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2005 Review : Where we work
BrazilProject Elo The Syngenta Foundationrelies on strong,
local representatives who work with partners in national
and international research institutions, and civil society to ensure effective in-country management.
Uganda
The Farmer’s Information Communication
Management (FICOM) Pilot Project
I earned degrees in computer science and
information management at European
universities. I then returned to Uganda
to set up my own business.Once I was established, the Information and
Communication Technology for Africa Rural
Development (ICTARD) approached me to
take on its project of eradicating poverty in
the rural areas using innovative IT solutions.
Initially, I worked on my own. Getting a
good team in place and launching the pilot
was hard work. The key was never to stop
asking farmers questions! They often told
us how surprised they were to see we took
their answers on board.
Hellene Karamagi
Program Coordinator
Kenya
Insect Resistance Maize for Africa (IRMA)
Even as a child, growing up on a small farm on Mount Kenya,
I could see that farmers couldn't get their hands on good
seeds and fertilizer. I wanted to be a doctor, but in
school, my teachers talked about how agriculture could
solve the problems of my country. This had great appeal
to me.
By the time I was working to improve maize
in the semi-arid areas, I was seeing problems
I had never seen before. Despite work, work,
work, farmers could not make a living. Half
the time they sowed seed and there were
no crops at all.
Stephen Mugo
Program Coordinator
India
Maharogi Sewa Samiti Support
Agriculture is the mainstay of our partner organization,
which began as a rehabilitation center for leprosy patients,
then admitted disabled people. Although tools and tractors
are used for opening up the land, the rest is done by
hand.
I have spent nearly 25 years in
the regulatory side of agriculture, with
experience in plant breeding. To see these
people having recovered from severe
illnesses, many of them blind or with
deformed limbs, cultivating the crops,
is an extremely moving experience.
Partha Das Gupta
Consultant
Brazil
Projeto Elo [Brazil] (“Project Link”)
The driving force in my professional life has
been to strengthen small-holder farmers –
only to produce food to feed their families,
but to generate income in the marketplace.
While the South of Brazil is highly developed,
the Northeast is a vast area of scrubland,
with only a very tiny portion available to
farmers to scratch out a living. Despite this
constraint, we can do a lot for them.
I have a great deal of experience in the
regulations in Brazil that must be followed
to produce food for export, and I greatly
look forward to applying it in this project.
Sarah Cordeira Vidal
Project Elo Coordinator
Mali
Cinzana Agricultural Research Station [Mali]
Our challenge is increasing adoption of
technology from a few thousand farmers
to millions of producers.
We’ve used channels like extension bulletins,
posters, farmers’ field days and on-farm
visits, plus the local media, to reach wealthier
farmers, who have the resources to adopt
new techniques – they’ve now moved into
more market-oriented production. It’s now
time to reach the smaller farmers.
We’ve just completed a survey to identify
how farmers determine wealth and livelihood
since the final choice of adopting a given
technology belongs to them – they know
their own capabilities and the relevance of
innovation to their livelihood.
Samba Traoré
Head, Millet Breeding Program
Cinzana Research Station
Eritrea
Sustainable Land Management
As an Eritrean, I lived in the UK for ten years,
and returned to bring some know-how
into the country and help farmers ward
off starvation.
We do a lot of capacity building because it’s
a young country. The data we collect helps
train Ministry of Agriculture staff and will be
incorporated into new policies.
Before, campaigns motivated farmers with
cash, but that’s over. People were happy to
build, but not to maintain, so we now need
to convince farmers to adopt soil and water
conservation techniques. New seed varieties
have had a high adoption rate, and that’s
encouraging.
Paul Roden
Program Officer
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