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The Farmers Own programme embraces several dimensions and brings rounded benefits.
DEVELOPMENT DIMENSIONS
Agri-business Focus – this is the key platform to unite and bring a better livelihood to many thousands on a sustainable basis. Without this focus the millennium goals will never be met.
Market Services Provision - the poor cannot make the market on the scale needed to eradicate poverty. They have to be served by a fair trade market services company that can deliver volume and quality by compliance with standards. The way forward has to be to build Farmers Own as the processor and market maker for the poor.
Poverty Eradication - By making limited grant investments, focusing upon local organisation and management, provision of supply contracts and other incentives Farmers Own gives the poor a chance to climb out of the poverty pit, and to build home grown Kenyan businesses of substance.
Fair trade - Fair trade is the right way to globalise. Fair trade offers opportunity for fair margins to all along the value chain and right now it offers as much opportunity to businesses as it does to the poor, especially if those business link into positions like Farmers Own.
Sustainable Business Development - Fair trade is the key to sustainable socio-economic development. The way forward for people and businesses is contract farming and stable pricing.
Sustainable environment - The programme focuses up increasing yields by affordable conservation farming, the use of organic materials for plant nutrition, improving soil-water relationships etc. This is conservation by stealth as the promotion is about more yield and more money. Levering for compliance with standards such as fair trade, organic and Kenya gap is also a positive for environment.
Climate change and food miles - Aiming for a target of 10,000 ha minimum of new trees as contoured orchards on 40,000 farms will result in carbon absorption to such an extent as to wipe out the emissions caused by mage tour food miles air traffic.
Afforestation - This is an afforestation project aiming to develop economic fruit tress, pole and timber trees on all client farms.
Information - If a farmer needs new knowledge he is unlikely to access it and chances are the information is not at the District offices. The lack of information is a huge indictment. Farmers own seeks to develop a CD and internet based information system on an industrial basis (what you actually need to know) and have this accessible, at Chiefs camps and shopping centres.
Training - Some will say what training. Where are the courses for organic farming, business planning, fair trade, Kenya gap compliance and much much more. What are the availabilities and accessibilities. Low, very low marks in all cases. Farmers Own has some of these courses but seeks to develop more and get them into use.
Management Education and Training - Management is a huge weakness, mostly because young people are not taught what is required and post education often do not get support in management training. In its endeavour Farmers Own seeks scholarships and opportunities whereby its staff and those of partners can improve themselves in the management function.
So, if your agency has funds to invest in one of these dimensions please consider us and get in touch.
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