Eradicating Hunger and Poverty

: Supporting communities for rural development, food security and land reform

Presentation by Dr Lindiwe M. Sibanda, FANRPAN CEO

The 2011 Consultative Seminar of the South African Legislatures

16 March 2011, Cape Town

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Levers-for Achieving MDG1 1. From Hunger to Food and Nutrition Security 2. From Poverty to Viable Livelihoods 3. Local livelihood assets databases 4. Evidence based development targets

5. People-led, verifiable development initiatives : from Local to the Regional & Global Policy Agenda www.fanrpan.org

From Hunger to food security?

• The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access

to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a

healthy and active life” • Food security is built on three pillars: – Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.

– Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.

– Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

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Food security and Poverty- South Africa

• Some 40-50% of South Africans are living in poverty – 18 million out of 45 million people remain vulnerable and food insecure • Poverty more pervasive in rural areas, particularly in the former homelands.

– 65 percent of the poor are found in rural areas – 78 percent of those likely to be chronically poor are also in rural areas

How can agriculture’s role in poverty alleviation be enhanced?

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Global Challenge

• Challenge of feeding extra mouths because of: – Growing population – High food prices – High unemployment rate @ rural areas where majority are living (70%) – diminishing yields due to – Market failure •

In rural development literature: Agriculture is considered as the best vehicle to reduce rural poverty

•

Agriculture and agriculture-related activities provide (and have potential to provide) most of the employment in rural areas. The threat of health, etc climate change and its impact on agriculture; water; energy; www.fanrpan.org

What Needs To Be Done Now

• Investing in People – Support actions in the area of human and social development • specifically via training and education • Knowledge sharing platforms • Infrastructure – Improving access to basic infrastructure essential for economic growth and development • Basic Infrastructure such as housing, roads, electrical reticulation and communications, essential pillars for economic growth.

• Services – Enhancing agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and rural growth – Improving access to assets and sustainable natural resource use – Strengthening institutions for the poor and promoting diversified rural livelihood

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From Local to Global

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From Local to Global COMMON VISION - Sustainable Development for a World free of Hunger and Poverty

1.Facilitating linkages and partnerships between state and non state actors at all levels 2.Building the capacity for policy analysis and policy dialogue in Africa 3.Advocating for evidence based policies

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What Needs To Be Done?

Common Vision

A food secure Africa free from hunger and poverty

Purpose: P

Africa romote appropriate policies in order to reduce poverty, increase food security and enhance sustainable agricultural and natural resources development in

WHAT

– Facilitate linkages and partnerships between government and civil society – Build the capacity for policy analysis and policy dialogue – Create capacity to demand evidence for policy development – Promote evidence based policy development in the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources sector

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From Local to Global

Global Policy Making and Investment Options Empirical Learning Continental Policy Frameworks National/Countries Policy Frameworks Anecdotal Findings Feedback (Local and Indigenous Knowledge) www.fanrpan.org

Linking Local to Global Model

Global Level Policy Frameworks Global Knowledge National & Regional Policy Frameworks Trans-Disciplinary Research Agri. Production Databases Policy Development Climate Data GIS Mapping OF assets Community Livelihood Databases 1.Human, 2.Social,3. Natural, 4.Financial, 5.Physical, HOUSEHOLD Livelihood Assets www.fanrpan.org

Responses: Mobilising all Institutions to Fight Poverty

Local-household •Meso level- Ward and Municipality •National-Legislative Sector •Regional – SADC, AU- NEPAD •Global – G20, BRIC-SA, World Economic Forum, UN FCCC / FAO / UN

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Understanding the Local Context

YOU CAN’T IMPROVE WHAT YOU DON’T MEASURE!

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Which Communities?

• Over 75% of the African population lives in RURAL

areas

• 80 % of farmers in Africa are smallholder farmers – rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods – Women constitute 70% of the labour force • Spend up to 80 % of income on food • Land is a constraint 80% depend on farms that are less than 2 hectares

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Face of Rural Poverty In Africa

• A quarter of the world’s chronically poor population is in Sub-Saharan Africa, • One in 6 – 7 people are chronically poor. • Two-thirds of this population lives in rural areas, and rely on rain-fed subsistence agriculture for their livelihood

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FACE of an African Small-scale Farmer

● Land Owned - 1 ha ● Main Crops - Staples ● Yields - Maize 100kg/ha ● Fertilizer used - 20% of recommended ● Agricultural implements owned - hand hoe

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Measuring Household Vulnerability

Measure the vulnerability of households and communities to the impact of shocks: – Natural assets such as land, soil and water; – Physical assets such as livestock and equipment; – Financial assets such as savings, salaries, remittances or pensions; – Human capital assets such as productive labour, education, gender composition and dependents; and – Social assets such as information, community support, extended families and formal or informal social welfare support http://www.fanrpan.org/documents/d00217/

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Who

Household Community Ward/Municipality Provincial Parliament

Building the Livelihood Databases

Level

Local

Role

• • Local youths/community workers Interview hh Document Livelihood strategies Map livelihood assets Local Schools Provincial Universities Legislature National • • • • • • • • • • inform research and development agenda Planning for development, Governance and administration, Regulation, Monitor Service delivery Identify Development beneficiaries Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) • overall framework and plan for developing the economy and improving services. Prepares a budget for its work Implement the laws and policies decided on by Parliament or the Cabinet Policy making, Legislation and the regulation Allocation of resources SADC and NEPAD G8 / G20/Bric-SA WEF / UNFCCC / FAO / UN Regional Global

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Who

Household/ Community Municipality Legislature Ministries/ Department

Who Should Do What, Where?

From Local to Global Level

Local Local Provincial National

Role

• Document Livelihood strategies different assets; must inform research and development agenda • Development beneficiaries • Planning for development, • Governance and administration, • Regulation, • Service delivery • Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) • overall framework and plan for developing the economy and improving services. • Prepares a budget for its work • Implement the laws and policies decided on by Parliament or the Cabinet

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Results from HVI Assessments in Pilot Countries year 2010

Country Lesotho Swaziland Zimbabwe Average No.

households surveyed 2,581 3,212 6,089 of Household vulnerability levels (%) Low Moderate High 1.3

1.2

8.2

3.6

94.5

93.9

90.6

93.0

4.1

4.9

1.2

3.4

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Typology Of Vulnerable Households

Capital Low vulnerability Moderate vulnerability High vulnerability Human

 Headed by an economically active household member 

Headed by an economically active household member

 Headed by an economically inactive person, e.g. elderly, sick or child  Very low dependency ratio (less sick members and no orphans)  Dependency ratio is low, less sick members and no orphans  active members  Several economically

Tertiary level education

 At least two economically active members 

Dependency ratio is high, more orphans and sick members

 Economically active members are few  Secondary school level education  Illiterate, or educated to primary level

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Capital

Typology Of Vulnerable Households

Low vulnerability Moderate vulnerability High vulnerability Natural

 Mostly rely on inorganic fertilizer 

High agriculture productivity

 Utilize land for mostly commercial farming  Manages the environment very well  Household use both inorganic and organic fertilizers  Organic fertilizers are the main sources of fertilizers  Medium agriculture activity  Low agriculture productivity 

Utilize much land for subsistence and some for commercial farming

 Utilize less land for subsistence farming  They can fairly manage the environment 

They cannot manage

the environment well

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Typology Of Vulnerable Households

Capital Social Low vulnerability

 No support from NGOs and govt

Moderate vulnerability

 Some means of support from NGOs and govt

High vulnerability

 Support from NGO ’ s and govt food and health  Well-informed on agric and HIV/AIDS - Owns a TV

and radio

 More knowledgeable on agric and HIV/AIDS - Owns

a radio

 Poor access to information on agric and HIV/AIDS  House electrified  Uses solar energy for lighting  Dependant on firewood for household energy  Uses an improved latrine or  Uses a pit latrine 

Uses the bush for toilet



Water from private borehole or standpipe

 Water from protected source 

Water from unprotected source, e.g. dam, river www.fanrpan.org

Typology Of Vulnerable Households

Capital Physical Low vulnerability

 Own important livestock in large numbers

Moderate vulnerability

 Own important livestock in sustainable numbers

High vulnerability

 Own very little or no livestock  Contracted labour for farm and off farm work  Own major farm implements  Labour for farm and off farm work  Owns basic farm implements  No labour for farm and off farm work 

Do not own farm implements



Receive and able to buy agricultural advisory services

 Affords more than three meals per day  Receive some agricultural extension services  At least three meals per day 

Do not regularly eat three times a day www.fanrpan.org

Typology Of Vulnerable Households

Capital Financial Low vulnerability



Diversified income source Moderate vulnerability

 Fairly diversified income source

High vulnerability

 No basic source of income  Income is used on a balance of needs (farming inputs, education, health, recreation etc), investments and savings  Income is used on a balance of needs (farming inputs, education, health, recreation etc) 

Social grant is used on food and medicines www.fanrpan.org

Generate Evidence

• Avail knowledge for people to benchmark themselves and create a personal and community vision • Generate and disseminate evidence to inform policy processes, decision making and investment

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Using Local evidence to Develop Policies and Investment Plans

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The Policy Environment: A Confused Arena

Cabinet Donors Policy Formulation Agenda Setting Decision Making Parliament Civil Society Government Private Sector Monitoring and Evaluation Policy Implementation Source: John Young, Networking for impact. Experience from CTA supported regional agricultural policy networks, 2007 www.fanrpan.org

The Policy Environment: The Key Players

Who is the Referee?

Department of Water Affairs Department of

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Department of

Mineral Resources

Department of Energy Department

of Tourism

Department

of Trade & Industry

Department of

Rural Development & Land Reform

Climate Change

Department

of Transport

Department of Environmental Affairs Department of

Science & Technology www.fanrpan.org

The Policy Environment: The Key Players

RESEARCH SYSTEM ACTORS

•Research 

Public (universities and research centre)



Private



Civil Society



Policy makers POLICY SYSTEM ACTORS

• politicians & political system •Civil servants •Universities •Civil societies and groups

LINKING ENVIRONMENT ACTORS

•

Education, Institutions,

•

Incentives, Innovation policy,

•

Political systems and channel

•

Stakeholder platforms PRACTICE SYSTEM ACTORS

•Producers of goods and services •Input providers •Organized groups of interest Fig 1: A framework for linking research, policy and practice

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The Policy Environment: Challenges in Policy Development

• Plethora of actors – African policy environment is crowded, and involvement demands flexibility and responsiveness • Lack of empirical data to validate assumptions – Reliance on external information & databases • Insufficient resources for continuous engagement • Engagement in policy processes is the preserve of the

literate…YET

– Africa has some of the world’s lowest literacy levels in some countries rates as low as 40 %

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The Research Challenges

• Lack of multi-and trans-disciplinary and research teams • Local Universities do not accompany development agenda • Research agenda not ALIGNED to community needs – policy concerns and government agenda • Lack capacities to communicate research results to policymakers • Policy makers not demanding research backed evidence

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The Policy Challenges

• Lack of capacities to integrate knowledge into policy • Absence of foresighted policy targeted at the existing problems using research result • Weak demand for research input by African policymakers – Over reliance on external knowledge at the expense of local knowledge

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Innovations in Linking Local to Global

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Moving Forward

Households and communities

Food Systems Agricultur al Product ivity & Markets Natural Resource s & Environ ment Social Protectio n & Livelihoo ds Institut ional Strength ening

Evidence Based policies

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What To Do?

Food Systems

•Domestication of CAADP in the SADC region (4 out 15 SADC countries signed compacts compared to all 15 in ECOWAS) •National domestication of regional seed security policy for improved food security of smallholder farmers in the SADC region through increased availability of and access to seed •

Agricultural Productivity & Markets

Bringing women farmer issues into national and regional policy debates through Theatre for Policy Action

Natural Resources & Environment

•Strengthening institutional capacity for linking climate change adaptation to sustainable agriculture •Assessing the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change

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What To Do? (continued)

Social protection and livelihoods

Generate information databases on vulnerability of household assets (human, social networks, financial, natural and physical) to inform development policy and practice (programme design, targeting, monitoring, evaluation)

Institutional strengthening

Building the capacity for policy analysis and policy dialogue •Create capacity to demand evidence for policy development •Empower institutions with research backed evidence: household, community, ward, municipal, provincial, national, regional, global

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Africa’s Oral Culture

• ORAL CULTURE has been used for 1000’s of years to – pass on knowledge across generations without a writing system • An important role in Africa's history – stories of the old times and the history of the continent preserved this way • Encompassed stories, songs and folklore – sometimes performed to give a richer and more expressive way of communication

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Theatre for Policy Advocacy

• Theatre makes use of Africa’s traditional ORAL CULTURE:  Song, dance, narrative and ceremonial rituals a part of African tradition  Defines a community’s identity •

Theatre is a powerful medium for communicating ideas

 Levels the field,  Breaks barriers and  Addresses topics that are deemed “taboo” •

The TPA process

 Is developed and refined by various development agents, researchers, social scientists and theatre specialists  Stimulates dialogue and action - a theatrical performance is a major social event in rural Africa  Provides a holistic enactment of the community's responses to the challenges of daily existence and development  Works through community based processes

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The Theatre for Policy Advocacy Process

1

• •

Community entry and mobilization

Secure the community’s buy-in for developing their own theatrical performance Identification of appropriate performers, stakeholders and influencers

2

Engagement of policy researchers and development experts

• • Theatre company, policy researchers and communities develop a script capturing key issues Policy makers provide “expert” at the same time they gain community knowledge that only villagers and farmers have

3

•

Building local capacity to communicate key messages through theatre

Community performers equipped with skills to package their own livelihoods stories and mobilize their own communities towards a solution

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The Theatre for Policy Advocacy Process

4

• • •

Community dialogue platform

Theatre performance provides a platform for researchers and policy makers to engage in dialogue with different community groups Performances serves as an icebreaker and sensitizer Facilitated discussions are conducted to develop community based and community supported solutions to women’s challenges

6 5

Identification of champions for community issues

• • • Communities together with the professional theatre team identifies opinion leaders The identified champions are individuals who are passionate about the issue and willing to advocate on specific interventions • • •

Community Voices taken to National & Global levels

Trained local talent and issue champions become a permanent community voice They access and incorporate broader policy data to add weight to their advocacy messages They communicate their needs in a language that makes sense to relevant decision makers

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Theatre in Action: Farmer Voices

Malawi, Everlyn Machete asked: “we

no longer have agricultural extension service workers in our communities and visiting us everyday, so how do you expect small holder farmers like us to learn new farming technologies or to learn how to improve our agricultural enterprises”

In response, Mrs. Alice Kishombe, the Agriculture gender Roles and Extension Support Services Officer (AGRESSO) says the “Government has a

shortage of Extension workers and hence no officers are assigned to villages. Extension services

were provided on a demand basis”.

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From Community to National Level

• Innovative Strategies – Theatre for Policy Advocacy – Community dialogues – Support of oral culture and transcribe to written communication that is far reaching – Action research • Amplifying local voices – Widen decision making process – Training of women advocates • Success Stories – Document good practices- local secondary schools aided by tertiary institutions • Validating local knowledge – Tertiary Institutions-Local, colleges, Universities

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Multi-Stakeholder Trans boundary Engagements

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Linking Policy Demand & Supply

Government/Policy Makers Farmers Organisations Private Sector Researchers/Policy Analysts Technical Partners Development Partners Policy Advice/Options/Evidence to support policy development Enabling policies – Production to Trade and Markets (Value Chain) Enabling policies – Production to Trade and Markets (Value Chain) Validation, analysis and dissemination POLICY HORMONISATION VALUE FOR $ Media Youth NGOs Rallying point for news Enabling environment for their active engagement in the value chain Enabling policies - advocacy www.fanrpan.org

Multi – Stakeholder Policy Dialogues

NATIONAL LEVEL Ongoing Research Studies Emerging Issues and FANR Policies Tracking National Policy Dialogues

(Periodic)

Policy Advisory Process Agenda for Policy Engagement REGIONAL LEVEL

•

Coordination of multi-country studies

•

Synthesis of research evidence Into Agenda for Policy engagements

•

Networking, sharing of information, regional and global representation POLICY ADVISORY NOTES-TO GOVERNMENT

(Node Host Institution submits, follows up and reports back at next stakeholder engagement

Africa Region

• •

Representatives from:

•

Farmers’ Organisations

•

Governments Private Sector Researchers

•

Development Partners

•

Media

•

Youth

•

NGOs from all FANR Stakeholder Groups

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Way Forward: The Building Blocks

Seek out and scale up innovative solutions by

– incorporating communities’ aspirations into policy processes – Document and validate successful interventions – Train policy “champions” who can spread the word – Train the Media in spreading the evidence

Collaborate across disciplines

– More collaboration in multi- and trans-disciplinary teams – Look for ways to work together, while not losing the advantages of deep sectoral expertise.

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REGIONAL: Knowledge Dissemination Platforms

• Information Dissemination to Strengthen Policy Advocacy – Multi-stakeholder Policy Dialogue platforms – i.e. CAADP round tables – – –

Media Training

on documenting best practices in the region Training scientists in Policy Development and national priorities Regional harmonization of policies-engagements with Regional Economic Communities SADC, African Union, sharing experiences

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What Needs To Be Done Now?

• Enable poor rural people to harness new

opportunities-turn rural areas into places where

profitable opportunities and innovation takes place by investing in rural enterprises • Reversal of ‘business as usual’ approach to

economic and rural development- break

disconnect between policies and practice

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Levers for Scaling-up from Local To Global?

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GLOBAL - Mobilising the Global Community to support Africa’s Position on Food Security and Poverty Reduction

http://www.fanrpan.org/documents/d00623/

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Climate Smart Change Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Linking Climate Change Adaptation to Sustainable Agriculture

•Integrate downscaled climate scenarios with crop growth and adaptation models, and household vulnerability information to build evidence on cropping systems to inform adaptation policies and investment decisions

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What Needs To Be Done Now?

• Strengthen collective capabilities of rural poor- local level rural organisations to help manage collective assets, reduce risk • Strengthen multi-stakeholder engagements- Government, CSOs, Private, Farmers organisations • Strengthen South-South and North-South Co- operation- SADC, AU-NEPAD, G8 and G20, COP17-UNFCCC, World Economic Forum

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Way Forward: The Building Blocks

Create an environment in which cooperation can thrive by

• Building effective regional and global partnerships • Developing mutual accountability mechanisms • Using communication and advocacy to promote change

Build the evidence base

• Collect relevant data in timely fashion, improve tools and methods, and invest in monitoring and evaluation. • Rope in African Universities to be custodians of knowledge and partners in development • Equip Communities with Evidence

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Message for CoP17, Durban, South Africa www.fanrpan.org