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| The pilot programme has developed, tested and proven the concept.
It has won the absolute support of small farmers and is fully endorsed at all levels of government
and technical performance. Its merit has been thoroughly assessed and approved by DfID. It
meets all the criteria of food security, nutrition, and organic and sustainable land use and
demonstrates the automatic cascade of highr incomes into improved housing, health, education,
community development and growth of micro-business.
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| Where do we want to go? |
We have seven initial objectives as follows:
- to enable every participating smallholder producer to grow three oilseed or pulse crops on 0.75 ha every season. The selling of these crops at market prices will provide additional income above $1 a day. Achieving this objective takes everyone above the level of absolute poverty, albeit with low margin crops;
- practice affordable conservation farming practices. With the adoption of some straightforward conservation farming practices based on organic nutrient recycling we can improve water holding and nutrient holding capacity such that yields improve by 30-50%.
- to start plant screening and nurseries for three field crops and three tree crops (capsicums, pineapple, passion fruit, avocadoes, macademia and mango’s). All these crops have potential for higher prices for fresh and more opportunities for adding value by processing into different products, such as juice. Once the fruits have started to flow the aim is to sell fresh and derivative products in volume under the Farmers Own brand label, with fair trade returns to FAA’s, so that by fair returns and added value incomes move from $1 a day to $5 a day within 7 years
- to have 40,000 people participating by oilseeds production within 5 years, 5,000 in each of two Divisions in four Districts, Bungoma, Busia, Lugari, Teso. These participants will be in FAAs around 500 strong. In each Division the cluster of ten FAA’S will be assisted to develop into private company status within 6 years.
- to rapidly help each FAA develop management, organisation and efficient operating procedures as soon as possible, and urge each FAA into actions that consolidate and expand their fair trade business.
- in every target District Farmers Own must become an essential component of pro-poor business development strategy;
- to build the market research and operational functions of Farmers Own as quickly as we can so that the company can serve the people even better. The essential mechanism to eradicate poverty is to build a market services company that provides producers with a fair trade contract on a sustainable basis.
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Where in ten years?
In ten years we aim to achiev the following
- at least 250,000 people benefitting in Western Province and at least another 40,000 people in Nyanza;
- the Farmers Own brand products will move forward from low volumes to higher, on a step by step basis with improving quality also. As soon as possible a crop will move into processing and derivatives will be marketed as Farmers Own Fair Trade/Organic brand. Initially sales will be bulk products and domestic, with some transitions into consumer products. We must also look towards the greater region including the economies of the Gulf, and to Europe
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| We believe that this project offers ANYONE committed to poverty alleviation in Africa
(and ALL its impacts on food security, employment, land-use, conservation, skills transfer,
micro enterprise, housing, health, education and community development) an exceptionally safe,
sure, cost-efficient, sustainable, expandable, market led and soundly business-based way to
do something that really works, for the greatest number of the most needy people.
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