Scaling up: The case of fodder shrubs in western Kenya Hellen Arimi, Dissemination facilitator Scaling up: “Bringing more benefits to more people over a wider geographical area more quickly, more equitably, and more lastingly

Our Approach to Scaling up “Horizontal” and “Vertical” scaling up Pilot development programs Hiring extension facilitators Research on the scaling up process e.g Central Kenya Farmer to Farmer dissemination

Main elements of our approach: participatory technology development and dissemination 1Partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders in design, implementation, and evaluation 2. Farmer empowerment/capacity building/ownership 3. Work with groups as well as individuals 4. Joint learning: partners share results 5.Developing options with farmers, not “miracle trees” 6.Distilling out lessons across sites

Lessons: Key lesson no.1: Farmer innovations and their ‘capture’ by change agents is a key factor in promoting agroforestry adoption Use of “farmer- designed trials” critical Growing Calliandra seedling using banana stems in dry season

Key lesson no. 2: Transfer of technology model not appropriate for scaling up Scaling up involves A LOT more than simply transferring seed and information to new areas. Rather, scaling up involves:

Building up partnerships with a range of stakeholders. Ensuring farmers’ interest in and appropriateness of practice Assisting the community to effectively mobilize both local and external resources Encouraging active participation of communities in dissemination, testing, monitoring and evaluation. Enabling policies and institutions

Western Kenya

Highlands of Western Kenya Population: 8-10 Million Area: 85000sq.km(15% of total – Kenya) Land pressure: people/sq.km Farm size:0.5-2ha

Rainfall and Temperatures mm/year Bi-modal: Long rains -March to June and Short rains- September to November Average Temp. 15 o c- 29 o c

Some major problems for farmers Inadequate quality and quantity of animal feeds Soil are very poor in terms of Nitrogen and phosphorus Weak linkages

Farming systems Mainly subsistence with maize being the major crop Other crops: Beans, G/Nuts, Some areas: Sugar cane as a cash crop

Livestock Majority: Local (Zebu) cattle, sheep and goats Few: Improved or pure breeds High demand for milk Dairy cattle and goats are an important means to improve livelihoods

Fodder tree dissemination To introduce and diversify the growing and utilization of fodder shrubs as protein supplement in Western Kenya Fodder tree species: Calliandra calothyrsus, Leuceana trichandra and Mulberry

Planting niches Along the boundaries Along soil conservation structures Intercropped with napier grass Rarely grown as fodder bank!

Approaches and strategies: Focus: Farmer groups and concentration areas Emphasis: Participatory approaches Sensitization & awareness creation Developed strategic partnerships especially with dairy projects Capacity building and empowerment Deliberate efforts to commercialize production and distribution of planting materials

Promoting genetic diversity: We encourage farmers to have 30 seed trees per farm but difficult to achieve on small farms!

Projects/NGOs KEFRI ICRAF Small Dairy Farmers Projects/NGOs Small Dairy Farmers Small Seed Producers Seed Dealers Linking farmers to buyers: Market Chain for calliandra seed Dairy firms Dairy societies Seed stockists Small Seed Producers

Existing Partnerships COSOFAP (Consortium for scaling up options for increasing farm productivity) Consists of 67 partners within 3 sub-regions Objective: To create forums for sharing information and exchanging experiences among stakeholders for improving farm productivity and livelihoods (i) Governmental organization in Research and development (ii) Non-governmental organisations (iii) Community Based Organisations

Participating farmers and groups in fodder tree promotion Farmer groups MenWomenOther Partners

Factors leading to success Livestock improvement programmes by different partners- Partnerships High demand for fodder tree technology by up- coming groups and partners High demand for milk Dissemination approach Land pressure- Change in farming system Exchange visits Other uses of fodder trees

Problems and constraints Culture Livestock types Narrow range of alternative fodder species Erratic rains- Prolonged drought Germplasm

Challenge ahead Expanding the lessons to more groups How to ensure wide scale seed production and supply Diversifying options on nutritive fodder species (Exotic and Indigenous) Enhancing the capacity of partners to take lead in the scaling up process Farmers to farmer dissemination

Way forward Increased exchange visits Improve networking Improve monitoring and evaluation techniques Improve germplasm production and supply mechanisms Incorporate other AF technologies Promote involvement of more farmer groups Increase alternative fodder species options

Key research challenges in scaling up What are most effective approaches, methods and tools? –Who disseminates in a community and how can these people be supported? –How can farmer groups be facilitated as dissemination agents? How can participatory, bottom-up processes be maintained? How can we improve the effectiveness of our partnerships while reducing transaction costs? Exit strategy: How can facilitators devolve scaling up functions to local communities. Can scaling up processes be adapted from one region to another?