Newsletter no 36 – July 2023

• Access Agriculture Entrepreneur Coach for Southern Africa, Vinjeru Mlenga, was invited by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) to take part in the stakeholder networking event called Partners for Change (P4C) which was held as part of the conference ‘From Innovation to Transformation’ (FIT) under the Green Innovation Centres for the Agriculture and Food Sector (GIAE) initiative in June 2023 in Berlin, Germany. Vinjeru spoke on the power of Access Agriculture’s digital learning approach in the context of Covid-19 impacts on agricultural development and coping strategies.

  Access Agriculture International Director, Paul Van Mele, also participated in this event, which had gathered about 200 partners from around the world for a comprehensive consultation process on the transformation of agricultural and food systems.

• As part of joint programme with the GIZ Empowering Youth in Agribusiness (EYA) project, Vinjeru Mlenga, organised a training session in June for 20 ERAs in Malawi under a project called Supporting Start-ups in Solar Projector Business. The training programme covered Digital Marketing, Business Development and Marketing and Sales. During the training on Digital Marketing, the ERAs created a Facebook page called ‘Projector Hire-MW’ which is intended to raise their profile across Malawi. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Facebook).

Mali

• Mamadou Diarra, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, who is passionate about farming and livestock, and is the co-founder of Expert Élevage Consulting in Mali, conducted eight training sessions in May and June for 117 beneficiaries on cattle feeding, poultry farming, pisciculture, food processing and fodder production. The sessions were mostly held at the Centre Guy Bert in Bamako and Titibougou, the NGO AJA Mali Centre in Baguineda and the School of Yasso in San, Ségou region of Mali. These sessions include one training conducted with the World Food Programme (WFP) project ‘Improving the resilience of ecosystems and communities in areas of extreme ecological and socioeconomic vulnerability’ (REC-V) in San et Tominian communes in Mali. The videos shown included Hydroponic fodder, Converting chicken waste into fertilizer, Feeding improved chickens, Making mango crisps and Reviving soils with mucuna. (See some photos in Access Agriculture 1. Facebook; 2. Facebook.
• The National Meeting for Mali ERAs was organised in Bamako by Abdul-Baaki Bankole, Access Agriculture Entrepreneur Coach for West Africa. The ERAs associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project – Aboubacar Dembélé, Fainke Ladji, Mamadou Diarra, and Mamadou Sylla – attended the meeting to share experiences and identify market opportunities. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Facebook).
• Aboubacar Dembélé, co-founder of Jeunes Startups Maliens, an association that promote youth entrepreneurship in Mali, facilitated a video screening session for nine participants on Making mango crisps and Preparing cashew apple juice. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Flickr)

Niger

• Idrissa Saidou, ERA associated with Concern Niger, organised a video session on tomato processing in Diffa Commune, southeastern Niger. Idrissa showed the video Tomato concentrate and juice to 16 participants, including nine women. (See photos in Access Agriculture Flickr)

Rwanda

• Jean Felix Mizero, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, founder-CEO of the Nutrition Advisory Council Rwanda Ltd (NAC Rwanda), projected two videos – Good handling of tomatoes and Cassava mosaic virus – for 26 youths, including 24 women at the Nyamagabe Youth Center. NAC Rwanda empowers vulnerable people to improve their nutrition and manages the Nyamagabe Youth Center. (See photos in Access Agriculture Flickr)
• Sylvestre Jackson Karara, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, co-founder of Uruhimbi Kageyo Cooperative (UKC), in Gicumbi, Northern Province, Rwanda, conducted training sessions for 11 students, including seven women, from the London Business School, UK, at the UKC Hub. The videos shown included SLM00 Sustainable Land Management Introduction; SLM12 Conservation agriculture; and Hydroponic fodder. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Facebook)

Tanzania

• ERAs associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project – Lilian Sambu, Peter Heri, Gabriel Masala, Salma Makungu Haji, James Nyaonge and Stephano Msuya – as well as Asheri Stephen, who is one of the first set of ERAs, joined Jane Nalunga, Access Agriculture Entrepreneur coach co-ordinator and Ezra Masolaki, Entrepreneur Coach for East Africa for the National ERA Meeting.
  The main objectives of the National ERA meeting, which was held in Dar es Salaam, were to help identify market opportunities, improve networking and share experiences. Representatives from partner organisation, such as the Foundation for Organic Agriculture Tanzania (FOATZ), SWISSAID, FAO Tanzania, MBASILA Foundation and the Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM), who were invited to the meeting, appreciated the work of the ERAs and were keen to strengthen collaboration with Access Agriculture.
  The meeting recommended that more videos should be made available on marketing issues and underlined that ERAs in Tanzania could form an association for mutual support. (See photos in Access Agriculture Facebook)
• Ezra Masolaki, Access Agriculture Entrepreneur Coach for East Africa, visited some of the ERAs in Tanzania and the communities they serve by screening farmer training videos. Along with Stephano Msuya, ERA from the Kilimanjaro region and a member of Slow Food International, Ezra interacted with farmers in Kindi village, Moshi district, who are improving their farming practices thanks to the videos. (See photos in Access Agriculture Facebook). Ezra also visited Kiabakari village, Butiama district in Mara region to meet with farmers who were benefitting from the videos on Quality cassava planting material, Cassava mosaic virus and Managing mealybugs in cassava that were shown by James Nyaonge, ERA from the Lake region, who is a youth representative in the Tanzania Teachers Union (TTU). (See photos in Access Agriculture Facebook).
• James Nyaonge facilitated a training session in June and showed the videos Quality cassava planting material and Good microbes for plants and soil to 13 participants, including four women, in Kiabakari village, Butiama district. (See photos in Access Agriculture Flickr)

Uganda

• Martha Kyokuhaire, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, founder-CEO of VFL Gardens in Mukono, Uganda, facilitated the screening of two videos – Managing tomato late blight; and Managing tomato leaf curl virus – for nine farmers, including six women, at Kulika Training Centre, Lutisi village, Wakiso district, Uganda (See photos in Access Agriculture Flickr)
• Umar Bashir Ochen, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-FAO FFS Project, technical advisor for the Slow Food Youth Network in Uganda, organised a training session on Making a cooling chamber for tomatoes for a group of farmers from Natopojo village, Moroto district, in northeastern Uganda. (See photos in Access Agriculture Facebook). Umar Bashir was featured in a Facebook post of Slow Food International, an organisation that promotes local food and traditional cooking, where he was commended for his efforts to train communities in agroecological practices by screening videos. (See photos in Access Agriculture Facebook)

Zambia

• Nakalonga Zaali, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, who is promoting youth engagement in agri-business, facilitated two video screening sessions in Tonga language for 113 participants, including 54 women, in Kapushila village, Chongwe district and in Kamuyanga village, Shibuyunji district, Zambia. The videos shown included SLM12 Conservation agriculture, Feeding improved chickens, Increasing production of local chickens, Management of Newcastle disease, Making balanced feed for dairy cows, Natural ways to manage bloat in livestock and Calcium deficiency in dairy cows. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Facebook).
• Sussana Phiri, ERA associated with Access Agriculture-GIZ KCOA project, who is passionate about helping young mothers access technology and information on food and nutrition security, facilitated four training shows for 83 women at Mt. Makulu Clinic in Lusaka, Zambia. The Access Agriculture videos included were Enriching porridge with baobab juice; Storing fresh and dried tomatoes; and Making banana flour. (See some photos in Access Agriculture Facebook).