UK parliamentarians impressed by FIPS work in western Kenya
15 September 2010

Members of the All Party Group on Agriculture and Food for Development visited Mungoye Village, Emuhaya District, Western Kenya. The purpose of the trip was to show the parliamentarians how DFID funding was helping to transform the lives of local farmers and their families.

Five British MPs and a member of the House of Lords, members of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development, today visited farmers in Western Kenya who have benefitted from FIPS-Africa's efforts to provide improved access to better farm inputs and information. During their visit, which lasted several hours, they learnt how FIPS-Africa's approach was bringing real benefits to some 1.5 million Kenyans and Tanzanians, including farming households in Mungoye village, Emuhaya District, Western Kenya which hosted the parliamentarians.

RIU's head of communication, Keith Sones, explained to the visitors that FIPS-Africa had been supported by RIU because it seemed to have three very attractive features: sustainability - FIPS' network of village-based advisors were helped to establish viable small businesses supplying goods and services to the farmers in their communities; impact at scale; and replicability - the approach has already been successfully introduced to Kenya and Tanzania, and now, with further support from RIU, plans were being made to introduce the approach to Rwanda through that country's RIU country programme. RIU, which is a research programme, is now working with FIPS-Africa to generate evidence to enable FIPS-Africa's true achievements and impact to be rigorously documented including gender aspects.

The parliamentarians were impressed by what they saw.

Lord Cameron said:

"This morning we saw two small projects with a lot of people growing vegetables on very small sites - but the trouble is they were very small.

The real key is the ability to scale-up these projects and that is where I think FIPS really scores. The 'pyramid selling' that FIPS engage in with the village-based advisers is really excellent; an excellent way of getting knowledge out and about."

Lord Cameron learns all about guinea pigs from farmer Sylvanus Abunaka and Benson Maniaji, FIPS-Africa's Crop Improvement Specialist in Western Kenya.

FIPS-Africa director, Paul Seward, shows Heidi Alexander MP and Kerry McCarthy MP an improved variety of cassava. The group also saw how FIPS was providing access to improved varieties of sweet potato, cassava, beans and maize which were suited to the area and meeting farmers' taste preferences.

Craig Whittaker MP learns from Benson Maniaji, FIPS-Africa's Crop Improvement Specialist in Western Kenya, how village-based advisers have helped to promote better agricultural practices, such as correct spacing between rows and plants.

Benson Maniaji shows how chicken-keepers dye their chicks blue which appears to protect them from attack by birds of prey. This farmer innovation was come across by FIPS in Nigeria and introduced to Kenya farmers.



Chris Kelly MP said:
"I've like most of what I have seen - I've been hugely impressed. We've seen a way for people to feed themselves."

The trip was hosted by farmers and FIPS-Africa village-based advisors. These were Beatrice Malubi, Catherine Babu, Joan Ong'are, Judith Ong'are, George Obunaka and Sylvanus Ingolo

Heidi Alexander MP said:
"I was really pleased to see about half of the village-based advisors are women. I think that the role of women in subsistence and small-scale farming in Africa is crucial. I think in order to build up those relationships it's great that there are young women involved who can gain the trust of both men and women and make the changes that are needed in local agriculture."

Lord Cameron observes harvesting of an improved variety of sweet potato. FIPS-Africa's village based advisors propagate crops such as sweet potato and disease-resistant cassava and sell inexpensive cuttings to neighbouring farmers.

Craig Whittaker MP said:
"It's working. It's working on a big scale like this - good local community base. But it needs support on the ground. This is a real grass roots level project that seems to be working"

Heidi Alexander MP sees the improved agricultural practices at first hand.

Kerry McCarthy MP said:
"What impressed me so much was the fact that such small things can make such a huge difference.

You think why didn't people know this years ago? Or why weren't we doing this years ago? Or why aren't we doing this everywhere because, with such a small outlay, you can get people different varieties of crops that are disease resistant or more pest resistant. Or just telling farmers not to plant seven seeds in one hole but to space plants out to make the land more productive far more fertile: spreading this information is really, really important. It is key to food security and sustainability.

So it is really valuable work that FIPS is doing here."


Chris Kelly MP receives a gift of a locally made basket as a memento of his trip