2012 – 2016 IMPACT Report selfhelpafrica.org Filimoni Malekano, Matembera Village, Filimoni Malekano, Matembera Village, Balaka District, , 2015.

and sanitation practices. Who we are • Enterprise and value What we do chain development: Self Help (SHA) is an We promote market-based • Climate-Smart international development solutions to poverty. We Agriculture: organisation dedicated to help farmers to access We help farmers to increase markets, add value to their the vision of an economically productivity, through produce and build strong thriving and resilient rural the promotion of the farmer-led organisations Africa. We have almost 50 sustainable intensification that continue to flourish years of experience working of agriculture while ensuring without the need for in smallholder farmer-led environmental stewardship. external support. agriculture and agri-enterprise We encourage the use of and support smallholders to techniques and practices • Access to Finance: build sustainable, healthy and that mitigate the effects of We support rural resilient livelihoods. climate change and ensure communities to access sustainable natural resource the financial services they management. need to establish secure livelihoods by facilitating Our mission • Food security access to savings, credit, and nutrition: and other financial services We go beyond increasing SHA is fully committed to our such as agriculture production to address mission to support sustainable insurance. livelihoods for Africa’s the quality and diversity smallholder farmers, with an of production and • Policy influencing: consumption. As well as emphasis on women and We want farmers to have supporting farmers to youth, as well as the vision of a voice in the policies feed their families through that affect their lives. We the sustainable development increased and diversified goals, which envision a produce evidence-based production and seasonal research and, as experts world free of poverty, hunger, availability of food, we in agriculture, use our disease and want, where all take a nutrition sensitive knowledge of what works life can thrive. approach to all our work; for farmers to influence promoting improved dietary reform in the agriculture diversity and good hygiene sector.

2 Our impact at a glance: 2012 – 2016 in numbers

47% of households we worked with had enough 78% of households we to eat throughout 2012. worked with had enough to eat throughout 2016.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Total number of people reached where we work:

1,174,518 286,524

480,468 901,338 MALAWI

664,940 224,850 west africa

248% 25% increase in increase in disposable crop income* production**

*based on those surveyed, this a weighted average for our poorest beneficiaries.

**316,974 households (1,958,212 people) have increased their crop production by at least 25%. This equates to 79% of households with whom we are focussing on increasing production.

3 Impact in focus: Improving food security and nutrition in Northern Province, Zambia

With extensive natural resources and proximity to international markets, farmers in Zambia’s Northern Province should have secure livelihoods, yet poverty remains entrenched; productivity is stifled by under-developed markets and a lack of infrastructure. A 2012 survey conducted by showed that 43% of the region’s population did not have enough income to meet their basic needs. SHA has been working in Luwingu and Mbala since 2013 implementing the Local Development Programme (IALDP), which aims to improve the livelihoods and food and nutrition security for 16,000 households, and strengthen district authority service delivery.

People Helping providing quality inputs and Nutrition Themselves training in climate-smart crop, Malnutrition in Northern SHA supports communities to livestock and aquaculture Province is extremely high, work together to create their production. We encourage with levels of stunting at own solutions to poverty. In farmers to plant a wider 45% in 2014. In IALDP, SHA IALDP, this has been achieved variety of nutritious crops is helping communities to through the establishment of and engage in small livestock tackle this problem head 372 Livelihood Enhancement production to improve diets on. With our support, Groups (LEGs): community- but also to provide valuable individual LEG members have based groups that ensure the income throughout the year. received UNICEF accredited needs of the community are training to become trainers in at the heart of the project, community-based infant and providing focal points of By establishing viable young child feeding practices. activity within each area community seed production These nutrition champions are targeted. enterprises and commodity setting up “Mother-to-Mother” producer groups we ensure support groups; organising Food Security that farmers are not reliant cooking demonstrations and educating the community on SHA is supporting farmers on our support beyond the the preparation of nutritious to increase productivity by lifecycle of our programme. meals. The “Mother-to-

10% 20% 16,740 increase in the increase in farmers trained proportion of the number of to increase their households who households that productivity have access to have acceptable food all year dietary diversity

4 Elizabeth & Showthem Sikombe, Nsunda, Northern Province, Zambia, 2015.

Mother” groups, which include training and to store grain savings and credit within their male members as well as and seed. Market surveys communities. This enables female, are conducting a have been carried out and even very poor households to community supplementary we are setting up a database invest in the development of feeding programme for of buyers and traders as well profitable micro-enterprises. malnourished children using as a simple SMS system for simple diet plans created with sharing up-to-date market 90 Accumulated Savings and locally available foods. information. Credit Associations (ASCAs) have been set up through Improving access We are also working on policy the LEGs and members are to markets issues with the Zambian investing their funds in small While productivity increases Ministry of Commerce, Trade businesses such as trading in are helping to improve food and Industry to deliver training fish, vegetables, cooking oil, security, SHA is also helping in entrepreneurship. Farmers salt, beer and hairdressing. IALDP farmers to establish within the enterprise groups more secure livelihoods by are now aggregating their ASCA members have increasing business skills and produce and successfully reported that the groups have access to finance. selling in larger volumes to enabled them to manage their 62 enterprise groups have buyers such as the World cash flow better, to obtain been identified from within Food Programme, and the start up capital and to make the programme’s LEGs and Zambian Food Reserve improvements to housing and SHA is providing them with Agency. nutrition. The ASCAs have targeted mentoring and now set up six registered support. Storage sheds Access to finance “Village Banks” to give access constructed with the support SHA is helping IALDP farmers to more capital to on-lend to of SHA are being used for to invest in small enterprises members. farmer meetings, community and increase their assets by increasing access to

153% €26,479 €23,576 increase in cumulative in disposable turnover of accumulated income smallholder savings by among enterprises in October beneficiaries October 2016 2016

5 Case Study: Charity’s life transformed

My children and I are healthier and are sick less of the time.

“When I look at the house, I still can’t Charity Kamwala’s warm smile speaks believe it’s mine. I feel like a different volumes about the transformation person owning it” she says. there has been in her life since she Charity Kamwala is amongst 10,000 families began working with Self Help Africa, receiving farm training and other support from in 2013. Self Help Africa in Mbala District of Zambia’s Northern Province, one of the poorest regions Instead of a basic diet of low-protein cassava in a country where over 60% of the population which was the staple for her family, the live on the equivalent of less than a Euro a day. 56-year-old widow from Nsunda village, Northern Province, Zambia says that her family As a member of a village-based savings and now eat millet, maize, vegetables and other loans group established in her community, she food that they grow on their small farm in a has taken out a number of small loans to buy the remote pocket of Northern Zambia. ingredients to make scones that she sells in the locality to supplement her farm income. A mother and grandmother who cares for seven of her young dependents, Charity “My life has changed a lot so far, and I am recently replaced her straw roof with new tin now living better than before,” she says, sheets, and extended her mud-brick built before predicting – with a smile – that it will get home with additional rooms. even better in the future.

6 Impact in focus: Strengthening cashew value chains in West Africa

West Africa is the single largest raw cashew-producing region in the world, yet productivity remains low and just 10% of what is produced is processed in the region. SHA has been helping West African farmers to increase their incomes from cashew since 2013.

In 2012, SHA embarked on snackfood company supporting legumes by smallholder farmers a pilot project with FritoLay a further 2,000 Beninese has not only enriched immediate (PepsiCo’s snack food arm) and cashew farmers to increase the returns from the cultivated area, local processor Tolaro Global to quality and quantity of cashew but also contributed to soil fertility support smallholder farmers in production and strengthen our enhancement and a reduction in increasing production five partner cooperatives. in the labour burden of women and the collective marketing of who are responsible for weeding. cashew. We supported the set Our growing reputation in the For our partner Tolaro Global, the up and training of four farmer cashew value chain in West increase in farmer productivity has cooperatives, trained farmers Africa also led to a partnership enabled the company to triple its in improved and sustainable with the African Cashew processing capacity. production techniques and Alliance on a three-year Walmart post harvest handling, and Foundation-funded project Building on our experience in provided simple equipment to ‘Empowering Women within the Benin, SHA has been instrumental assist with value addition, as well Cashew Value Chain’ in in the establishment of the Cashew as setting up community-based and Kenya. SHA is leading Interprofession in to seedling multiplication. the capacity building of 25,000 protect and promote the cashew smallholder farmers in Ghana and industry, part of whose remit is Thanks to our efforts farmers saw 10,000 smallholders in Kenya in to enforce agreed commitments increases in both productivity cashew orchard management; between producers, processors and crop quality, enabling them utilisation of by-products; and and traders in relation to securing to increase their income through training farmer associations in of nuts at a reasonable price high volume sales and better value chain management and for processors. prices at market. This successful farming as a business to enable pilot led to another partnership them to better navigate this from 2014-2016 with Intersnack, competitive market. The adoption the Dutch-headquartered of intercropping cashew with

21% 29,200 28.5% increase in Beninese increased price per kg farmers production achieved reached in Benin in Benin

7 Impact in focus: Increasing resilience in Malawi and Burkina Faso

SHA helps vulnerable communities to confront multiple threats to food and nutrition security and address the fragility of current food production systems. Our Resilience Programming Framework encompasses three integrated, complementary and mutually reinforcing outcomes: food and economic resilience; ecological resilience; and organisational resilience. It guides the design and implementation of programmes - such as DISCOVER in Malawi and BRACED in Burkina Faso - which are helping farmers to better cope with the long and short-term effects of climate change.

Developing Innovative In Karonga, northern Malawi, and conservation agriculture Solutions with SHA worked with communities techniques. We are supporting Communities to Overcome to identify a range of shocks enterprise development and Vulnerability through and stresses that could affect access to finance through Enhanced Resilience smallholders and designed the development of Village (DISCOVER) an integrated livelihoods Savings and Loans groups and resilience programme and promotion of sustainable to address these at both enterprises such as household and community beekeeping. level. At community level, we are Working with 13,000 supporting village and district households to benefit 78,000 structures to develop action people, we are helping to and response plans, share improve food and economic information for Disaster security through increased Risk Management (DRM) and diversified crop and and support for sustainable livestock production. We natural resource management are promoting the use of of wetlands, watersheds drought and flood tolerant and forests. We have also crop varieties, community- established community early based seed systems (to warning systems to ensure ensure on-going availability preparedness for future of drought-tolerant seeds) disasters.

89% €72,291 of DISCOVER saved by farmers DISCOVER diversifying Village Savings activities and Loans by 2015 groups

8 Case Study:

Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate THE FUTURE Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) IS BRIGHT BRACED works intensively with 34,950 rural households, benefitting 620,000 in the wider community by increasing economic and ecological My children resilience and building institutional capacity. will have the SHA is helping to improve opportunity to do production and food security by promoting drought more than me in tolerant crops and supporting community-based production the future. of drought tolerant seed varieties, installing drip irrigation systems, and helping farmers to add value to their produce Habibou Tiendrebeogo was still in her 20s and access market information. when crisis struck and her husband went blind following an illness. On ecological resilience we are promoting conservation She became the sole provider for her four young children agriculture techniques and on their two-acre farm in Nomgana village on the outskirts the use of CO2 reducing of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. technologies such as fuel- efficient stoves. We are Like other women in her village, Habibou joined the supporting reforestation, BRACED project and received improved maize, beans and promoting the use of non- sesame seeds to plant. She also received training that has timber forest products and allowed her to maximise her yields, and earn more from helping communities to develop selling her surplus. forest management plans. “I used to grow the same crops, but I didn’t At institutional level, we are harvest as much. I planted my seeds not long ago supporting the Burkinabé and they are already looking good.” Ministry of Agriculture to establish plant clinics For Habibou’s children, this has meant they can continue (community clinics providing their education to secondary level: diagnosis and advice on pests and diseases), setting up “I used the income from my crops to pay for my community-based early warning chidlrens’ school fees. The project is helping systems and engaging with them.” policy-makers at village, district, province and national level to While Habibou only attended school for five years, the supportBaba Wedrago, the Sikaadoption Village, of plant future is brighter for her daughter Fatimata, who is clinicsBurkina Faso.and early warning weather amongst just 15% of girls in Burkina Faso attending systems into development plans secondary school. And she has big dreams, as she hopes and budgets. to attend university and become a doctor.

9 Impact in focus: Community-based seed production in Ethiopia

SHA’s pioneering work with Edget Farmers’ Union has resulted in an improved supply of wheat seed in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP) Region of Ethiopia, and has received national recognition.

Access to quality seed is essential for farmers, but in Ethiopia demand far outstrips 30% €1 million supply. A major bottleneck has of improved current been a shortage of improved wheat seed in annual early generation wheat seed. SNNP Region turnover of Self Help Africa worked is with Edget Farmers’ Union supplied by Edget Farmers’ to pioneer farmer-led seed Edget farmers Union production, which has now set the standard for community seed multiplication nationally. and operating a lab for seed pay farmers a premium of quality testing. It has been between 15% Our support has provided the profitable for 4 years and has and 25% above market price Union with capital investment in received national recognition for grain. seed cleaning facilities, storage as a member of the Ethiopian warehouses, seed quality government’s seed variety Building on this success, SHA testing facilities, and provided selection committee. has been selected by both the training and extension services FAO and Ethiopian Agricultural to farmers to undertake quality SHA played a crucial ‘trusted Transformation Agency to seed production, storage and broker’ role in this project, implement our community- marketing activities. We also linking farmers to research based seed production helped to establish relationships institutions and government approach as a “gold standard” between the Union and staff, as well as disseminating in other regions of Ethiopia agricultural research services. results and helping to change and in June 2016 received attitudes and perceptions of the Cooperative Capacity The project is a sustainable farmers’ capacities among Builder Award 2016 from the success story. An initial pilot government and research Federal Cooperative Agency of SHA’s approach in the staff, who now recognise the in recognition of our work with 2012/2013 growing season capacity of farmers’ groups cooperatives. In 2016 SHA with a budget of just €45,000 to enter the seed market was asked to sit on the national saw 623 farmers achieve as autonomous local seed emergency seed committee set significant increases in income. businesses. For individual up by the Ethiopian government Today, Edget Farmers Union farmers, membership provides to deal with the impact of the El has become a successful the opportunity to achieve the Niño phenomenon. farmer seed enterprise, best possible price for their employing 12 professionals produce. Primary cooperatives

10 Impact in focus: Reducing poverty in Uganda

Part of USAID’s flagship Feed the Future initiative, the Community Connector (CC) project saw SHA work with over 80,000 individuals in the north and southwest of the country between 2012 and 2016, working to improve livelihoods and nutrition with a particular focus on women and children.

SHA worked with a number the adoption of high value grow, but are often neglected on of partners on this project, enterprises such as seed the farm and on the table. acting as the technical lead for potato production, onion the agriculture and livelihoods and passion fruit production, The project has also had notable component. We provided beekeeping and livestock success in empowering women training curricula and materials management. using the innovative Family Life for the training of smallholder Model (FLM), an integrated households in agronomic skills, We helped farmers to build approach that presents the agri-business skills and farmer more secure livelihoods by relationship between the organisation development, working with over 3,000 farmer aspirations of families (family subsequently supporting producer groups to improve food, wealth and health) and the farmers to establish links with their knowledge and empower resources that they can exploit private sector enterprises. them to make informed farming to meet these aspirations, decisions about their businesses including the role of family unity. In line with our ethos, our and increasing access to financial 95% of respondents sampled approach was rooted in services by supporting Village in a 2015 study noted that building the skills of the Savings and Loans groups. women’s access to and use community from within. of finance had improved as a We established learning Working through dedicated result of participating in the FLM sites across 15 districts in learning sites within the target approach. The study also found southwestern and northern communities, we targeted that according to the Women’s Uganda to demonstrate pregnant and breastfeeding Empowerment in Agriculture recommended technologies mothers specifically with training Index framework, participating or agricultural techniques, in farming crops of high nutritional women are economically helping farmers to improve value such as amaranth, carrot, empowered with an overall farm production, productivity cabbage and aubergines. These score of 80%. and food security by promoting are all crops that are easy to

12% 119% 22% reduction in average increase in the households increase in number of 6–23 reporting disposable month-old moderate to income from children having severe hunger 2012–2014 3 meals a day

11 Case Study: SUPPORT FOR HIV HOUSEHOLDS

I feel proud that I can now afford to send my children to school

Low energy, illness, vulnerability The equipment reduces the amount of time to disease and social stigma are and labour she has to spend both weeding amongst the many challenges and irrigating her crops. She says that her endured by rural households living family’s diet has improved beyond all measure and the sale of fruit and vegetables is enabling with HIV/AIDS, in Africa. her to earn €350 a year ($KE35,000) from her land. One agricultural project being implemented by Self Help Africa to address this distinct challenge Julia says that she has lifted her self out has delivered major benefits to more than 1,500 of poverty as a result of the backing she Kenyan households, since it was first launched has received, and explains that while her in Nakuru County over four years ago. general health, as a person with HIV/AIDS has improved, what has also improved is the 47-year-old Julia Gitari is one householder attitude of others towards her family. who has benefitted from the project. Alongside 150 households in her community, Julia was “I feel proud that I can now afford to send given a polytunnel greenhouse, drip-irrigation my children to school, and people in the units, training and other support when she community respect this too,” she says. joined the project in 2013.

12 Impact in focus: Value addition in the Kenyan dairy value chain

In Keringet, a settlement in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, SHA’s work with a local community trust, KCSEED, has blossomed from a collaborative development project to create an enterprise that will continue to thrive and provide a steady income for dairy farmers and develop the local economy into the future.

15,000 242% 10,000 litres of milk increase in local dairy received daily KFL’s turnover farmers by KFL from from 2014 to positively 2,300 dairy 2015, affected by farmers to €1,200,000 the project

SHA began working in that enable small-scale dairy plant benefits from increased Keringet in 2012, supporting farmers to bulk their milk, chill and regular supply of milk from the community to improve it to preserve its quality and farmers, and a better price access to potable water and jointly market the chilled milk from dairies. sanitation, improve agricultural to processors. This reduces production and develop farmer the cost of procuring milk from SHA’s collaboration with enterprise. SHA has since processors, meaning that KCSEED has helped to supported KCSEED to set up farmers receive a better price improve livelihoods in Keringet Keringet Foods Limited (KFL) for their milk. and established an enterprise – a public limited company with real potential. Their established to promote The project uses an innovative presence in the dairy market economic development by integrated payment/financing has had a wider impact, adding value to agricultural model for dairy farmers. A applying upward pressure produce. trilateral payment system was on prices paid by other milk created which demonstrates off-takers and improving We helped to establish a milk how far agri-finance can be services from agro-vets and bulking centre equipped with taken to achieve optimal other service providers. Youth three 5,000 litre milk chilling support for smallholders. are participating by setting up tanks, a small pasteuriser and Farmers access agro-vet milk collection rounds. Today, a laboratory for testing raw and milk-transporter services KFL is running at full capacity, milk. KFL staff and service on a ‘check-off’ system and processing thousands of litres providers including vets, agro- credit is deducted monthly of milk daily and is developing inputs shops, and artificial from sales paid by mobile- a long-term strategy to expand insemination agents work phone based money transfer, its activities to higher value dairy with local farmers to improve while agro-vets benefit from products such as yoghurt and feeding, breeding and milk increased business and a cheese, and setting up milk production practices. The single customer to invoice (the dispensers selling pasteurised centre also provides facilities bulking plant); and the bulking milk in local towns.

13 Impact in focus: Supporting a strong enabling environment

Successful agricultural transformation depends on the presence of a strong enabling environment. Agricultural sector reform has been the basis of SHA’s policy engagement efforts between 2012 and 2016, with engagement in a number of national-level processes in Africa.

Agriculture and Seed Agricultural Transformation Value Chain Development Sector Development (ATA). This was an excellent SHA has also been contributing In Ethiopia, through our example of evidence-based to reforms that would enable the Farmer-Led Early Seed policy influencing, the impact creation of an adequate policy Generation Programme, of which is shown by the and institutional framework for SHA has been playing an model being replicated at agribusiness development, ‘innovation intermediary’ role in scale. addressing different dimensions enabling smallholder farmers to of the agriculture commodity engage in seed multiplication In Malawi, SHA contributed market with emphasis on and establish local seed to the process of formulation commercial opportunities enterprises. On the basis of of the National Agricultural for smallholder farmers and this groundbreaking work and Policy, adopted in 2016. The profitability pathways. related evidence generated, key innovation in the policy SHA was invited to take part is the effective articulation of In Burkina Faso, SHA has been in the drafting of Ethiopia’s climate smart agriculture (with engaging with the Ministry of new Seed Strategy, which was emphasis on the promotion of Industry and Trade, pushing adopted in 2013. conservation agriculture, land for the adoption of a national rehabilitation technologies, strategy for the cashew The strategy recognised and agroforestry) and the sector – with emphasis on smallholders’ capacity to introduction of the Lead market regulation, financial produce quality seed and Farmer concept. and technical support for the contribute to a pluralistic seed sector and enhanced dialogue sector that provides quality Similar initiatives were between the cashew farmers assurance over both the formal undertaken in Uganda with the and processors. In 2015, an and informal seed sectors. Agriculture Extension Policy Interprofession was set up, The Edget Union model was and Zambia with the Wetlands comprising of the National Union recognised as the first of its Management Policy – both still of Cashew Producers (UNPA), kind and is currently being work in progress. the National Association of replicated in other regions with Cashew Processors (ANTA), support from the Agency for and umbrella groupings for traders and exporters and input providers.

14 Our Approach: Integrated and inclusive development

Across all our programmes we promote discussion and mutual understanding of Impact in issues between men and women in relation practice: to gender inequality. Changing gender relations in Ethiopia Our aim is to improve development through women’s economic our ‘whole household In Ethiopia, women account empowerment through approach’. The approach for 60–80% of food increasing their voice, extends to farmer training production, but unequal choice and control in their and capacity building, the gender relations mean households and community; Family Life Model, and women struggle to access their voice in collective by targeting the inclusion services and resources and spaces, their decision of at least 50% women end up producing 23% less making power, and their as direct beneficiaries in per hectare than their male control over the economic all project activities and counterparts. resources produced as a particularly in leadership result of their labour. roles. In addition, our In SHA’s Building Resilience projects integrate activities through Seed and SHA has technical expertise to promote discussion Conservation Agriculture in promoting a gender and mutual understanding project, efforts to change transformative approach. of issues such as rights practices and attitudes to Our strategic commitment to and responsibilities, improve the situation of gender equality and women’s gender roles and unequal women are paying off: empowerment is embodied workloads. in our Social Inclusion Policy, “Since the previous training which ensures that the We know that there are no a lot has changed in our crosscutting issue of ‘quick wins’ in improving household. My wife has gender is mainstreamed gender relations; changing become a registered member across our operations and behaviour and attitudes of the cooperative. I used to management practices. takes time. Nevertheless, stay outside home during the using our innovative nights and spend my money. SHA involves communities Voice, Choice, Control However, now I just go back (including men, women monitoring tool we have home with all I have. We have and vulnerable groups) in a begun to detect shifts in better love and discussion in participatory assessment of the communities we work our house. She taught me their needs and challenges with, with all our country how to prepare ‘Sambusa’ and uses the information programmes recording a and I help her with lighting as the basis of our project measurable, positive the fire, boiling oil and the design. We prioritise the change in women’s decision like. I used to be afraid of the inclusion of women as making power. smoke but not now” equal partners in livelihood - Mr. Gebeyehu

15 our approach: Measuring our results

Learning is at the heart of our values. We strive for the highest possible standards in our work, and encourage a culture of constant learning and improvement.

Donald Kalipo, Nambazo Village, Balaka District, Malawi, 2015.

In recent years SHA has ensuring value for money, arise. Our monitoring and invested in improving our taking care to be practical evaluation system is grounded monitoring and evaluation and resource efficient. in an understanding that systems, helping us to see We keep our systems as every village we work with is and communicate our results, efficient and practical as different. We gather information ensuring accountability to possible by: timing data on the local costs of staple our stakeholders – including collection carefully, using a set and nutritious foods, livestock, farmers – and improving of standardised ‘core’ indicators basic non-food items and the planning and delivery of and using tablet computers to school costs as well as farming programmes. This means speed up data collection. inputs and other factors such that we can make informed as access to markets, so decisions about individual We use our data to ensure that we can understand what projects and our wider we reach the people it means in a local village to organisational strategy; that need our support have a decent, or ‘minimum’ reviews in 2013 and 2014 the most. We understand standard of living. enabled us to identify strengths that people participate in and and weaknesses in our benefit from our programmes We use the evidence we programmes, and led to a in different ways, and to varying gather to influence others. stronger focus on resilience as extents. The data we collect We seek to influence policy in well as greater emphasis on on our project beneficiaries the countries where we work improving nutrition. is disaggregated by wealth and on the international stage, groupings, helping us to target bringing data from our work Our monitoring and our programmes and determine and presenting this to policy evaluation system is based if the poorer households are makers and practitioners. on tracking key changes benefitting and make changes Policy influencing is a pillar of we seek to make while to address challenges as they development programming;

16 the dynamism of the rural • Crop surveys: control assessment: sector has been a major Every year we measure Which helps us to see if contributor to overall growth the crops households are women are gaining more in most developing countries, producing, their yields, control over decision making and experience shows that farming practices, and in their home policy is a key ingredient for their access to finance and community. and markets. This helps the emergence of a vibrant us to assess whether the • Organisational capacity rural economy. training and support we assessment: Which provide is starting to make a explores the strengths We use our data from our difference. and weaknesses of programmes to contribute partner organisations or to best practice and • Individual Household cooperatives, in order to knowledge generation. Method (IHM): help us target our support. We work with local and A quantitative tool that international researchers to looks at key metrics of We strive for the highest understand the impact of our the household economy quality standards in our including household work and share those lessons work. We encourage a disposable income, and if culture of constant learning widely. For example, in 2016 the household is above or and improvement within the SHA in Zambia collaborated below a locally calculated with the International poverty line. organisation, providing our Institute for Environment staff with a wide range of and Development (IIED) to • Qualitative Impact resources to support this, produce case studies looking Protocol (QUIP): including: online learning at the influence of climate A qualitative double blind platforms, online resource considerations on farmer evaluation approach that libraries, support for piloting cropping strategies for the helps us understand the technologies and approaches. positive and negative Irish Aid/IIED Climate Change We have established changes beneficiaries have communities of practice so Learning Platform. experienced in recent years, that expertise and practical and to what, or whom they attribute those changes. advice can be shared across We use a variety of all our country programmes. approaches to capture • Food consumption information, depending score: on what is appropriate A household dietary diversity to the project goals and survey, which assesses a context. All data is collected household’s diet, and helps and stored securely to us to gauge the influence maintain confidentiality. The of our programmes on most common tools we use nutrition. are: • Voice, choice and

17 Impact in focus: Innovation that works for the poor

Finding effective solutions to poverty in Africa requires innovative thinking and a pragmatic approach. SHA is committed to exploring innovative solutions to the problems smallholders face.

Increasing access the impact of pests and Ethical solutions to extension services associated losses by offering in global trade using mobile phones farmers advice and support. Partner Africa, a wholly In Malawi, SHA has Following a successful pilot owned subsidiary of Self established its reputation in Uganda, SHA is now Help Africa, is a not-for- as a lead player in the field implementing plant clinics profit social enterprise that of ICT-enabled agricultural in Malawi, Zambia and delivers ethical audits, messaging and content. Burkina Faso and will shortly training and consultancy Working with the Ministry of commence in Kenya. services across Africa and Agriculture and Food Security, the Near East. Partner Africa telecoms companies and Unlocking markets works with local suppliers international NGOs, SHA to benefit farmers and producers and leading coordinates the development SHA is a majority stakeholder international brands such of agricultural content for in TruTrade; an innovative as Coca Cola, SAB Miller, mobile communications social enterprise that provides Diageo and Tesco. Its training platforms, with over 300,000 a structured and transparent and consultancy services farmers accessing content agricultural trading service. enable local suppliers and through their mobile phones Operating in Kenya and producers to increase their in 2015. SHA is now using the Uganda, TruTrade uses a presence in the global market same technology in Zambia, secure and transparent by ensuring compliance with Burkina Faso and Uganda. payment service and its Western buyers’ ethical trade own network of recognised standards, while its auditing Dealing with crop brokers who collect and and consultancy services pests and diseases deliver produce. The model help international businesses SHA has worked with the works for everyone; producers to ensure their suppliers Centre for Agriculture and receive fairer prices, brokers are compliant and provide Biosciences International develop their businesses an insight into the context, (CABI) to implement an and buyers get quality and culture, regulations, standards innovative plant clinic volume and the ability to trace and working practices in their approach to address the produce to source. In 2016 countries of operation. challenge of post harvest TruTrade traded US$500,000 losses resulting from pests of produce; the price paid to and diseases. Run by farmers for their crops was an specially trained extension average of 17% above staff, a network of plant clinics market rate. helps to anticipate and reduce

18 EMBRACING CHANGE: Our plans for 2017–2021

SHA is enormously proud of the achievements it has made over the past five years and the positive impact we continue to have on rural communities across Africa, but we know there is still more work to be done.

Our strategic plan for the countries of operation and • Gender and inclusion: next five years sets out in new countries), while in Working to address an ambitious target: we developing economies we inequalities in the want to support one million will take a market-based communities where smallholder households. approach working to build we work farmer enterprise and We have three key aims for agribusinesses. Building on • Youth: 2017– 2021: our success in Ethiopia as Specifically targeting and part of the emergency seed engaging young people in 1. Improved food, nutrition committee set up in response our programmes and income security for to the El Niño crisis, we will • Climate Smart smallholder farmers respond to emergencies Agriculture: 2. The development of where appropriate – bridging Increasing productivity inclusive, sustainable and the gap between emergency sustainably and increasing profitable agri-business and development work. resilience to climate 3. An improved policy On the policy environment change environment for we will advocate with and smallholder farmers on behalf of farmers, using • Innovation and our position as experts in technology: In working towards our agricultural development to Using technological goals, we have developed raise awareness of the needs advances to the benefit a two-pronged approach of farmers and challenges of farmers that will see us expand our they face. food, nutrition and income security work into more This work is all underpinned fragile areas (within existing by four cross cutting themes:

Sambiani Telate, Tigba Kidi Womens Corporation, , 2015.

19 selfhelpafrica.org

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Cover: Lina Lungu, Northern Province, Zambia, 2016.