GUEST POST: Reflections from Helen, "Africa Through Fresh Eyes, Part 2"

I joined the Eliminate Poverty NOW team a little over a year ago. Had I been asked before that if I would ever go to Africa – I would have said no, maybe, or probably not. Fast forward 15 months – and I’ve been twice!

FOF Overseas Team - John Craig, Helen Greenberg, Dov Pasternak, and Robin Mednick

The first trip in July 2013 to Kenya was life altering. Nothing could compare – right? Wrong!

I just returned from Niger, in Western Africa, to be part of the eyes on the ground team to the Farmers of the Future program - the largest project we support - the objective of which is to change attitudes toward farming and encourage the adoption of intensive farming practices in the country of Niger.

One purpose of our trip was to visit the Sadore Village and the Farmers of the Future pilot sites to witness their progress. We were to meet with Professor Dov Pasternak, the FOF visionary whose dream is Farmers of the Future; our local team – Hamani Djibo and Sidi Mohamed, and our Canadian charity partner, Robin Mednick of Pencils4Kids. The only way I knew these people before that time was through photographs and conference calls. The other reason we were going was to speak to a number of government and agency people about the prospect of up-scaling Farmers of the Future to a total of 15 sites from the present 4.

 John Craig, Sidi Mohamed, and Dov Pasternak         

I was a bit nervous in anticipation of the trip – after all, I was going to one of the poorest countries in the world with a reputation for unrest, so far away from home with reportedly unreliable communication infrastructure, and then throw in a little fear of the unknown. But I let go as I did last year for my trip to Kenya and Uganda. I was going with seasoned travelers who had been there before, so I put my trust in them.

Robin Mednick, Hamani Djibo, and Helen Greenberg

In the weeks prior to departure, with the help of the local team, we put together a jam packed agenda of meetings which included visits to the village sites, meetings with local government officials and ministries of the national government, and other NGOs for funding possibilities.

My reflections of this trip can be broken down in two parts: the team and the project.

Meeting everyone face to face was exciting. The warmth and camaraderie was immediate. I was seamlessly enveloped as though I was part of the group for years. Another marvel was to see these people in action. Each has a strong personality bringing different strengths to the table, but, interestingly enough, those differences mesh -  making them work together like a well-oiled machine. In my opinion, Farmers of the Future couldn’t be in more capable, determined, dedicated, and passionate hands.

Helen and Robin with women from the Sadoré village

Meeting with the mayor of Liboré

Wedged in among the high level meetings it was imperative that we visited the villages where there are thriving women’s tree nurseries, vegetable gardens, and mother plantations. It was gratifying to see the progress (which I had only seen in photos – not doing them justice) that the women have made since John and Robin’s last visit in December 2012. The mothers in these villages are headed toward elevating the standard of living for their families by raising high yield, high nutrition, and high income producing crops. Now they are able to feed their families and send their children to school. Dov describes poverty
as a magnet – these women are moving out of its gravitational pull.

         

We met with the First Lady of Niger, the Agricultural Minister, the Leader of the 3 “N” initiative (Nigeriens feeding Nigeriens), USAID, and the Swiss Cooperative among others. We were warmly welcomed by all, and left knowing we had their support toward the scale-up of our program. We were riding high all week.

I came away from this experience with a new understanding for the strength of the human spirit – what motivation can accomplish, an appreciation for the gentle, kind culture of the Nigerien people, and a renewed sense of hope for the work I do.

John, Helen and Robin with the women gardeners at the FOF site

Knocking on Doors of Potential Funders for Phase 2 Expansion

Once the pilot phase of Farmers of the Future wraps up (hopefully by June 2015), the next step is to field a rigorous test in 12 villages with measurable goals to quantify the impact of the program. The test will likely run for 3 years at a cost of $2.5-3 million. Since this far outstrips the resources of Eliminate Poverty NOW and Pencils for Kids who have jointly funded the pilot, we need to begin working now to identify the source of funds. With this in mind, meetings were held with USAID, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Once again, the FOF concept received a warm reception and willingness to explore potential funding.  

It was a great visit at the US Embassy with Rick Bell, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Megan Kyles, responsible for USAID Agricultural Programs in Niger. After the meeting with Rick, conversation continued for another hour with Megan. She was very encouraging about the FOF concept, asked lots of good questions, and pointed out various ways that EPN can position FOF to appeal to a broader range of potential funders. She is advising on the best ways to apply for funds from USAID. While not promising anything, she said it is very helpful to submit an application, because while a grant may not come through right away, we want to be in the line of promising projects worth funding when the money becomes available.  

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      The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is Switzerland's version of USAID. They focus on improving the life and living standards of the extreme poor in Niger, and place a strong priority on agricultural development. Director Stefano Berti listened intently to our story of the transformation in Sadoré. He encouraged us to share a proposal on the Phase 2 expansion, and was eager to make a personal visit to Sadoré to see the village first hand.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO) meeting was held with Amadou Ouattara, the local FAO representative, and about 10 members of his staff. FAO's three main goals are the eradication of hunger and malnutrition, the elimination of poverty, and the sustainable management of the world's natural resources. EPN's presentation was extremely well received (there was even applause!) and Mr Ouattara concluded the meeting by saying that "FAO's door is forever open" to us. There is much common ground to explore between FAO and EPN, and subsequent meetings will be held to explore the potential for partnering together.

Following the meetings, we scheduled site visits for each of the organizations; seeing these places first-hand is the best way to generate excitement. In the last 2 weeks, USAID, FAO, and Swiss Cooperation have all visited Sadoré and Galbal. They were extremely impressed with what they saw, and welcome continuing discussions on potential partnerships and funding possibilities.

All in all, John and Helen had a fantastically productive 8 days in Niger. They were exhausted, but thrilled, with what was accomplished on the trip, as we all are at EPN. 

Building Farmers of the Future Awareness and Support at the Highest Levels of Government

To build momentum and attract funding for the Farmers of the Future expansion, we’ve been working to gain endorsements at the highest levels of the government. During the Niger trip, meetings were held with: Niger’s First Lady, the High Commissioner of the “3-N Initiative” (Niger’s national priority to achieve food self sufficiency) and his chief councilor, and the National Minister of Agriculture. All were very positive about the Farmers of the Future concept and supportive of expanding the program. 

Agricultural Fair - Sardore women and FOF team

The First Lady gave us an hour of her time and expressed her gratitude for our efforts to alleviate poverty in Niger. She has a foundation of her own, the Guri Foundation, which focuses on health, education, and the environment. She saw many parallels between her work and Farmers of the Future. When we described the transformation that has occurred in the Sadoré village, the first to implement the Farmers of the Future program (see Dov Pasternak's guest post on the blog, or on Scribd), her response was, "This is a miracle!" She asked how she can be of help to us in expanding the program, and extended an open invitation to continue our dialog.   

Women's Association at Sadore

The meeting with the Minister of Agriculture was arranged on short notice. He was very busy preparing for Niger's national agricultural exhibition starting the next day, but was gracious with his time and very interested in what we presented. Having endorsements from such high-level government officials helps open doors and raises the project's stature in the eyes of potential funders. 

Galbal

We also met with the director of the Kollo vocational training school, which falls under the Minister of Agriculture's jurisdiction. Kollo is the only technical high school in Niger. They have 600 students enrolled in 5 main courses of study, including agricultural production, which graduates about 30-35 students each year. They have just been granted permission to add 2 years of additional training for students who want a masters level degree as horticultural technicians. EPN is exploring partnering with Kollo on the horticultural training.

Onions in Gonzare's vegetable garden

When John wrote to Judy about the meetings, he said, "If we could script how the meetings would go, it couldn't be better than what actually happened!"

Lilly Oyare's Visit to the U.S.

Little Rock Inclusive Early Childhood Development Centre founder Lilly Oyare will be arriving in the States on March 27th! Little Rock ECD serves the students of Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. You may remember that Lilly has built a beautiful new school capable of supporting triple the number of students versus the old site. The school caters to the needs of hundreds of local children with pre-school, tutoring, special education, and daycare programs. All of this, of course, requires funds for more staff, furniture, equipment, school supplies, meals, etc. Lilly will be building awareness and support for the new school, and the various Little Rock programs. She is truly a testament to how one person's passion and dedication can help change the world around them. We are so pleased and excited to have her with us!

Here is a schedule of her speaking events in New Jersey:

Friday, March 28, 2:30 pm: Millburn Middle School Library
Saturday, March 29, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm: Caldwell Synagogue
Sunday, March 30, 11:00 am: Speak at Brunch Meeting at the New York home of Dorit Rabbani
Monday, March 30, 6:00 pm: Speak at a gathering of interested parties at PhilosophyIB offices
Tuesday, March 31, 11:30 am: Speak at EuroMoney New York Office during lunchtime for invited employees.

The only event open to the general public is at Agudath Israel on Saturday, March 29th. However, if you'd like to hear her and can't make it, you can contact John and Judy, and they will see if there's a hosted event that you might be able to attend.

Lilly will also attend meetings and dinners, in addition to her speaking engagements. All in all, it promises to be a busy, but hopefully fruitful, visit for our dear friend and partner. We hope you'll help welcome her here on the blog!

Perfecting the Farmers of the Future Model

John and Helen are back from their trip to Niger, and as promised, we have lots of news to share! They crammed in about a month's worth of work into 8 days, all filled with meetings, site visits, and team discussions about Farmers of the Future. Up first is some news about fine-tuning the program model for maximum success.

We are halfway through the pilot phase of Farmers of the Future, with the goal of field testing the program, and identifying opportunities to refine and improve it before scaling it up.

At the end of the last school year, we transferred responsibility for farm activities from students to mothers with excellent results. This now gives us an opportunity to simplify the program for students. The simpler the program, the easier to implement, and the easier to scale up.

When students had primary responsibility for the farm, they needed detailed instruction in how to prepare, grow, and care for gardens, tree nurseries, and small animals. Teachers had to be trained as well, adding significantly to their already heavy teaching load.

Now, with primary responsibility transferred to mothers, we can focus more on our main message that farming can be a good business and get students excited about the possibilities. In the process, we will significantly reduce the burden on teachers and the amount of teacher training required.

Basic elements of the streamlined program will include: simple mnemonic devices like songs, poems and catchy phrases; weekly hands-on experiences in the farm led by mothers and field technicians; entrepreneurial projects the kids can do at home; and videos sharing stories of local Nigeriens making attractive livings through agriculture.

Over the next 6 months, we will flesh out the details and begin testing the simplified program at Ecole Centre, our newest pilot school, at the start of the next school year in October 2014.

Stay tuned into the blog over the next few weeks for exciting news about building awareness and support for FOF at the highest levels of government (yes, John and Helen met with the First Lady!), our plans for funding Phase 2 of the project, and a special post from Helen about her experiences.

Farmers of the Future: New Strategy a Huge Success!

It is hard to believe that we are over halfway through the 5-year pilot phase for Farmers of the Future, where we are in the process of field testing the program, identifying implementation issues, making improvements, and confirming that the changes work. The first full year of field testing was completed in June 2013. Several executional problems were identified with the mini-farms where the children gain hands-on experience with the concepts they learn in the classroom. The children and teachers were primarily responsible for the work in the mini-farms, but they could only devote a small portion of the school week to farm activities. This created problems with coverage on weekends and school holidays, and the mini-farms were suffering as a result.

Based on these issues, and the concern that management would turn over every year or two to new students, we made an important change in strategy. Responsibility for farming activities has been turned over entirely to the mothers of the students. The mothers are able to devote a substantial portion of the day to the farm, and provide year-round continuity. All farm activities now have a clear dual purpose-- to provide a source of much needed income for the mothers and experiential learning for the students. 

The implementation of the new strategy began at the start of the school year last October and has been a HUGE success! The vegetable gardens, tree nurseries, and animal enclosures are going extremely well. Even Dov Pasternak, who is a tough and discerning judge on these matters, had this to say after visiting the project sites: "The only word to describe what I saw is FANTASTIC." He has even said that these are some of the very best smallholder farm projects he has seen in his 13 years working in Africa!

We are steadily raising awareness and support for Farmers of the Future as we prepare to expand the project to another dozen schools, with the ultimate goal of scaling up to the national level. In January, we invited lots of government officials, members of international organizations, and members of the Ministry of Education to see the latest results. Reactions were again overwhelmingly positive. We even heard that the word most frequently used was the same one Dov used: FANTASTIC! We also got a great deal of media coverage, which is truly valuable to helping the project expand. 

Now that the farm component of the program is running smoothly, we expect to garner even more support for FOF. John and Helen will be in Niger for the first week of March, and they will get to see these improvements first-hand, as well as meet with more government officials and potential funders of the expansion. We will have lots of news when they return from that trip, so you'll definitely want to keep your eye on the blog!