Local Capacity builders in West Nile Field Findings

1.0.       Background

In June 2011, SNV in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, UNICEF and 8 District Local Governments in Uganda including Arua, Nebbi and Nwoya districts started implementing a 3-year Community Empowerment Program (CEP). CEP contains 4 major components. The program focuses on the implementation of identified solutions for improved WASH service delivery and food security at school and household level. The program underscores the need to give prominence to agriculture at school level as a means of improving good agricultural practices, skills and knowledge to pupils and parents. The main players at field level are the Local Capacity Builders (LCBs). It is against this background that SNV organized a 2 day working visit to Nwoya district to provide an opportunity for LCBs in Arua and Nebbi to have a major avenue of learning and sharing experiences with African Revival that is based in Nwoya District. This is expected to improve each other’s capacity to deliver better agricultural extension services and increase parents’ partnerships with the school in their localities.

A total of five schools and communities were visited during the two days visit that lasted from 21^st to 22^nd June, 2012. Decent accommodation was provided by SNV at Pearl Afric Hotel in Gulu Town on the night of Day One and good breakfast and lunch served on Day two at the same venue thereafter the team returned to Arua. The field work was quite intensive due to the limited days. Nevertheless, a lot was learnt and indeed objectives of the exposure trip were well achieved.

2.0         Objectives of the Visit

The objectives of the visit were outlined as follows:

1. To share experiences on how to increase community participation.
2. To acquaint participants with improved production technologies especially principles and practices of sustainable Organic Agriculture such as ; nutrient recycling on a farm, use organic manure, soil and water conservation and feeding the soil
3. To establish how school communities are up-taking school Garden technologies at community levels
4. To acquaint participants with Knowledge of increasing parents involvement using VSLA as a bait

The LCBs met at SNV Arua before departure to Gulu to harmonize their expectations with the objectives stated and reached a consensus that the visit objectives setting them out to visit African Revival in Nwoya were centered on the following:-

a)    Basing on the different competencies upon which LCBs were selected, Arua and Nebbi LCBs needed to learn from African Revival what the LCB was doing differently in Nwoya that can be replicated in WestNile.

b)    Considering Nwoya and WestNile share similar agro ecological characteristics, LCBs of WestNile needed to share experiences with African Revival as neighbors in similar situations.

c)   LCBs of WestNile also needed to share ideas and concepts with African Revival at peer level on CEP implementation progress so as to ensure success of the Programme in the whole Northern Uganda implementation areas, especially issues concerned with technology demonstrations and community up-take of the technologies to the household levels and sustainability planning.

3.0   Expected outcome of the visit

The planned outcomes of the visit were as follows:

a) Knowledge acquired by LCBs staff will help the LCBs improve their technological innovations in school gardens in Arua.

b) Acquire more skills on how best to involve parents at the school

The LCBS before departure also harmonized their anticipated outcomes with the planned outcomes and agreed on the following as their major expected outcomes during the learning visit:- 

a)    Shared experiences and learning attained in Nwoya on CEP implementation process successes and challenges in the inceptional stages in Q1,Q2 and Q3 of Year 1

b)    Increased participation methodologies shared, learnt and action consensus reached on the effective integration of the success stories into CEP implementation processes for effectiveness, visibility and sustainability.

c)    Appropriate technologies for schools and household level adoption identified, shared and learnt for replication and up-scaling in the communities in the region.

4.0 Participation

Participants were drawn from 13 LCBs lead by and Advisor from SNV Arua Regional office. The LCBs and the persons involved were as below:

NO	Name	Gender	Organisation	Address/Tel
1.	Openytho Abok	M	ADI	0772-901219
2.	Edna Manano	F	AFARD	0754-484555
3.	Lucie Bronner	F	AFARD	0777-104650
4.	Cikawun Hudson	M	WENIPS	0752-674282
5.	Achanda Grace	F	APEF	0782-072936
6.	Katareiba Elias	M	CEGED	0775-860838
7.	Ejua Peace Clement	M	CEDI-U	0752/0772-878660
8.	Ayiko Phillip	M	ARUDIFA	0783-087064
9.	Acidri Alesio Beke	M	NUTRICARE	0782-244103
10.	Ongewun Stephene	M	DEAL	0774-228345
11.	Pax Zakari	M	RICE-WN	0372-280576
12.	Avutia Ronald Kizito	M	NilePro Trust	0792/0772-332229
13.	Agaba Anthony	M	SNV (Advisor)	0754563232

The above team travelled to and fro the exposure trip in one 14 seater van hired by SNV and in the field African Revival Field Staff and Managers joined them on Motorcycles and a Pick-Up Vehicle.

5.0         Meeting at Africa Revival Field Office at Nwoya District Headquarters

The Field Staff of Africa Revival (AR), Mr. Francis Nyeko, Barbra Akello and Denis Odong   present treated the visiting LCBs to a warm welcome that started with lunch on arrival. A  PowerPoint Presentation of what to expect in the field followed after which the District Inspector of Schools Mr. Kidega Fonny who represented the DEO flagged off the learning activities with a brief speech in which he thanked SNV and its partners for CEP.

                 

LCBs had Lunch served by African Revival on their arrival    Mr. Kidega Fonny Welcoming the LCBs to Nwoya.

5.1 PowerPoint presentation by Africa Revival Team

The PowerPoint Presentation initiated the visiting team highlighted the key learning points from Africa Revival:-

       From each of the 22 schools and communities implementing the School Garden project, up to 1 acre land is opened wherein, 3 – 4 agricultural crops are planted at optimum spacing.

       Good agricultural practices are taught on average once a week. This includes nursery bed preparation, row planting, micro gardening, and organic farming.

       Some farm inputs were provided by AR (pangas, hoes & some seeds) while other inputs are provided by the groups.

       VSLA is instrumental in binding members together in their working groups due to the strong byelaws set and benefits derived from the micro credit scheme.

       The practice of micro garden i.e. the Kitchen Garden and Mandala garden (others call it Mandela) is good for people with little land holdings as well as the disable that cannot walk long distance to till land.

       A small and easy-to-manage committee of 30 members is formed at each school community. This also eases their learning.

       Gender inclusiveness is important. Over 66% of the 660 members in the 22 school communities are women i.e. 442 are women and 218 Male.

5.2         A Highlight of Some achievements so far recorded in the School Garden with respect to the expected CEP outcomes

The field team highlighted the achievements the visiting team must expect to find in the field as below:

Outcome 1: Improved Community Participation in school garden programme in the 22 schools.

       Group formation well conducted (100%)

       VSLA trainings ongoing (97%)

       Over 70% attendance of members on average has been registered at each meeting.

       Participation by the broader community will improve with the introduction of field days.

       The group have established demonstration gardens and are actively contributing towards land opening/seedbed preparation and sowing/planting of seeds/ planting materials.

       Community seed contribution so far stands at: 24 kg of beans, 2 bags of cassava, 18 Kg of maize,10 Kg of groundnuts, 50 gm of African egg plants, 4 kg of Soya beans,100 Kg of Irish potatoes, 2 kg of pigeon peas,100 gm of okra and 20 gm of pumpkin seeds

OUTCOME 2: Improved primary school retention rates in the 22 schools

       Parents have exposure on what takes place in the school every week

       Pupils attend schools consistently

       Teachers, SMCs and PTAs are becoming more involved in ensuring that all pupils in the school enter in the classes and not hang around in the compound during class time

       Parents are not only checking pupils but also teachers and the general administration in ensuring that all play their roles

       A case in point was when the parents averted a potential strike by pupils in Amuru, Alero and Laminato P/S

       SMC / PTA were trained by AR field staff in order to build their management capability in all 22 schools

OUTCOME 3: Increased adoption of good agricultural practices and innovations in the community surrounding the 22 primary school

       The School Gardens that are farmer’s classrooms have been established in all the 22 schools

       In all the activities of the SGs, there are innovations which have been demonstrated and being adopted

       Various trainings have been conducted i.e. site selection criteria, seedbed and nursery bed preparation and management, use of improved seeds, planting / transplanting, intercropping, weeding, soil-water conservation and crop protection (Pest and disease control / management)

       Members are taking the acquired knowledge and skills back to their households

       Beneficiary group members are also taking the same seedlings from the demonstration nurseries to their home gardens

       Above 50% of the beneficiaries are now able to correctly conduct farming activities using the good practices step by step

       Some farmers are asking for sources of the improved seeds which they used not to plant before and some have bought vegetable seeds on their own for sowing in their nurseries.

OUTCOME 4: Improved community access to quality extension services in and around the 22 schools communities

       All the parents involved in the SG activities are accessing quality extension services being offered by AR staff

       The CEP package covers trainings on agronomy, provision of some basic farm tools and equipments as well as seeds. Establishment of demonstration gardens where learning takes place

       Field staffs are visiting communities down to village level to provide extension services.

       The advisory services are not limited to only crop enterprises but also animal production. 

       Knowledge and skills imparted to the communities when put into use can contribute towards improving the food security situation and in general livelihoods of many households in Nwoya District.

OUTCOME 5: Increased collective marketing by functional economic farmer groups in 22 school communities.

       Currently the community members are engaged in production/ growing of the crops but with the aspect of marketing in their minds

       The decision on enterprises selected was largely based on the marketability of products/output, all the crops in the demonstration gardens have market either in the school premises itself or in the vicinity

       The groups are being prepared for collective marketing through formulation of bi laws/constitution which guides most of the societal and economic activities of the groups.

5.3         Challenges Experienced

Some of the challenges faced which the visitors would notice were identified as follows:

       Horticultural pests and diseases do emerge from time to time

       Delay in the onset of first rains, leading to slow rate of land opening

       Destruction of crops by roaming animals especially goats and pigs

       Insufficient work tools especially hoe is slowing down the rate of land opening. Some members are reluctant to bring with them their hoes and therefore share the few that were delivered by AR

       Some schools do not have adequate land for the gardens to the 1 acre design

       Lack of co-ordination between NGOs / service providers - other activities occurring at beneficiary schools on same days.

5.4         Headways used to address the challenges

The field team explained that the following actions had been undertaken to address the challenges:

       Use of bi-laws in conjunction with community members to have the animals restrained or levy proportional penalties

       Fencing off parts of the demonstration gardens to protect high value crops especially the perennials/fruit trees

       Provision of additional hoes so as to facilitate the school garden activities

       The groups are in negotiation with communities with land close/ bordering the schools to allow project conduct the activity within agreed period of time

       To fight pest and diseases, communities have been trained to use local organic formulations as pesticides

5.5         Planned activities for Quarter 3

The field team also highlighted that to ensure success; the following planned activities were scheduled for Q3:

—  Open days and agricultural trainings to involve more parents

—  Integration of garden in curriculum & greater involvement of pupils

—  Provision of extension services by AR staff at household level

—  Multiplication of gardens in 2nd season

—  Greater guidance provided to schools SMC/PTAs

6.0         Schools Visited

The following schools were visited during the exposure trip:

Day 1: Ongai P7 School and Paminyai P 7 School.

Day 2: Laminato P7 School, Koch-Amar P7 School and Nwoya P7 School.

Pupils and Women farmers Dance to Welcome the Visiting LCBs to Ongai P7 School.

7.0         The Visit Exposed the Visiting LCBs from Arua and Nebbi to the Following Issues in the CEP Schools in Nwoya District.

Ongai P7 School:

A warm welcomed was accorded to the visiting group by pupils and the CEP group named ‘Kwan Ber’ (- Learning is good), teachers, the PTA and SMC members. There were a number of crops planted in different plots within the garden. These included Citrus sinensis (mcungua), Mangifera indica (hybrid, grafted mango), tomatoes, cabbages and green pepper. Parents, teachers and pupils did not have separate gardens.

7.1 Planting techniques demonstrated

Cabbages

In one of the plots, to demonstrate the importance of optimum spacing, cabbage was planted at 60 cm x 40 cm and the performance to be compared with that planted at 60 cm x 60 cm which is best spacing for cabbages. It was clear that the 60 cm x 60 cm was already making a difference in growth and plant vigor.

      

LCBs conducted in Gardens of cabbages planted at spaces of 60 cm x 40 cm and at 60 cm x 60 cm at Ongai P7 School

Onions

Onions was planted at 20cm x 20cm but the group was upset by the fact that many were stolen by non-group members within the community.

Matooke

Matooke was planted at a spacing of 5 m x 5 m. . . Asked by a member of the team on why they decided to plant matooke their response was that besides the traditional millet, cassava and other crops they have planted for years, they wanted to include matooke which can as well grow and be able to sell for school fees for their children.

Citrus sinensis (mcungua)

Citrus sinensis were planted at a spacing of 5 m x 5 m. The Citrus was chosen specifically for cash income and food (fruits) for pupils / students of Ongai Primary School which the parents want to become a boarding school in the near future. Kwan Ber group and the SMC and teachers of Ongai P/s. School want to expand on the crop range to include maize, beans and groundnuts in the coming season.

7.2 Some technologies demonstrated

7.2.1 The Micro Garden

The Micro Garden is represented in two forms: The kitchen garden and mandala garden.

The kitchen garden

The Kitchen Garden consists of soil which is well prepared and heaped to a height of about 50cm and a diameter of up to 4m confined with bricks at the perimeter. Plant materials generated from within the household including weeds are disposed off in the basket to decompose for manure. A trench up to 1.5m is left as a walk way towards the basket at the center for dumping the plant materials. The decomposed materials are then scattered on the small heaped soil for manure that facilitates vegetables production.

  

Picture of a kitchen Garden at Ongai P7 School.       Picture of a Mandala Garden constructed at Paminyai P7 School

Mandala Garden

The Mandala Garden consists of a central pit / hole riveted with banana stems or bricks to prevent the heaped soil from ‘pouring’ into the pit. The purpose of the pit is to collect and store water that can be used during dry season. According to a member, Madam Alok Santa, the stored water can then sip through the underground layer of soil beneath the heaped soil to the plants slowly.

The water is supplied by a trench that originates right from the perimeter of the heaped soil. The heaped soil can store water for a relatively long period of time. This type of garden is good for people with little land especially within urban areas and also the disabled people who can not walk long distances to till their land. It also has the advantage of being easily protected from animals (grazers and browsers).

7.2.2 Compost Manure and the composting technique

Compost pits dug to a depth of 60 cm and 75 cm width were filled with pumpkin and cassava leaves and a little ash added. The content is watered to keep it moist and allowed to stay for 2 weeks and then transferred to the next pit while other fresh materials are introduced. This process continues through the next two stages before the compost is ready for application in the garden. A stick dipped inside the pit is used for monitoring decomposition. If the stick is pulled out and is moist and warm, it is a sign that decomposition is in progress. If the stick is otherwise dry and cool, then the content is quite dry and decomposition rate is low.

Composting Pits at Laminato P7 School.

7.2.3 Plant Tea

Pumpkin leaves, cassava leaves and ash are mixed and suspended in a pot or jerry can of water. The content is stirred every morning. After a week, the content is quite ready for application in the garden. The liquid manure is then mixed with water at the ratio of 1:2 and is applied at the base of the plants.

7.2.4 Liquid manure

Another technology practiced by Ongai School garden group is the use of liquid manure. Cow dung and urine is covered/sealed in a top-severed jerry can. The content is allowed to stay for a period of 1 – 2 weeks after which the liquid content is squeezed out / filtered for application in the garden.

The use of household refuse such as cow dung and urine according to Christine Aber helps to keep their homes clean too in terms of Sanitation and Hygiene.  

8.0. Visit to Paminyai School Garden

The team reached Paminyai quite late and was met by the group members and some teachers. The name of the group at Paminyai was also Kwan Ber. The group has 37 members: 13 men and 24 women. They have a functional VSLA and keep all records of work and savings for safety in the Cash Box. Crops that require germination in a seed bed such as onions and tomatoes were all first sown in the seed bed and thereafter transplanted. Onions were planted at spacing of 20cm x 20cm and tomatoes, money maker variety at 75 cm (inter-row) x 45 cm (intra-plant). Other enterprises planted were bananas, hybrid / grafted mangoes. Soya beans were also Soya beans at spacing of 60 cm (inter-row) x 45 cm (intra-plant).

8.1 Technologies demonstrated at Paminyai School Garden

There were same technologies demonstrated at both Ongai and Paminyai school gardens.  Group members at Paminyai were able to articulate a number of technical knowledge about the school garden quite better than their counterparts at Ongai. Remarkable was their outstanding knowledge about spacing which according to Mr. Ocai Phillip who functions as Auditor for the group, allows for easy walking; disrupts spread of pests and reduces competition between plants.

He added, with tomatoes, staking holds upright the stem despite the weight of fruits and also prevents the quality of fruits being spoilt by soil splashing upward. Furthermore, pruning of extra stems and leaves of tomatoes is important for food requirements needed for development of quality fruits.

According to Akello Joyce, who is a member of the group, all household refuse including waste water can be disposed off in the Kitchen garden basket for manure. However, caution should be taken to avoid adding excess water from laundry work that may increase salinity and hence affect decomposition.

The main problem as observed by the group was that of glow worms, cut worms and wild

Rabbits.

 Tomato Gardens are in each school to ensure production of a nutritious food for children.

8.2 Controlling pests using organic pesticides

The Cut Worms and other pests are controlled using locally produced organic pesticide. The ingredients are soap and tobacco boiled in water. The liquid decanted after boiling is effective in controlling most common pests in the school garden. This is practiced in all the school gardens supported by AR in Nwoya. The advantage is that it can be made from local material and hence inexpensive. However, one of the participants Edna from AFARD feared that nicotine, a chemical present in tobacco can affect the quality of tomatoes produced. She advised that garlic can be used instead of tobacco as garlic does not contain nicotine.

9.0 Visit to Laminato Primary School

At Laminato school garden, the range of crops planted and technologies involved  include the following:-   

-      Okra (Bamiya) planted at 60 cm x 60 cm.

-       Amaranthus species (Malakwang) has been planted as a decoy crop to protect Okra as Glow worm prefers Amaranthus as alternative host crop to Okra.

-      Tomato spaced at 40 cm x 60 cm and staked with double lines of sisal ropes. The sisal ropes run parallel mid-height of the plants and is capable of holding the stems firmly upright even when the fruits become heavy.

-      Maize (Longe 5) spaced at 75 cm x 60 cm.

-      Cabbages spaced at 60 cm by 60 cm.

-      Pine apples planted at a spacing of 90 cm x 60 cm x 50 cm – double row planting technique and at 60 cm x 50 cm – single row technique. Comparison would be made at the end of the day on which planting arrangement is best.

At this school (Laminato), as a strategy for retaining mature pupils and child mothers in school, separate temporary classroom units were built. Present in the class at the time of the visit was a child mother in P.7 class with a baby. It was quite fascinating when it turned out that, she was the only person who got the right answer to a mathematics question posed to the class by Avutia Ronald Kizito of NilePro Trust. The question was: “which three numbers when added sum up to six or when multiplied their product is also six?” Many different answers were attempted but the lady said 1, 2 and 3 and this was correct. She won the winners price of two thousand shillings Avutia offered for the right answer.

10.0 Visit to Koch Amar Primary School

Koch Amar Parents Group at Koch Amar school garden seems to be one of the strongest groups also participating in VSLA with the support of African Revival and SNV. The VSLA according to the Project Manager African Revival Mr Andrew White is used as a bait and glue that keeps the people together as a coherent group (Group Cohesion Methodology). To be a member of the VSLA, one should be a participant in the school garden. Each member saves a minimum of shillings 1,000/= per week and a welfare (emergency need) fund of shillings 200/= a week. Shillings 1,000/= is represented by an “elephant”.

Koch Amar Parents Group has a total of 35 members – 2 of them are teachers and 2 are SMC members. More members would want to join the VSLA group. But according to the Project Coordinator Mr. Francis Nyeko and his team, for ease of management of the group, the number of members need not be so large and therefore the new people will be encouraged to form another VSLA group instead. This will ensure increased participation by more parents in the CEP activities.

Members raised question on how the teachers cope up with teaching during class hours when they are supposed to be in the school garden. The teacher who is also the Chairperson for the group VSLA activity replied that he carefully plans his time in order to handle both.

There was no time to observe the school garden as the team VSLA group was still busy in its activity and the visiting team needed to leave for West Nile the same day. To control the Glow worm infestation, they were also using Amaranthus locally known as malakwang / lakorokoro as a decoy crop. The Amaranthus when harvested still remains edible.  

11.0      Visit to Nwoya Primary School

The team was to witness the School Open Day at Nwoya Primary School. This is an activity that aims at encouraging parents’ participation in schools and can lead to achieving better pupil retention as well as improving school performance. By the time of the departure, there were 124 parents (58 men; 66 women) who had turned up for the occasion.

But a cocktail of traditional dances by the pupils were prepared for the open day and before we left for the long journey to West Nile, some of the entertainment was presented to the visiting team as a farewell. Time could not permit the visiting team to attend the open school day fully.

12.0      Recap of the visit

A recap of the visit was done early morning of Day Two on 22^nd June, 2012 at Pearl Afric Hotel in Gulu and also along the way during the travel back to WestNile. Due to time constraint, these ended up as the only assessment meetings for the study trip. Nonetheless, it was adequate as the enterprises involved and innovations shared and learnt were all quite similar in all the school communities in Nwoya. The purpose of this report is to share and document the experiences of the tour following the exposure trip. Every one shared lessons learnt and this formed the basis for some action points.

12.1    Lessons learnt

No	Lessons Learnt
1	African Revival has a well established Field Office and Staff on ground in project area
2	Good working relationship exists between AR Field Staff, the LG Leaders, Schools and the communities
3	AR Field staffs have introduced some vital improved production appropriate technologies that have been similarly demonstrated in all the school gardens for community learning and up-take.
4	Kitchen Gardening and Mandala Gardens technologies introduced by AR are household-friendly types that may not cause extra costs on the farmers
5	AR Extension workers are professional agriculturalists as seen in their work.
6	AR pays and facilitates their staffs well.
7	The demonstration gardens opened are large enough to produce food for food security and livelihoods development
8	Manuring /Composting have also been introduced to the farmers to ensure they maintain soil fertility for good production and productivity at all times
9	Members at the school garden are thirty selected one each from a village so that the member from the village is developed into a lead farmer who takes charge of 10-15 other farmers in his/her village and trains them through farmer-to farmer extension service to up-take the knowledge and skills learnt from the school gardens.
10	Water harvesting for production is introduced through the Mandala gardens
11	Crop rotation is demonstrated to the farmers to ensure they practice soil feeding.
12	VSLAs have been introduced in every school to function as a bait and facilitate group bonding
13	Making and using Organic fertilizers has been introduced in all the school gardens
14	There is a heavy element of gender mainstreaming into the school gardens as most members are women
15	Teachers are involved in the 30 group members and are supportive to the groups
16	Open days are used to enable other members of the school community to come to school to learn from the group of 30 so as to interest and join them through formation of more other groups in the school

12.2 Recommended Action Points from the Visit

Key Action Points were adopted by the team and these included:-

African Revival	Arua and Nebbi LCBs
1. Consider using Garlic instead of tobacco while formulating organic pesticides	1. The LCBs should ensure they establish Field Offices like AR so that Field Staffs closely interact with communities they work with.
2. There is need to try cabbages on ridges or sunken beds and not only on flat ground	2. Reconstitute the school garden committees so that each person represents a village where he/she is in-charge of 10-15 other farmers who learn from his/her household, consequently leading to increased up-take of technologies and up-scaling of the participation in CEP
3. CEP is in the background amongst the communities. There is need to do more sensitization to build community understanding on the programme and partnerships involved.	3. To strengthen the committee members to become lead farmers so as to carry out farmer-to-farmer extension to the 10-15 farmers more effectively using the study circle methodology. NB. Agaba Anthony to circulate the methodology to member LCBs.
4. Organic manure is over emphasized. Some element of fertilizers and pesticides is required for better health of the crops.	4. All LCBs to design extension monitoring forms that enable the change Agents to sign whenever they are undertaking an activity at school/Gardens.
	5. Each LCB in Arua and Nebbi must ensure they have at least one Agricultural Expert in their staff ranks who is well qualified in technology demonstrations to the local farmers for spot-on sustainable capacity building.
	6. Each LCB must make a quick intervention to ensure by December, 2012, the school garden under their facilitation is transformed to a reasonable and effective state including adequate community sensitization and involvement

Compiled BY:

• Awake Development Initiatives (ADI), Nebbi District.
• NilePro Trust Ltd, Arua District.

 and posted by BIC. BIC is an LCB in Kasese district with funding support from SNV