2016 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Design Sustainable Agricultural Projects

Monday, 30 May from 14:30-15:30

PHOTO PHOTO

INTRODUCTIONS: MODERATOR AND PANEL

Moderator:James V. Louttit

DGE 7070 District Governor

Manuel A. Nieto Jijon

GABRIEL CHIPARA:Past President of Rotary Club of

MsasaDistrict 9210

Haim Kennet:DRFC 2490 ISRAEL

OVERVIEW• Introductions• Best Practices• Ways for change• Panelist examples• Panel discussion• Question & Answer

with audience

Agricultural investment (funding for expansion) Water collection and irrigation Cooperatives More effective inputs (seed varieties, fertilizers, etc) New technology and cultivation methods Lower input prices (seeds, fertilizers, mechanization

of labor) Higher output prices (better markets for the

products) Production systems that reduce risk (diversification) Safe product storage

Couple ways to achieve and sustain results based on community’s needs

• GG1410534 : Agriculture and Irrigation at Turkana (Kenya

• GG1530117: Commercializing cassava as a poverty-reduction strategy in Sierra Leone

• GG1528814: Self-sustaining community in Villaflora, Intag Zone, Ecuador

• Demonstrative Training Farm• Improvement in Sanitation and Farming Efficienty

in Guanazan

Examples of agricultural projects

GG1410534 : Agriculture and Irrigation in Turkana (Kenya)

• Turkana is an arid desert region in the north of Kenya, Africa between Uganda, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.

• Past agricultural development projects in the region failed due to water shortage

• This global grant provides irrigated small-scale vegetables using the desert agricultural experience of Israeli Rotarians

GG1410534 : Agriculture and Irrigation in Turkana (Kenya) con't

Year-round production of fruits and vegetables

Efficient water use Introduction of labor-

saving technologies that provide operational simplicity

The direct beneficiaries are 40 farmer families, indirectly about 100 more families from the surrounding area with plans to expand

GG1410534 : Agriculture and Irrigation in Turkana (Kenya) con't

Contribute to addressing food security challenges in the region.

High yields and high product quality.

The community will now be able to access quality and fresh vegetables and fruits year-round

GG1530117: Commercializing cassava as a poverty-reduction strategy in Sierra Leone

The project is located in the community of Mansory at 12 miles South of Makeni in Sierra Leone

About 2200 people, including 1000 adults, live in the project area; nearly all are subsistence farmers

GG1530117: Commercializing cassava as a poverty-reduction strategy in Sierra Leone

• Farming 250 acres of cassava and transform outputs into 1000 metric tons of Gari (cassava flour)

• Providing technical assistance to all farmers

• Training community members to form and operate a cooperative

GG1530117: Commercializing cassava as a poverty-reduction strategy in Sierra Leone con't

Tractors will be used to plow the cooperative member’s farm at the rate of $10/hr paid to the cooperative

Computer training is run by the cooperative for its members

GG1528814: Self-sustaining community in Villaflora, Intag Zone, Ecuador

• Intag is a very rich agricultural zone which grows coffee, peas, cassava, pastures.

• The object of the project is the production of organic fertilizers

• Through the provision of a lab to produce trichoderma microorganisms to be inoculated in organic materials producing the organic fertilizer

• Directed mainly for coffee bean producers for the production of organic coffee beans for export.

• The fertilizers will be produced on the farm sites avoiding transportation of materials.

• The project takes advantage of the mega micro diversity (mega diversity of microrganisms) in Ecuador, which allows custom produced microrganisms for each crop and soil.

• Technically, this type of organic fertilizers do 3 things: – Break C-chains through a

fermentation process. – Disinfect the soil. – Regenarate nutrients in the soil

damaged due to the use of chemical fertilizers that depletes them.

• Besides providing the laboratory, the project involves two types of training for the community:– Technical (trichoderma production know-how,

production of organic fertilizer, use of the product in farms.

– Business management (legal organization, cashflows, accounting, marketing, sales, green certifications, logistics, product handling).

• GG 1528814 is for US$ 53,000.• Benefits 80 families, 400 people.

• Esperanza Parrish is located in the province of Pichincha approximately 60 km away from the capital city Quito, at an altitude of 2400 m.

• It has 1,991 agricultural units, very small with an average of less than 1 ha.

Demonstrative Training Farm

• The project seeks to create a demonstrative training farm to train local farmers on integrated technology (ancestral agricultural practices with new technologies) for agro-ecological production, soil conservation and restoration, water management and harvesting.

• Seeks to stimulate the development of agro-ecological production in the farms.

• The project will implement nutrition educational programs to reduce health and nutritional problems.

• Marketing of the produced crops will be done through food baskets directly to consumers

• The benefitted population will be 80 farmer families each year.

• Project cost is US$ 63,000.

• Guanazan is a poor village located in the Andes highlands of the Province of Azuay with an altitude of around 3200 m.

• The only activity is agriculture of vegetables and produce.

• Besides providing lavatories to the community, the project seeked to install 50 micro-tunnel greenhouse structures on 50 small farms.

Improvement in Sanitation and Farming Efficienty in Guanazan

• These consist of plastic or steel half circle hoops covered with a strong plastic film to create a 1 meter-high tunnel to cover a row of plants.

• These structures protect crops in the wet season from water damage, and in the dry season from strong sunlight in the day or frost damage in the night. It also protects crops from winds and excess luminosity.

• The results of the project have been extraordinary, up to the point that several neighboring villages replicated the use of these greenhouses.

• 50 families were benefitted. • The cost of the tunnel

greenhouses part of the project was US$ 18,000.

From the experience indoing projects in D-4400

of Ecuador:

• Community need• Analysis of options• Technical knowledge• Technical training of the community• Business management training• Economical resources

Best Practices for Ddesigning an Agricultural Project

• Inputs– Seeds, fertilizer, capital

• Training– More effective farming practices– Choosing the right crops– Forming cooperatives– Focusing on women

• Outputs– Access to new markets– Safe storage

Lessons Learned

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