chief Executive Officer
3
The Technology Program ABS Project
4 5
Capacity Building and Technology Deployment Program TC Banana Project Trees for Energy Project
10 11 20
Communication Program Dr Florence Wambugu – Yara Laureate 2008 Communication Program: A Pictorial
30 35 37
Finance and Business Development Program Corporate Governance Senior Management and Staff Financial Report
42 46 50 55
Acronyms and Abbreviations
58
Cover: (l-r): A scientist inspects a sorghum field; a eucalyptus forest; and a farmer showing off a bunch of bananas. These are the three crops that have been the main focus for Africa Harvest during 2008. Above: Farmers weigh bananas at one of the collection and marketing centers
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Africa Harvest Annual Technical and Financial Report 2008
Africa Harvest
Annual Technical & Financial Report 2008
Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI)
P.O. Box 3655, Pinegowrie 2123 Gauteng, South Africa Tel: 27 11-781-4447 Fax: 27 11-886-0152
1025 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 1012 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: 1-202-828-1215 Fax: 1-202-857-9799
www.africaharvest.org Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition 400xxx_Cover.indd 1
AHBFI
P.O. Box 642 Village Market 00621 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: 254-20-444-1113/5/6 Fax: 254-20-444-1121
Africa free of hunger, poverty and malnutrition
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