However, the funding for the Radio element of the SSN will end in April 2012 – so in order to ensure that this work of ‘entering the homes and lives of the smallholders’ continues – we need your help! The costs required to keep the Radio Broadcasts going for another year are pretty small and very simple….

Help – Innovate – Donate!

Just £400 per week will allow the LYF to continue to build on this incredible success in educating and transforming the lives and income levels of desperately poor smallholders! These costs directly relate to broadcasts within Kenya – but the wider work of the SSN is preparing to replicate itself across Africa and to all developing countries…

So, the £400 breaks down into…

• £250 air time (the broadcasting costs) and
• £150 for the Farmer Field Listening Groups  and the costs for the research and content creation/ Extension Officer/Presenter costs.

SIMPLICITY and CREATIVITY has always been the keywords of the LYF….PLEASE think Simply and Creatively about how you can help the continuation of the SSN Radio Broadcasts!

For example:

How about opting to ‘Sponsor a Show’? (we can add your name or your organisation’s name to the LYF website and blog as ‘Sponsor of A Radio Broadcast’)

• Hold a Coffee Morning to raise funding for the SSN….
• Screen a showing of ‘Black Gold’ in your community….
• Run a Mini Marathon…..
• Have a Sponsored Coffee-Flavoured-Week…
• Clean out your junk – have a Car Boot Sale and provide a Free Coffee for every sale over £2.00….

Or if that is too much trouble -  just make a simple donation!

We REALLY need your help to make good these incredible gains to date….!

We know through personal and professional experience that Radio Outreach is the Lifeblood of Africa. Please help us to refine this approach for smallholder empowerment.

It isn’t rocket science.  This approach sprang from small-scale and cost-effective attitudes from people who have lived and worked in developing countries and who are vehemently FOR keeping money for foreign aid in the countries that need it the most.  But most importantly of all – we can now show that this approach WORKS for the smallholder! The LYF now wants to replicate it across the developing world – but we can’t do this without your support and action!

If you can donate, please do so – and we would LOVE to mention you as a donor! Don’t hesitate to email us or to write to us to let us know how you have made a donation or raised money for the SSN. We need your stories and even your smallest actions keep us going…

For online donations go to www.lyf.org.uk/support-our-work

But we always love receiving letters, cheques or anything else cheery in the post. Cheques are payable to ‘The Lorna Young Foundation’ and you can find us at: The LYF, 47 Lea Lane, Netherton, Hudds, W Yorks, HD4 7DP. UK

The first 2-4 programmes covered the issue of the Coffee Calendar, Coffee Crop Varieties, Yields, Weather and Pest Resistant Crops. The SSN receives atleast 20 SMS messages after each broadcast in those first few weeks. Most of the SMS asked about the Batian variety of coffee which was being marketed by the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) -  a variety which is supposed to produce greater yields, better quality and which is pest and disease resistant – particularly in relation to Coffee Berry Disease and leaf rust.  As a result of the content of the SMS messages received, the SSN decided to re-schedule the broadcast and instead, prioritise an interview with the Director of the Coffee Research Institute which would focus on the Batian coffee variety.

Immediately following this interview, the demand for Batian coffee at the CRI became so high that the CRI is now currently unable to meet the demand and has run out of seedlings altogether. Both of the coffee co-operatives involved in the Farmer Field Listening Groups also bought seedlings, which they are selling to the farmers via a credit facility.  As a result, there have been notable changes in practices in the two cooperatives. These are:

Planting of the new Batian variety:

The Gikanda cooperative has purchased 2000 Batian trees and these are being planted  by 50 farmers, with a further 8000 more being ordered. Rumukia cooperative has planted 30,000 batian trees and has ordered a further 30,000 trees. Due to these incredible increases it is anticipated that this will lead to higher yields and greater levels of resistance to disease and pests as a result.

An Increase in FEMALE Member Enrolment at both Cooperatives:

One of the key objectives behind the SSN was to increase the number of women smallholders represented within the cooperatives (the LYF’s work to empower women in this way was recently recognised by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who chose the SSN as a case study of good practice in this area). Following the radio broadcasts, there have been excellent achievements in this area with;

• Gikanda welcoming 205 new farmers for the last year -  of which 103 are women.
• Rumukia welcoming 500 new members during the last year – of which 250 are women

A Marked Increase in Production at both Cooperatives

At Gikanda cooperative, production figures for the last financial year were 1 million Kgs of coffee. For this financial  year, the figure has increased to 2.7 million Kgs.

Rumukia cooperative produced 1.2 million Kgs for the last financial year and this year has reported that it has reached 3.7 million Kgs.

Given that these remarkable achievements cannot be correlated solely by the increase in membership, the figures do point to an increase in production amongst existing members. It further suggests that greater transparency on pricing (i.e. pricing information is now being broadcast via the radio programmes) is leading to more smallholders wishing to become members of those cooperatives which are actively engaged in the SSN project.

An Increase in Income for Smallholders

Coffee Management Services (CMS) which markets 34% of all coffee produced in Kenya – have confirmed to the LYF that as a direct result of the radio/ SMS initiative,  the organisation has received an increase in interest in coffee farming, more coffee seedlings planting (of the Batian Variety), improvement in the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices, increased agro-input use in order to realise increased production and a visible increase in smallholder desire for better governance within the cooperatives. The information supplied from CMS has been further corroborated by statistics which the LYF has received from both Gikanda and Rumukia cooperatives which confirms that a marked increase in income for smallholders should be seen as a direct result of (increase productivity and volumes) before the end of Year 2.

But of course, we must stress that these are just the outcomes achieved by only TWO of the cooperatives in the region, that the LYF has chosen as ‘pilot Listeners’.  Our aggregate achievements therefore – for all smallholders in the area must be magnified…thanks to the outreach capability we have harnessed via Coro FM…

To summarise, these remarkable achievements in such a small space of time – from LYF’s analysis of the SSN to date -  it seems that in particular, the programme has directly led to:

• Improved practices on the use of resistant varieties such as Batian by the farmers. This will reduce the cost of their production and use of fungicides and pesticides (a clear cash saving for the farmers)
• Better education about, understanding, use and choice of Agro-Inputs (NB Agro-Inputs are items that are added to the ‘growing process’ – such as fertilisers and pesticides etc) This will lead to overall increased production of crops in the longer term.
• Increased quality as a result of better use of Agro-Inputs. Although there is an 18 month lead time from intervention to seeing the results in terms of crop yield – the programme will accelerate much better quality in crop yield – in the longer term
• Improved coffee processing at the wet mill level – leading to a better cup
• Improved Cooperative Society efficiency as smallholders have learned to ask more searching and better informed questions of the cooperative leaders(in relation to costings, pricing  etc.)
• Demand for training from other coffee cooperatives beyond the Rumukia and Gikanda Farmer Field Listening Groups.  The LYF has been informed that other coffee co-operatives in the region have been inundated with demand for information since the SSN Radio Broadcasts.  We have been reliably informed that on aggregate, the other coffee cooperatives in the area have had to hire a further 8 agricultural extension field staff in order to meet the demand for coffee marketing, pricing and overall industry knowledge.

At the same time, the challenges of climate change, food security and increased pressure on natural resources means that the buyers, exporters and certification schemes urgently need to engage with hundreds of thousands of smallholders around the world on these issues – which also directly affect the farmers’ livelihoods.

The Smallholder Support Network (SSN) was set up by the Lorna Young Foundation in 2010 in order to address the training and information needs of smallholder organisations around the world. The ultimate aim of the SSN is to equip poor smallholders with greater levels of unbiased knowledge and understanding of the markets that they sell to. The SSN works on the premise that improved crop husbandry will lead to greater yields and quality. These are the factors that will lead to improved prices for produce over the long term and which will result in more sustainable livelihoods and a reduction in poverty in developing countries.

Working out of Ethiopia and Kenya – LYF’s pilot countries for the SSN -  an unusual and empowering approach has been created.  The SSN has created a dialogue directly with smallholder populations via RADIO, SMS and INTERNET platforms.  These technologies deliver real LIVE TIME updates on issues affecting smallholder crops and livelihoods. At the current time, the SSN’s focus is on coffee farming and in March, this month, for the first time ever, an exchange visit of Kenyan coffee board members will take place in Ethiopia, so that training and exchange of information in relation to the  international coffee industry can occur. The SSN’s Radio Agriculture Extension Officer, Joseph Macharia, will be following 4 coffee board members as they travel throughout the supply chain in Ethiopia.  They will meet millers, auctioneers, tasters, sales and marketing experts and buyers and will learn about the international coffee trade, with the new knowledge being brought back to Kenya via the SSN Radio broadcasts – hosted by the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation’s channel Coro FM.

The Communication Challenge

Over the past 6 months the SSN has collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders throughout its SSN Radio broadcasts in Kenya – including certification schemes, exporters, coffee buyers, NGOs and government bodies, with the express purpose of ensuring that smallholders are receiving  information that is timely, relevant and up to date.

Unlike some other initiatives, the SSN does not believe in the dissemination of biased information i.e.  ‘training’ which pushes any one production approach or certification scheme, which all too often are made up of content which is more important to the big business or to the stakeholders involved in the industry and their own sales figures.  Rather, it is about developing a two way dialogue with smallholders in rural farming communities. One of the major objectives of the SSN has always been to empower smallholder organisations to make better business decisions with the buyers of their products. The SSN is now achieving this by developing smallholders’ understanding of ethical certification, sustainable agriculture, supply chains, export markets, business requirements and international trade.

The SSN uses an SMS platform to develop the dialogue; smallholders send their questions on the coffee industry to the SSN Radio Programme and they are answered by a team of experts working in the coffee industry. This approach is truly empowering. It provides smallholders with a voice and an opportunity to engage more effectively with one another, with agricultural extension services, development organisations and with the buyers and even the consumers of their produce.

How the SSN works

Working with Agricultural Extension Officers in Kenya, the SSN targets coffee smallholders via the medium of RADIO, assisting them with learning on key issues, such as quality, yields, climate change and food security. These broadcasts are now reaching  an audience of 4.5 million people and some 500,000 coffee farmers via Kenya’s Coro FM. SSN’s ‘Farmers Gold’ or ‘DhahabuYaMurimi’ as it is known in the local Kikuyu language, is the first Radio Programme of its kind that brings together a multi stakeholder platform –of ‘specialised’ NGOs, buyers, exporters, research and training institutes with the express purpose of reaching smallholders. After being delivered via the airwaves – the Radio broadcasts are then uploaded onto the internet, where they can be accessed as podcasts at any time.

As an overall approach, the SSN essentially has 3 key components:

1)       Farmer Field Listening Groups: Two groups of 15 farmers from 2 different coffee cooperatives (the ‘Rumukia’ and the ‘Gikanda’ Coffee Cooperatives) make up the Farmer Field Listening Groups and act as the SSN pilot ‘listeners’. As individuals they are committed to raising queries via SMS, but as a collective they also work together  to generate content for the radio programmes and to ensure that its content addresses the key concerns of coffee smallholders.

2)     Multi-stakeholder Platforms: The SSN has adopted a multi-stakeholder approach in order to ensure that farmers have the most up to date and important facts, on a broad spectrum of issues and from reliable sources. The SSN brings together a platform of coffee stakeholders such as millers, buyers, agricultural extension staff and development specialists in the supply chain to generate information on issues affecting smallholders livelihoods (i.e. prices, volume requirements, pests, diseases, diversification, food security, droughts, weather, sustainable agriculture). The stakeholders are responsible for answering smallholder questions via the live feedback facility which relies on communication from farmers through SMS text messaging. Every week, 5 key questions which have been generated via SMS are addressed in the radio programme.

3)       Radio: Specialised agricultural extension staff with radio experience deliver 10 minute weekly programmes addressing key topics such as:

a) the Agricultural Calendar (cropping, fertilising, harvesting)

b) Markets (price, quality, volume)

c) Certification requirements (wages, PPE, environmental standards)

d) Climate Change (food security, diversification, sustainable agricultural practices).

e) Weather information

f) Agriculture news (coffee news)

g) Gender issues

The radio programmes are aired on prime time vernacular radio, in the evening in order to facilitate access to information for women. These programmes are then translated and made available as podcasts through the SSN portal. It seems that the genuine ‘grassroots generated’ nature of the content – accompanied by ‘answers from the experts’ has been a key factor in engaging the attention of smallholders across this region of Kenya.

http://www.foodfirst.org/sites/www.foodfirst.org/files/pdf/The_struggle_for_food_justice_in_Fair_Trade_2011-12.pdf

http://coffeelands.crs.org/2012/01/2012-the-year-of-the-impact-at-origin-baseline/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/feb/01/fair-trade-ethical-debate-fairtrade?newsfeed=true

http://www.blackgoldfoundation.org/ethiopian-coffee-farmers-still-facing-injustice

http://voice-online.co.uk/article/against-all-odds

The major Food Corporations – Sara Lee, Kraft, Nestle and Starbucks buy huge quantities of coffee each year. This graphic helps to put this in context and shows how much of it is (or is not) fair trade.