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Vol.3, No.4 |
Dear colleagues and friends in NECOFA,
During my longer period of silence you may really question whether this Hartmut Gast is still alive taking interest in all your activities. The answer is yes and I hope we could communicate more intensively in future. This year I was really overburdened with many programmes and the same will happen next year again. Additionally as you know already, we are amidst the process of fusion with our sister organization, the Carl Duisberg Society (CDG) and many things will be different in near future. Our long term Director General of DSE, Dr. Heinz Bühler, will go into retirement end of this year and a new Dirctor General, Dr. Ulrich Popp, will then be responsible for both organizations DSE and CDG, leading the process of final fusion next year, which will bring along many changes but also comparative advantages.
The name of the new organization is not yet decided, but our centre will remain under the known abbreviation ZEL and the new name quot;Centre for Food, Rural Development and the Environment". The new organization will remain its decentralized structure and we will continue to work in our two training centres in Feldafing and Zschortau.
Due to the workload this year it was not possible for me to manage in time the necessary editorial works on the proceedings of our last workshop in Bamenda, Cameroon, end of 2000. However, the proceedings are ready now, are presently multiplied and will be mailed to all workshop participants and national network groups the next days. The proceedings are divided in three parts (workshop results, papers in ecofarming extension methodology, papers in ecofarming technologies), each part compiled in a letter-file to allow rapid photocopying and multiplication of specific articles or parts. I hope all of you will like to go again through the results and findings how to improve NECOFA activities compiled in Part I. All country groups are asked to disseminate these important documents to those who have not attended the workshop and to new members.
As we agreed in Bamenda, the next workshop of NECOFA will take place next year in Uganda. I am very grateful to the NECOFA group in Uganda for their willingness to host this workshop and I hope the group will earn much more praise and consent of participants and less qualified and unqualified critics than last time. I am sure these strong ladies, supported by equally qualified men, will be able to manage an excellent event, which will bring us still a step forward in our joint activities and visions.
This issue of NECOFA Newsletter contains the announcement of the event including the objectives, contents and conditions of participation. Though we agreed to hold the workshop as soon as possible in 2002, I ask you and the local organizers for a postponement till September/October to allow my participation.
Being responsible for more than 10 other programmes next year, my attendance will be only possible at the end of the main vegetation period in Germany.
The suggested main topics of the workshop were mentioned as needs for further discussion at the workshop in Bamenda and are at the same time topics, which attract our competent ministry to receive the necessary approval. Time will be too short to go again into details of extension methodology and basic ecofarming technologies, though these issues can be never kept out in our considerations. However, these topics will remain as priorities in our virtual discussions, newsletters and informations to be exchanged.
Finally, I hope we will substantially proceed in forms of virtual communication. The CDG/DSE Virtual Forum Global Campus 21 (www.gc21.de) is functioning now and a Shared Workspace is established for NECOFA, linked with the NECOFA Homepage www.necofa.org.
I urgently ask all national network groups to send Mr. Sahle Tesfai a list of all members with an own access to INTERNET. The list should contain the full name of participants and their E-Mail address. Mr. Sahle Tesfai will then register these participants in the wokspace of the Global Campus 21 and will provide participants with their personal user codes.
The year 2001 has nearly come to end and I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Sahle Tesfai and all of you for your efforts in NECOFA and your personal efforts to propagate and disseminate Ecofarming principles in agricultural research, education and extension wherever you are.
I wish all of you a wonderful christmas time and and a successful, happy and peaceful New Year.
With kind regards
Hartmut Gast
DSE / ZEL, Feldafing, December 11, 2001
When news is too good it poses a problem of belief. The Ecofarming principles have received amazingly fast and unprecedented understanding amongst those we have had contact with. Initially the pace of conceptualizing ecofarming seemed slow. As of now the coordinating office is overwhelmed with so many requests for advice, training and extension. The other members also are in line.
You may have read in the last issue (Vol. 3 No. 2) that Zambia is yet to officially launch its chapter. Apart from those on the initial list, we have had couple of application for inclusion in attendance and participation. Once again we implore the international coordinating office to support us realize our dreams.
Our newsletter is proving popular among my new members and is helping the Network to go forward by the inspiration derived from articles of other National Network.
At this point let me share with you briefly the kind of response and recognition of ecofarming in Africa is receiving in Zambia.
Since making contact with Dr. Jeppe Nielsen here at Kasama, we have worked on issues of soil fertility, especially on green manures and cover crops - Sunnhemp (Crotolaria ochroleuca) and velvet beans (Mucuna). Our efforts have been focused on addressing food security of the staple food: maize. Our collaboration has yielded positive results in coming with the four scenarios of production. These are:
These are interesting figures obtained and directly addressing the input costs and the net crop production. Options l and 2 seems to interest small scale producers whose main aim is food security. We will release the full report on this in the next issue.
Use of Green Manuring regularly also indicate an improvement in soil acidity - pH.
Recently l and two of my colleagues all members of the Network were running three intakes of 50 each of Agriculture Extension staff drawn from five Provinces - nearly half of Zambia. Each Session lasted one week. Our course content were largely based on the options in conservation farming as is termed in government circles. We covered the main categories of technologies available, these are:
Highly noticeable from this training experience is that a great deal has long been assumed that our frontliners, (Extension staff) are conversant with the subject. Their enthusiasm and preparedness to try one or two packages of the above is highly delighting.
Once again, I and the Network colleagues in other Districts called Mpika and Nakonde are working with World Vision International (WVI) with small vulnerable farmers in small land management projects, which includes agro- forestry.
We have also secured a plot for Ecofarming with our local Farm Training Institute (Kasama) a big demonstration farm of a number of technologies, which we can avail to farmers during field days and open days. The demonstrations cover dose to two hectares. Our role is basically in advisory capacity. The Institute finances the activities.
Last week one of the UN Volunteers (CARE) at Mporokoso, where Congolese refugees are residing heard about the Network. He immediately sent for an application form and we are being invited there to liaise and work out a small training package for their selected extension personnel among the refugees. Most of them having problems adjusting to sub-tropical farming methods. There are over 28,000 settlers and each family is given four hectares.
Our Network is being drafted on the board of the Catholic Church sustainable agriculture centre, which is being established here for youth vocational training and is working out a project proposal. The proposal is for Submission to Rome for extension and monitoring. The concern has arisen because of the breakdown of the slush and burn System. The System is giving in due to population pressure and the low labour productivity the shortened fallow periods.
From the above it is giving us hope of success in future, especially that the local political and traditional leadership seem to be in support.
However, we need the full support of the International Coordinating office in fully establishing ourselves and the office facilities.
Gabriel Kaunda
ENTERIM COORDINATOR
NECOFA - ZAMBIA
A catchment or wasteland is an area from which run-off collects into a common drainage - or simply it is an areas with a common drainage. But, in this case the catchment area is a focal area or area of concentration for intensified conservation of soil and water. This is an area with farming activities in which farmers collectively agree to conserve their individual parcels of land and protect their river banks, hill tops and waterways as per the agreed conservation plan developed by the farmers, the extensions staff and other key players (collaborators).
In summary therefore the strategy of intensifying conservation through participation of relevant stakeholders within a defined area of period of time known as "catchment approach." The method entails that the community members are involved in PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION; DECISION MAKING; PLANNING; MONITORING AND EVALUATION PROCESS in their own areas.
Main objective:
The main objective is to systematically and effectively conserve one area at a time, so as to hasten the pace of conservation and to increase production in a sustainable manner with minimum damage to the environment.
Specific Aims:
Catchment identification and selection:
This is based on the awareness of the community and the seriousness of erosion problems in the catchment. The community should be given the first priority in identifying the catchment since they are conversant with the existing practices and problems in the area whether they are social, political, cultural or environment.
A community which has been identified with catchment and there is active participation in formulating development strategies (Bottom - up approach) there is always a high chance of success in implementation of conservation measures.
However technical staff and provincial administration also do play a major role in guiding, advising and mobilising the community in selection.
Local leaders have been used in proposing priority catchment areas for each location within the division.
During selection care should be taken so that the catchment areas are well distributed within the division so as to ensure greater impact.
Publicity:
Functions of the catchment committee members:
The main role is to co-ordinate individual conservation efforts and to organise the community during communal conservation days.
The committee is effective link between the extension staff and the community.Specific roles:
Gabriel Kaunda,
Ministry of Agriculture Food & Fisheries
Kasama, Northern Province /
NECOFA Zambia</TD>
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