My journey in 2011

2011 has been one of the best years I have had so far. It has been a year full of learning and growth in terms of my personal and professional development. Looking back, there have been so many good times, which will remain memorable. The first 6 months was focused mainly on my development in AIESEC and the end of my university life and the last  months were on my professional development. 2011 has also been a year where I have done various site and field visits in agriculture for my studies and work purposes.

January - My best ever AIESEC National Conference and Global Village
I have attended 5 National Conference in AIESEC but my best one was in January 2011, whereby we have worked a lot and also had a great time with friends. The first ever Global Village was organised at National Level and was a very successful event with participation from 15 countries over the world.

AIESEC Summer National Conference 2011

February - Dissertation, AIESEC recruitment and 1st edition of AIESEC Mauritius Youth to Business Forum
February was a very busy month, with lectures at university, my dissertation and AIESEC work and events. Time management was very important! :)

AIESEC Recruitment February 2011

March - ARDYIS Youth Exchange and Training on Web 2.0 for Agricultural and Rural Development
My first trip out of the country, where I met other youths from ACP countries during the training on Web 2.0 for agricultural and rural development in Accra, Ghana from 7th to 11th March. This experience has been a very enriching one since all that I have learned during that week has been useful to me in my work and studies.

The ARDYIS Group in Accra, Ghana

April - Submission of Dissertation
April was very stressing! First two weeks I was busy with the submission of my dissertation and the last 2 weeks were spent in preparation for exams.

May - Final Exams, preparation for AIESEC Projects and my first ever Award
As soon as my exams were over, trainings were organised for AIESEC members who were going to work on projects in June and a colleague from AIESEC Italy came to help us realise these projects. We have shared our experiences and learned from each other. During this same month, my department (Incoming Exchange) was awarded best department in AIESEC University of Mauritius and I was awarded Best Leadership Role for the term 10-11.

My Awards - Best Department and Best Leadership Role for term 10-11

June - Implementation of AIESEC Projects and my first job
In June, 3 projects were launched by AIESEC UoM (orphan, HIV/AIDS, women empowerment) and I got my first job.

Me and the Organising Committee Presidents of the projects

July - Mauritius Business Excellence Award
The company I was working for (Meaders Feeds Ltd) got the 1st Prize for the Mauritius Business Excellence Award and I attended the event.

First Prize for Mauritius Business Excellence Award 2010 - Meaders Feeds Ltd

August - Just work and blogging
August was a month unlike others, where my focus was just on my job and I did nothing in AIESEC or any type of voluntary work. 

September - FANRPAN Regional Dialogue
The FANRPAN Regional Dialogue in Swaziland was another great experience, where the theme was on youth and I got my first big opportunity as a youth in agriculture. Read more HERE.

During a site visit at the Regional Dialogue in Swaziland

October - My Graduation
5th October was my special day: my Graduation. This one will surely remain memorable and I am proud of my Agriculture Degree! :)

My Graduation

November - Back in AIESEC and PAEPARD AIF Workshop
I got back in AIESEC in November by coaching members of AIESEC MITD and did the induction of interns who came for the project on education called "Teach Mauritius". I was pleasantly surprised to be selected as Agricultural Innovation Facilitator by PAEPARD and attended a workshop in Entebbe, Uganda from 28th to 2nd December. This experience has been very enriching for my professional development and is another proof that youth are actually being given the chance to be involved in important projects in agriculture.

Group Photo of Agricultural Innovation Facilitators in Uganda

December - AIESEC and improving my blog
In December, I was officially added to the National Support Team for Incoming Exchange in AIESEC Mauritius and this month was also mainly about work and blogging! :)

This year has been a very productive one, but personally I think that this is just the beginning and more work needs to be done to make a positive impact. Today, I am proud that I have chosen to study agriculture at university since I really love what I do and I have discovered a new side of me. I have also been lucky to get a very rich AIESEC experience, through which I have been able to develop myself and my members. Finally I am glad that I saw each challenge as an opportunity and made the most of it. Well, I just hope that 2012 is a better year! 


Wish you all a Happy New Year 2012! :)

Opportunities and Challenges in Agriculture

Today, it is a fact that very few people are interested to make their career in agriculture as they find more opportunities in other sectors and also prefer a job where they can have a higher status. But, there also exist some people who have left their "white collar jobs" and ventured into agriculture for some reasons...


The Story of Mr. Poorun Seesurn
Mr. Poorun Seesurn is 48 years old and is a spices and fine herbs grower in Solferino, Mauritius. In the region, he is known to be one of the best lettuce grower, and his produce are of really good quality. Mr. Poorun's story in agriculture is quite different from other growers in Mauritius because he is one of the rare people who have left his job to make his career in agriculture. He has always been involved in agriculture since his family was in this business and working in the field was like a passion for him. But since he was educated, he joined the Mauritius Police Force as a police officer and he was also a nursing officer in the past. 

Mr. Poorun Seesurn in his field at Solferino

"Choose Agriculture if you want to be your own boss"
When asked why he decided to engage himself in agriculture when he had a stable job, Mr. Poorun says that the main reason for this decision was that he wanted to be his own boss. And since he has always been passionate about agriculture, it was easier for him to get into this sector. He was recently married when this decision was taken. He took a leave without pay from his job as a police officer for a year and went to farming. Since his business was working well, he finally decided to resign from work, which was 17 years ago. Today, Mr. Poorun is a successful grower in spices and fine herbs and is also a part-time first-aid instructor. Mr. Poorun is also one of the few growers in Mauritius who likes to improve his farming techniques. He is an innovator and is always present in group meetings organized by the extension services, and ready to collaborate with them whenever a new technology has been generated by research that can benefit the farming community. Mr. Poorun claims that to date, his business is working well, but there also exist some challenges.


Access to information
According to Mr. Poorun, a lot of information is required by someone who is engaged in agriculture. Regarding access to information, he relies on the extension services provided by the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), but he also does some research of his own. First of all, to be good at farming, one needs to rely on his/her personal experience, which is then strengthened by information from extension and other sources. Mr. Poorun also searches for information on the internet, which is mostly related to new products (Organic insecticides and fertilisers for example) available on the local market. Regarding the use of ICTs in agriculture in Mauritius, Mr. Poorun believes that apart from the Agricultural Production and Market Information System (APMIS) and sms disease alert by AREU, there is not much ICT applications which are at the disposal of the farming community. However, the drawbacks of these two services are that the information is not updated on a regular basis. To improve this, he believes that more trained personnel must work on this and also farmers must get training on ICTs to be able to use it.


Challenges in Agriculture
Mr. Poorun says that presently the cost of production is very high and in 10 years' time, he sees that many planters will disappear for various reasons; we have an ageing farming community in Mauritius, youths are not getting in this sector, and there is a serious problem of lack of labour. Also, Mauritius is being affected by climate change. If there is no encouragement from the government, there will be a drop-out in this sector.  Moreover, there is a need to improve our mindset with respect to farming. Instead of being considered as a noble job, there is very little respect for the people engaged in this sector. The example that Mr. Poorun gives is that in Europe or America, a farmer/entrepreneur is a well-respected person, which is not the case for Africa. 


Way forward
The tendency is to go towards hydroponics production, but here also, it is perceived that crops produced under hydroponics are "artificial" and not safe for health since the crops grow only on chemicals for its nutrient intake. 


YOU who are reading this article, will you get into agriculture because of the opportunities in this sector (being your own boss) or you will hesitate because of the challenges (negative perception on agriculture)?

Hungry Planet - Episode 10

In this 10th Episode of Hungry Planet, herders in Mongolia work together to stop illegal logging and deforestation. In a remote corner of Pakistan, economic development helps a conservative community push out extremist ideas. Drought-striken pastoralists seek refuge and food assistance in the village of Docol in central Somalia.

Source: Youtube

Food contamination and prevention

If you have been reading the news in Mauritius this past week, you must surely have come across the several cases of food poisoning. From the food poisoning cases at the End of Year Party organized by the University of Mauritius (link 1, link 2, link 3) to the several cases of non-conforming food being sold during this festive season, it really makes us think why is this problem becoming more serious with time? According to an article published in L'Express of Friday 23rd December 2011, the Ministry of Health has put into place additional 144 officers to control food hygiene practices over the island and their main target would be chicken kebab and barbecue sellers in the capital city (Port-Louis). The food handlers who do not abide the laws according to the Food Act 1998, will have to pay for a fine of Rs 2000. But is  this action enough? Lives of people are valuable and the laws regarding food safety should become more strict in the country.

How is food contaminated?

Food can be contaminated from the following sources:

1) From green plants and fruits

On their inner and outer surfaces, there are several micro-organisms which are present (bacteria and other microbes). Given the favourable conditions, these micro-organisms can cause food spoilage.

Green fruits and vegetables from Mauritius

2) From animals

Contaminants are present on the surface of the animal (hides, hooves, hair, feather, feet, skin etc. contain contaminants from soil, feed, water and manure), in their respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.

Broilers at the University of Mauritius Farm

3) From Sewage

The use of domestic sewage converted into compost to fertilise crops can be a source of contamination. In addition, natural water that has been contaminated with sewage can contaminate fish and other aquatic animals.

4) From soil

Among all the other sources of contamination, the soil contains the greatest amount of micro-organisms. Hence, all food that has been in touch with soil needs to be washed thoroughly before consumption or cooking.

5) From water

Water contains a number of natural bacteria and consumers must ensure that the water is not contaminated before consuming it.

6) From air

The air contains many disease organisms which can affect human beings and therefore food is contaminated.

7) During storage

If a food is not stored properly (improper temperature for example), the micro-organisms present in the food will contaminate it and the consumer will suffer from food poisoning.

8) During transportation

During transportation, it must be ensured that the food is safe from any contaminant and is kept at the required temperature

9) During handling and processing

Additional contamination may also come from equipments used during processing, which are in contact with the food, packaging material and from the personnel as well.

Food spoilage may occur by one or more of the following:

• Insects
• Action of enzymes
• Purely chemical reaction
• physical changes
• Environmental factors
• Growth and activity of micro-organisms

Food poisoning related to poultry meat consumption

The most common food poisoning cases that are reported in the press in Mauritius comes from the consumption of poultry meat (chicken kebabs or other chicken products). But how is poultry meat contaminated?

Presence of salmonella

One very common example of contamination in chicken is the presence of salmonella in it. Salmonella is a significant pathogen for food producing animals and these animals are the primary source of a disease called salmonellosis. Salmonellosis is the most common food-borne bacterial disease in the world. When a food containing salmonella is eaten, the symptoms starts to show after 12 hours to 36 hours after ingestion. The symptoms include diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal pain, mild fever and chills. Vomiting, prostration, anorexia, headache and malaise may also occur. This may happen from 2-7 days.

How to prevent contamination by salmonella and other micro-organisms?

For animal production (the poultry industry for example), the possible points of contamination are classified as the:

• pre-harvest phase - Breeder farms and the broiler farms
• harvest phase - catching/transport
• post-harvest phase - slaughterhouse, retail, consumer, kitchen/restaurants/fast-food outlets

In order to prevent salmonella contamination, prevention measures must be taken throughout the food chain (from farm to fork). In Mauritius there exists several food safety standards namely the ISO 9000, ISO 9001: 2000/2008, ISO 9004, ISO 22000/2005 and the HACCP (Hazard Analysis  Critical Control Point). These effective food safety and quality management systems are needed to:

1) control food safety hazards

2) prevent food-borne diseases

3) protect consumer health and life

The video below gives an idea about how the HACCP is implemented in the food chain:

To prevent food contamination and food poisoning, all stakeholders involved in the food chain (farmer, processor, retailer, consumer) must collaborate and follow food safety regulations. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us and the government has a really important role in encouraging this practice.

Hydroponics production in Mauritius

Gradual shift from traditional cultivation to Hydroponics in Mauritius

Presently, most of the crops produced in Mauritius are obtained through the traditional open-field cultivation, but due to problems like infestation of pests and diseases, unfavourable weather conditions linked to climate change, shortage of labour and high cost of production, many growers are gradually shifting from traditional open-field cultivation to hydroponics production. Hydroponics is a rather new type of cultivation in Mauritius and has been adopted by growers around 10 years ago. According to the Strategic Options for Crop and Livestock 2007-2015, there were 6 hydroponic promoters in Mauritius in 1999, who were involved in 25 hydroponics units. Over the years this number has increased considerably to 179 promoters  in 2006 who were producing crops under hydroponics in 301 units. The main crops grown under hydroponics production in Mauritius are: tomato, sweet-pepper, green cucumber, melon, lettuce and ornamentals.

General concepts of a Hydroponics System

Hydroponics involves growing crops in a soil-less medium, where the plant is supported either by water (in water culture) or a solid substrate other than soil (in substrate culture). In order to grow crops under hydroponics culture, a well-maintained Greenhouse is required, whereby the plants are cultivated under a controlled environment (Temperature, Relative Humidity, irrigation, fertilisation, pests & diseases, and other external weather conditions). The different terms used to describe hydroponics are nutri-culture, water-culture, substrate culture, gravel-culture, sand culture, rockwool culture, Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) etc. The type of culture depends on the medium being used and the most popular one in Mauritius is the substrate culture and the most common substrate being used is coco-peat. Since the crops are grown in a soil-less medium, the nutrients required by the plant needs to be provided. This is done through a fertigation system (irrigation and fertilisation done at the same time). The nutrient solution is automatically mixed by a computer system (depending on the crop nutrient requirement) and both macro and micro nutrients are provided to the crops. In a hydroponics system, more crops can be grown on the same area of land compared to the traditional farming since the crops grow vertically and there is more production/area.

Sweet Pepper grown under hydroponics culture in a Greenhouse

Fertigation System used for hydroponics production

Computer system controlling nutrient solution

Experience of a young entrepreneur in hydroponics production

Mr. Vikash    Ramtohul is 38 years old and is engaged in agriculture for the past 15 years. Currently, he is cultivating sweet-pepper under hydroponics production, which is also a family business operating under the name of Keebec Hydrotech Ltd. Agriculture has always been part of of his life as his father was engaged in crop production and after school, he used to help him in the field. 


With time, agriculture had become his passion and after secondary school, he decided to follow his father's footsteps and ventured into crop production. He started with open-field cultivation, and practised the same for nearly 7 years. But one day one of his clients told him about hydroponics production and suggested that he think about it. Considering the challenges he was facing in the traditional open-field cultivation (mainly labour shortage, high cost of production, pest and disease outbreak, unfavourable weather conditions), he decided to shift from traditional farming to hydroponics production.


Sweet-pepper production under hydroponics
It's been 6 years since Mr. Vikash is producing crops under hydroponics culture at Bassin Road, Quatre-Bornes (a town in the central part of Mauritius). He owns 3 Greenhouses (two Greenhouses of 450 Metre square and one of 614 Metre square). He started by producing tomato for two years and then shifted to sweet-pepper production. According to him, the sweet-pepper plant can produce up to 1 year.
According to Mr. Vikash, for someone to be a successful hydroponics grower, he/she should know the following steps:

• Preparation of site
• All cultural practices from seedlings production
• Pest and disease control
• Fertigation Management

For growers who are interested in hydroponics production, technical support is provided by the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) and loan facilities are obtained by the Development Bank of Mauritius (DBM).

Some costs involved in sweet-pepper production

According to Mr. Vikash, the following costs are incurred for sweet-pepper production per greenhouse per cycle:

Coco peat= Rs 88/unit (450 required for 1 greenhouse)

Seed= Rs 9/unit (4 seeds in 1 coco peat)

Total cost for fertiliser= Rs 75,000

Labour = Rs 5,600/labour (2 labour/greenhouse)

Sweet pepper production/cycle = Rs 450,000


Marketing
Mr. Vikash sells his products to re-sellers and also to supermarkets and hotels. For him, marketing is not really a problem.

Major challenges

The major challenges faced by Mr. Vikash as a hydroponics grower are:

1) Pests

Due to climate change, he is getting problems of pests in the greenhouse. The main pests are thrips and red spider mite

Below is a Power Point presentation on pests and diseases of greenhouse sweet-peppers in Mauritius (by my friends and I as an assignment during our final year at university), in which more information on hydroponics and pest & disease management can be obtained:

2) Service Providers

When cladding materials need to be changed in the greenhouse, Mr. Vikash claims that the service which is being provided locally is not very good and he is not satisfied with their work. He believes that there should be more trained professionals in this field and more research should be done in this area.

Way forward

According to Mr. Vikash, considering the challenges that growers cultivating in the open-field are facing, he is sees hydroponics as the future of the Mauritian agriculture, and he is satisfied by this type of production.

After meeting Mr. Vikash and from my own experience as a graduate in agriculture, it can be said that hydroponics is the answer to the following challenges in Mauritius:

• Growing population and increasing number of tourists 
• Agricultural lands converted into residential areas or shopping malls
• Climate change leading to unfavourable weather conditions and outbreak of new pests and diseases
• Lack of labour

Another positive aspect of hydroponics is that it is a new way of cultivating crops that may attract youth in agriculture as it does not involve working in the field like the traditional method and with appropriate knowledge and skills, they may even earn a good living and be respected in the society.

However, the main disadvantage of this type of cultivation is that the initial cost is very high (construction of greenhouse, purchase of cladding material, fertigation system etc.), and it is only after a year or two that the grower starts to make profit in the business! 

The slideshow below shows some pictures taken at Mr. Vikash Ramtohul's place:

My First video interview with participants of PAEPARD AIF Workshop

My experience at the PAEPARD Agricultural Innovation Facilitators' Workshop from 28th November to 2nd December 2011 in Entebbe (Uganda) has been a very enriching one. I got the opportunity to learn about facilitation, meet professionals in the field of agriculture (from more than 10 countries), who had many years of experience in research, extension, farmer organisations and NGOs. By documenting and blogging about the workshop everyday, I took up a new challenge and I'm glad that I succeeded in doing so. The next step was to video interview some participants of the workshop, which was new for me since I had never put into practice the things I had learned in agricultural extension with respect to interviews.

On the last day of the workshop, I had interviewed some on the participants and had no idea how the outcome would be, but in the end, even if the videos are not perfect I'm happy with the little contribution I have been able to make in sharing the experience of these professionals with others!

The video interviews can be viewed below:

Mr. Laurent Glinx from Benin

Mr. David Suale of Sierra Leone


Mrs. Sylvie Mbog from Cameroon


More details on the Participants and content of the video can be read HERE.


P.S: Video edited and uploaded by Mr. Francois Stepman, European co-manager PAEPARD Project

Hope for Orphans - Project by AIESEC University of Mauritius

Sometimes, a small action from us can have a huge impact on lives of others and on the future. 

This week (on Saturday 10th December 2011 to be more precise), I was invited to a painting exhibition, an event which is part of a project called "Hope for Orphans" by AIESEC University of Mauritius. During this event held at the Municipal Council of Quatre-Bornes, I saw some paintings and work that are being done in the project which really touched my heart...

About AIESEC and the Project

AIESEC is the largest student run organisation in the world, active in 1700 universities in 110 countries. It is the platform which enables young people to discover and develop their leadership potential for them to have a positive impact on society. AIESEC provides its members with:

• Leadership Opportunities (By leading a team)
• Internship Opportunities (By going on internship in any of the 110 countries where AIESEC is present)
• Global Learning Environment (By constant work and communication across border and around the globe)

One example to demonstrate the above is that we run projects on social issues and provide internship opportunities for people from other countries to come and work on these projects. 

Hope for orphans

It is a 10 week long project during which AIESEC UoM envisions to bring a smile to every orphan. Provided with the necessary facilities, we believe orphans can contribute significantly to the society. They also may offer a different view on the way the world is seen. Our main aim is to strive to make the orphans good citizens so that they can work towards the welfare of their siblings. To work on this project, there are 16 international students presently in Mauritius and are placed in different orphanages, where they are organising activities for the children and working with them. More details on the project can be viewed on their website HERE or on the video below:

Connecting the dots

Having worked on several projects on social issues (HIV/AIDS, poverty, woman empowerment,  cultural education etc.) last year and this year, I had noticed that each issue is inter-related to one another and despite the fact that we have never done a project on agriculture, it was somehow connected in all of them. It can even be said that whenever there is a problem in our society, agriculture is here as the "healing component". For example, in centres where there are people infected by HIV/AIDS, they are being encouraged to grow crops, flowers or rear animals. Same applies for poverty, woman empowerment etc. 

Dreams

We all had dreams when we were a child. Living in our own world, we were dreaming of becoming a doctor, astronaut, lawyer or engineer someday. But this project has shown me and others that not everyone dreams of becoming a doctor or having any other white-collar job. Through paintings, children from different orphanages have shown what their dream is. The following are some paintings that I appreciated a lot since they were related to agriculture.

The other dreams were also very interesting and the pictures can be viewed on the slide-show of the event below:

I have not been directly linked to this project, but projects on children are always special since all the efforts that the team is putting in would certainly have an impact on the future. Big congratulations to the Organising Committee President of Hope for Orphans project, Mr. Mushood Badulla and his team! Keep up the good work and keep impacting!


Concerning dreams, I believe that one should never stop dreaming, and we should continue encouraging these children pursue their dreams!

 "If you can dream it, you can do it" - Walt Disney

PAEPARD Agricultural Innovation Facilitators' Workshop - Day 5

Day 5 - Friday 2nd December 2011: Action Plans

The last day of the workshop was already here and the open plenary was at 08:30. It started with the usual over-view of the programme of the day by the lead facilitator, Mr. Richard Hawkins, followed by the content reflection by each process monitoring group. Compared to the previous days of the workshop, the last day was going to be short and we were expected to end around noon.

Open Space reflection

On the first day of the workshop, there was a session called open space, whereby participants had to participate in a sub-workshop (more details HERE). They were now required to review the output generated from the 8 sub-workshops of Day 1 and see if more ideas can be added to it, based on the different things we have learned during the week. As the delegates were already separated in process monitoring groups (4 groups), each group had to review 2 topics and add 5 additional points to what was already proposed. To do this, participants from each group were provided with cards to write their ideas and stick on the flip-chart of the topic they are working on. There was one hour to do so and when it was completed, we went over each one of the topics and additional ideas as discussed about it.

Final discussion on the open space outputs

Group Photo

Since we had not taken a group photo of the delegates and facilitators, it was suggested we do so and the picture was taken in front of the hotel entrance.

Final presentation

During the week, we had been discussing a lot about the role of the Agricultural Innovation Facilitator, the consortium and PAEPARD. And by the end of each day, we were asking ourselves: what's next? To answer this question and make things clearer about what is going to happen next, Dr. Jonas Mugabe did a presentation on the different processes which will follow the workshop and what is expected next. After this presentation, it was clear to the trained facilitators about what is the way forward, and the explanation was so clear that there was no question from the floor regarding clarifications.

Power-Point presentation slide from Dr. Jonas Jonas Mugabe, explaining the way forward

Wrap-up of AIF workshop

To wrap-up the workshop, feedback forms were given to the participants, which they had to fill and submit to PAEPARD. Then, the final activity of the workshop was that each participant had to describe the week in 3 words. 

Closing remarks

Dr. Jonas Mugabe thanked all participants for having accepted the invitation to attend the workshop by RUFORUM and PAEPARD. He also thanked the team from RUFORUM who was here at the conference everyday, to make sure that all was going on fine. Then Mrs. Claire Ntwali thanked the participants as well, which brought us to the end of the workshop.

Closing Remarks by Dr. Jonas Mugabe

These five days were very productive for people who are going to work as facilitators as all aspects of the facilitation process have been covered and discussed thoroughly. Many were strangers and did not know each other, but while working together, a bonding has been created among participants and facilitators as well. A vote of thanks to RUFORUM and PAEPARD for planning the workshop and training the participants, and also for trying their best for everyone to make the most of the experience!

PAEPARD Agricultural Innovation Facilitators' Workshop - Day 4

Day 4 - Thursday 1st December 2011: Designing a partnership facilitation process

The fourth day of the PAEPARD Agricultural Innovation Workshop begun with the feedback from the previous day (positive and negative points) and content reflection from each process monitoring group. Day 4 was going to be about designing a partnership facilitation process and the lead facilitator, Mr. Richard Hawkins introduced the programme of the day to the participants.

Presentation on PAEPARD Inception Workshop - June 2011

The output of the PAEPARD Inception Workshop held in Nairobi from 6th to 10th June 2011 was presented to the participants by Mr. Richad Hawkins. The objective was for participants to  have an idea about how an inception workshop was organised by PAEPARD in the past and the points to keep in mind while planning and implementing the workshop. After the presentation, there was a plenary discussion and to answer one of the questions asked by a participant, the facilitator explained that there are 4 steps which are involved for a concept note to become a formal proposal and the example given was from the PAEPARD First Call:

1. Original proposal to PAEPARD

2. Concept Note (Draft)

3. Complete Concept Note

4. Draft Proposal Write-shop  to generate formal proposal (submission)

Individual plans

Now that all participants knew about how to conduct an inception workshop and also about the different steps involved in generating a formal proposal from an initial concept note, each country pair was asked to design a timeline of 3 months on the type of activities they will organise with respect to their respective consortium and also the specific output/milestone achieved for each proposed activity. 45 minutes were given for this activity and the output was to be written on a flip-chart and put on the walls. When everyone had completed their timeline, they were asked to have a look at those from other countries and see what was similar or different. Then, those who wanted to add some points to their timeline were given some time to do so.

Timeline for Uganda

Video Projection

The video was about an interview from Mrs. Habiba Hassan Wassef of Egypt, who talked about the interest of Europe in Africa. The points gathered from this were that:

• There are reasons why Europe is interested in Africa. We have many technologies present in Africa, fermented food for example
• Africans should be aware of their Intellectual Property Rights before sharing their views with Europeans
• We should be proud of the role we can play in the world as post-harvest technologists
• The way for us to contribute better is to consider Africa as one and not in different region

After the video projection, Mr. Francois Stepman showed the blog posts on the PAEPARD blog and explained that those who are not present in the Workshop can follow us through the blog.

Video Projection

Financing ARD

To understand about how ARD can be financed, a document from ICRA, which contained key concepts on how to finance ARD were given to the participants, who were asked to read the document. Then there was a brainstorming session to find the possible finance sources at National Level, Sub-Regional Level (Africa) and International Level. Each participant who was suggesting a possible finance source had to give a brief explanation of how the financing is done. This session was quite a long and exhaustive one, after which participants went to have lunch.

Finance sources at National, Regional and International level

Partners from Uganda Consortium

When participants were back in plenary after lunch, two partners from one of the selected consortium in Uganda were present among us in the workshop. They introduced themselves and explained that they are mainly into the production of solanaceous crops. They said that they got to know about PAEPARD and the call from a partner in South Africa who got the information and shared with them. When asked if they think they need an external facilitator trained by PAEPARD, they said that they had suggested the name of a facilitator, but is the one trained by PAEPARD is good, they think that both facilitators can work together.

Presentation by ASARECA

To get a better idea of how ARD are financed in Africa, there was a presentation by Mr. Joseph Methu from ASARECA. He explained about how ASARECA does the coordination work regarding financing of ARD in the East Africa Region. The presentation also included the goal and results of ASARECA, its development partners, programs and support units, granting systems, criteria for selection and typical activities supported. After the presentation, the participants got the opportunity to ask questions on the presentation and on ASARECA.

Presentation by ASARECA

Statements from World Bank

This session was a presentation on a report from the World Bank by Mr. Francois Stepman. From that Report, different statements were taken and presented to the participants as statements 1, 2, 3 and 4. Participants were divided into 3 groups according to where they were sitting and after each statement, the group had to come to a consensus regarding their opinion on the different statements; Totally agree=1, More or less agree=2, Don't know=3, Don't really agree=4 and Don't agree at all=5. If a group was giving an answer, it had to be explained why. when this exercise was over, Mr. Francois Stepman explained about the Terra Viva Grants Directory and how to get useful information on the website.

Proposal formulation

The last session for Day 4 was about the proposal formulation. Participants were given a document on the topic and Mr. Richard Hawkins explained about the points to be taken into consideration while doing a proposal formulation. With this, Day 4 was over a bit earlier than the previous days and process monitoring groups got together and discussed and the positive and negative points of the day, what they have learnt  and what can be improved the following day!

PAEPARD Agricultural Innovation Facilitators' Workshop - Day 3

Day 3 - Wednesday 30th November 2011: Facilitation Tools

After knowing about PAEPARD and the facilitation of ARD partnerships on Day 1 and 2 respectively, Day 3 was going to be about facilitation tools that can be used by the Agricultural Innovation Facilitator. Just like every morning, the opening plenary was at 08:30 and each process monitoring group had to present about what they have learned on Day 2, what was not clear and what should be improved the next day and during the week. When this exercise was over, the programme of the day was explained by Mr. Richard Hawkins, the lead facilitator of the workshop.

Role-play

The first session of Day 3 was very appreciated by all participants. It was a role-play by Janet Achora and Monica Kapiriri Namumbya (both from Uganda), whereby Monica had to approach Janet (consortium) as the Agricultural Innovation Facilitator trained by PAEPARD. The first thing that Monica did was that she called Janet, introduced herself and requested for an appointment. When Janet accepted, she went through the concept note of the consortium and then went for the meeting. During the whole process, the participants had to observe them and note the positive and negative point of the facilitator and consortium as well. After some five minutes, the simulation was over and the floor was open for discussion from the participants about how they found the performance of the 2 parties; the good points and mistakes, lessons learnt and other comments. The simulation can be watched on the video below:

PAEPARD Second Call Scenarios

The first Power-Point presentation of the day was on scenarios of the PAEPARD Second Call by Mr. Richard Hawkins. 3 scenarios were presented, including the possible outcomes, their advantages and disadvantages. Participants has to reflect on which scenario they prefer and why? They were also given the opportunity to suggest new scenarios. There was a plenary discussion after the presentation followed by a coffee-break.

Moderation, Coordination, Facilitation and Leadership

When participants were back from the break, a very short but interesting Power-Point presentation was presented on the differences between Moderation, Coordination, Facilitation and Leadership. It was very clear that all of them are different (but sometimes there may be some over-laps) and the role of a facilitator was clear to the audience.

Tools that can be used to facilitate - Brainstorming

As a facilitator, it is important to know what are the tools available to them and at the same time which one to use in which situation. There were 3 boards in front, on each one there was a question, written on a card of different colour:

Green Card: Achieve the task (Common objectives)

Blue Card: Manage the team and avoid conclict

Pink Card: Promote learning by partners

Since this was a brainstorming session, each participants had to give their input. They were provided with green, blue and pink cards and were required to propose tools that can be used for each one of them. At the same time that participants were writing, the workshop facilitators were pinning the cards to their respective boards. When the exercise was over, Mr. Richard Hawkins went over all the tools that were proposed and explained about them if some were not clear. It was also suggested to look for such tools on the ICRA website (http://www.icra-edu.org/). After this very productive session, the participants went for lunch.

Participants giving their inputs during the brainstorming session

Generating Research Questions

The last exercise for the day was about Research Questions. Each country pair had to work together on their respective concept notes and had to generate 5 research questions and 3 sub-questions for each of the research questions. Participants were provided with a reading material on research question by ICRA. Just like the previous day, participants could go out of the plenary and work. This exercise was for about one and a half hour, and when they were back, there was presentation from 3 groups (Burkina Faso, Ghana and Farmer Organisation), followed by plenary discussion.

Presentation from Burkina Faso (francophone group)

Presentation from Ghana (Anglophone group)

Presentation from Farmer Organisation

Day 3 was full of knowledge and reflection on the role of facilitator. Participants were sharing knowledge and experience, at the same time learning from each other. We were also enjoying our participation and there was no moment when we were bored. When we were a bit tired, there were very nice energisers to get our energy back! :)