INTEGRATING NUTRITION INTO VALUE CHAINS -ANNUAL REVIEW MEETING 29-30 June 2017-Lilongwe Hotel FUM

Presentation Outline Introduction Project Objectives Geographic Zones of Influence Targeted Beneficiaries Activities Implemented Achievements Challenges Lessons learnt

INTRODUCTION FUM is an umbrella body of all the FOs in Malawi. It is one of the implementing partners under the USAID funded Feed the Future- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Rising Africa Bridging Activity in three districts namely Dedza, Lilongwe and Mchinji. FUM is in 5 EPAs and is reaching out a total of 6,158 farmers in soya production

PROJECT OBJECTIVES The main objective of BA is inclusive agriculture sector growth that will contribute to improved household incomes. This will be achieved through two Intermediate results: Improved agricultural productivity; and Expanded markets and trade.

GEOGRAPHIC ZONES OF INLUENCE FUM is operating in three districts covering five Extension Planning Areas and five cooperatives as shown in table below District EPA Cooperative Dedza Linthipe Chitowo Soya Coop Lilongwe Chitsime Nachichi Chileka Nyanja Mchinji Chiosya Machichi Mikundi

TARGET ED BENEFICIARIES Targeting was jointly done with DAES and FO leaders. Farmers that are FO members having paid membership and hold shares were given a priority. A total of 6,158 households were registered. District EPA Cooperative Beneficiaries Dedza Linthipe Chitowo 1474 Lilongwe Chitsime Nachichi 351 Chileka Nyanja 2433 Mchinji Chiosya Machichi 950 Mikundi TOTAL 6,158

ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED Farmer Mobilization and Beneficially Targeting Trainings -Crop Husbandry (Pre-planting ToT) -Pest and Disease Management -Collective Marketing & Sales Options -Produce Quality & Post Harvest Management Seed Distribution Field Days -Good Agronomic Practices -Harvesting Aggregation Planning Aggregation & Marketing

A total of 6,158 house holds were registered ACHIEVEMENTS Farmer Mobilization: FUM held a series of meetings sensitizing farmers and stake holders about the BA. Following these mobilization meetings, five FOs were engaged and house hold registration and verification exercise was jointly undertaken with DAES. A total of 6,158 house holds were registered

ACHIEVEMENTS Cont…. Training-Crop Husbandry-Pre-Planting: IITA RA-BA organized a crop husbandry ToT on land preparation, ridge alignment, planting and demonstration plot lay out prior to seed distribution. The target group for the TOT was Bridging Activity partner staff and DAES so that they cascade to lead and follower farmers.

ACHIEVEMENTS Cont… Identification of Demonstration Plots: FUM in collaboration with DAES and lead farmers carried out the exercise to select sites where demonstration plots were mounted. A total of 35 sites were identified

63, 070 kilograms of Makwacha Soya bean seed was distributed. ACHIEVEMENTS Cont… Seed Distribution: Seed distribution was carried in the month of December 2016. A total of 6,158 farmers in the five zones of influence received soya bean seed. Distribution was carried out by the cooperative leaders with the help of government staff. 63, 070 kilograms of Makwacha Soya bean seed was distributed.

Seed Distribution ACHIEVEMENTS Cont… EPA Cooperative Type of Seed # of Farmers QTY of Seed Distributed (kgs). Linthipe Chitowo Soya-Makwacha 1,474 14,740 Chitsime Nachichi 351 5,000 Chileka Nyanja 2,433 24,330 Chiosya Machichi 950 9,500 Mikundi Total 6,158 63,070

Technology Adoption It was pleasing to see that following the trainings a lot of farmers applied the technologies. The technologies include; double role planting, Inoculant application, correct spacing, Improved varieties etc

TRAINING IN PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT FUM trained a total of 695 L & A farmers and 16 govt staff in Pest and Disease Management. The training was held in all the EPAs as shown in the table below District EPA Participants Total Govt Staff MALE FEM Male Fem Dedza Linthip 26 24 50 2 1 3 LIlongwe Chitsim 30 20 Chileka 86 67 153 Mchinji Mikund 145 113 258 5 Chiosya 114 70 184 401 294 695 12 4 16

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING Cont… TRAINING CONTENT Identifying pest and diseases in legumes Signs and symptoms Controlling pest and Diseases Methods of treatment Impact of pest and Diseases on crop yields

PEST AND DISEASE MGT Cont….. Training sessions in progress in Linthipe and Chitsime EPAs

Visitors interacted with farmers to learn more from them MONITORING VISITS visits were undertaken by a number of stake holders (USAID, IITA, government, FUM etc) to appreciate technology adoption, crop development and challenges being faced by the farmers. Visitors interacted with farmers to learn more from them

Field Visits USAID officials appreciating crop fields in Mchinji and Dedza

Field Visit Cont… Pest attack; It was observed that some fields had been attacked by pests (caterpillars/leaf rollers) which were damaging the crop

Field Visit Cont… Farmers were advised to spray their fields to avoid damage that could affect the yield

Field Days Agronomic Husbandry Field days were held to enable farmers appreciate different technologies. Below summary of Attendants District EPA Participants Total Government Staff Male Female Dedza Linthipe 309 66 375 6 2 8 Lilongwe Chitsime 241 125 366 4 10 Chileka 182 92 274 Mchinji Chiosya 50 34 84 3 1 Mikundi 215 193 408 5 7 TOTAL 997 510 1507 26 13 39

Field Days Cont…. Field days in Linthipe and Chileka EPAs

Field Days Cont…. Patrons listening to speeches (right) Below farmers appreciating technologies

Advancing Value Chain Competitiveness Aggregation Planning To encourage collective marketing, IITA held orientation sessions in all the five ZOI aimed at encouraging farmers develop aggregation plans. The aggregation planning tool helped to ensure that every member makes a commitment of how much they would deposit. The plans were submitted to FO leaders .

Field days on good harvesting practice: FUM collaborated with Palladium to carry out field days on harvesting. This was to showcase good harvesting practices that deter loses and ensure nutrients are maintained in the soil. Most farmers were used to harvesting Soy by uprooting, a system which destroy nutrients that are contained in the noodles.

Field Days Cont… Farmers were encouraged to harvest Soya using a sickle as it helps to leave nutrients in the soil other than uprooting. This is how we do it! A farmer demonstrating how Soya should be harvested

Field Days Cont….. Threshing : Also showcased during the field days was a good practice in threshing of soybean. Soy is threshed on mats, burlap bags or plastic sheet in order to have clean and quality commodity other than threshing direct on soil where the commodity becomes dirty and dusty

Field Days Cont….. Patrons during Harvesting Field Days EPA Farmers Total Govt Staff Partners Grand Total Male Fema Femal Chitsime 103 92 195 6 12 4 211 Chileka 121 50 171 3 186 Linthipe 145 150 295 5 1 304 Chiosya 65 85 7 160 Mikundi 97 66 163 8 174 531 443 974 31 14 45 16 1035

TRAINING IN COLLECTIVE MARKETING AND SALES OPTIONS FUM in collaboration with ACE organized trainings in Collective Marketing and WRS. Participants included lead and assistant lead farmers and DAES. The training was tailor made to equip farmers with knowledge in collective marketing, WRS and other sales options

TRAINING IN COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont… Farmers were enlightened on how trade facilitators such as ACE collects and disseminates information to farmers. The Information include price and trade alerts which is disseminated through SMS for free Above left, farmers listening to the facilitator during marketing training at Mikundi EPA, right farmers following the presentation at Chiosya

TRAINING IN COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont… Summary of Trained Participants EPA Farmers Total Govt Staff Partners Grand Total Male Fema Femal Chileka 52 50 102 2 3 5 1 110 Chitsime 55 105 4 8 116 Mikundi 80 132 139 Chiosya 88 48 136 143 Linthipe 38 37 75 79 531 237 550 14 7 21 12 16 587

TRAINING IN COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont….. Certificate Awards To motivate the farmers, ACE awarded certificates to best participants at the end of the training

FIELD MONITORING VISIT Monitoring visits were undertaken by a number of stake holders including, IITA, government and FUM secretariat. The purpose was to appreciate seed repayment process, commodity aggregation and challenges being faced Above, officials from IITA interacting with a lead farmer and appreciating a well graded Soya during one of the field visits in Linthipe.

DISTRIBUTION OF EMPTY SACKS Farmers were forthcoming to repay the seed loan. However the challenge was on empty sacks to collect and keep the repaid seed. To address the challenge, FUM procured a total of 3,500 empty sacks which were distributed to the cooperatives.

SEED LOAN RECOVERY One of the key objectives of the INVC Bridging Activity is to facilitate farmers’ access to quality inputs to ensure high productivity. FUM distributed a total of 63,070 kgs of Makwacha Soya bean seed to 6,158 farmers on loan in December 2016 for a 1:2 repayment rate. FO leaders worked together with the lead farmers to ensure that the loan is recovered. Farmers were repaying the loan through the lead farmers in their respective clubs. The seed was then aggregated in the clusters before moved to designated warehouses in the cooperatives.

SEED LOAN RECOVERY Cont…. It is expected that the recovered seed will be sold through ACE platform in order to create a fund that will enable farmers access inputs. Below some of the recovered seed

SEED LOAN RECOVERY CONT…… Below repayment details EPA Cooperative Seed Type # of Farmers QTY Distrib (kgs) QTY Repaid % Repaid Linthipe Chitowo Soya 1,474 14,740 29,500 100% Chitsime Nachichi 351 5,000 10,000 Chileka Nyanja 2,433 24,330 29,250 60% Chiosya Machichi 950 9,500 14,750 78% Mikundi 15,200 80% Total 6,158 63,070 95,050 83.6%

PRODUCE QUALITY, POST HARVEST AND STORAGE MGT Post-harvest losses occur between harvest and the moment of human consumption. They include on-farm losses, losses during threshing, winnowing, and drying, as well as losses along the chain during transportation, storage, and processing. In Malawi major post harvest losses occur on-farm, during storage when the grain is being stored for auto-consumption or while the farmer awaits a selling opportunity or a rise in prices. FUM organized training in Post Harvest Management to ensure reduction of post harvest losses and produce quality. The trainings centered on warehousing, stacking and handling

PRODUCE QUALITY and POST HARVEST AND STORAGE MGT Storage/Warehousing: Farmers were encouraged to keep their soy in a clean and well ventilated warehouse free from leakages. Stacking: Farmers were advised to stack commodities on either pallets or dannage poles 1 meter away from the walls for air circulation to avoid afflatoxin, rodents and ease of counting Handling: Farmers were also drilled on sorting and grading and were encouraged to dry their soybean on tarps or burlap bags to ensure free from musty, and other undesired odour and package it in clean bags.

COMMODITY AGGREGATION AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING Collective marketing remains the most effective market solution for the small holder farmers. However collective marketing cannot take place without the farmers aggregating their commodities. FUM joined hands with FO leaders to conduct sensitization campaigns encouraging farmers to aggregate their commodities and sell in bulk. Farmers who aggregated, saw the benefits of collective marketing having sold their commodity (soya) at better prices than those who opted to sell individually.

AGGREGATION AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont.. FOs that aggregated and sold collectively are Nyanja, Chitowo, Machichi and Mikundi Cooperatives. ie-Nyanja cooperative aggregated a total of 24.25 metric tons of soybean which they sold to Goods for Good Organization. Goods for Good bought the commodity at MK200/kg when the market price was MK150/kg. The cooperative made MK4,850,000 instead of MK3,637,500 had they sold the same quantity individually, meaning they realized MK1,212,500 more for selling collectively.

AGGREGATION AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont.. Aggregation and Collective Marketing in Picture-Nyanja Coop

AGGREGATION AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont.. It was all smiles for members of Chitowo Soya Cooperative after the collective sale

AGGREGATION AND COLLECTIVE MARKETING Cont.. And they can afford at least a decent home!!

CHALLENGES There was a delay in project roll out as a result of delay in signing of project agreement. This means that FUM started implementing the activities without boots on the ground Some impact areas couldn’t be accessed due to heavy rains that rendered the roads impassable. Some fields were attacked by pests causing damage to the crop There was leaching in some fields due to heavy rains There are fears that some farmers whose fields were water logged and those whose fields were attacked by pests can experience low yields

CHALLENGES Cont… Some farmers are located far from designated aggregation centers and this posed a challenge in commodity transportation High transportation costs affected commodity aggregation Low prices in Soya and other grain commodities affected collective marketing in a way that some farmers withdrew their commodities from aggregation points Some farmers were making unrealistic price demands which deterred potential buyers

CLESSONS LEARNT As we strive for farmers to have production increase, aggregation and marketing we should also plan on how the commodity will reach the market as transportation has proved to be another challenge for the farmers We should invest in building the capacity of farmers to do a simple gross margin analysis so that they be realistic in their price determination

END OF PRESENTATION Th Thank You!!