Africa Good News - Development

Lighting Up Lives: African Women Train as “Barefoot” Solar Engineers

Africa Good News Editor — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:25:00 +0000

An illiterate grandmother from a small village in Malawi, Stella, found it hard to picture what lay ahead when she arrived at the Barefoot College of India.

Six months later she emerged as one of 25 trained African solar technicians, ready to electrify her home village for the first time.

“I never imagined that technical knowledge like this would be open to women who were illiterates, like us,” she reflected at the end of her training in Tilonia, in the state of Rajasthan. “But coming to Tilonia has given us this confidence that we can learn about new things and make our lives better.”

By collaborating with the Barefoot College and its NGO partners, UN Women is supporting a programme to empower marginalized women across the world, and help them start to drive their local green economies.

The programme, running since 2004, teaches engineering skills to illiterate older women from rural communities – a particularly vulnerable group worldwide – before equipping them with solar lamp kits to assemble and install in their own and nearby villages.

During this training session, which ran from September 2011 to the following March, women travelled from across Africa, from countries like Uganda Liberia and South Sudan, to take part. Each were selected or nominated by their local community and supported by a variety of local and international organisations, and in some cases, their governments.

The purpose of the training is to empower the women, many of whom have laboured in agricultural work for most of their lives, to gain a skill more age appropriate, while affording them a new position of respect in their communities.

Bawor Mamma, for example, has spent years recovering from the lingering effects of civil war and economic dislocation in Liberia. At 53 she prefers assembling solar lanterns to the physical strain of farming. “I am not just a farmer like everyone else,” she says with a clear sense of pride. “I am a solar engineer now and I want to electrify my village and other neighbouring villages.”

“What Barefoot College has effectively demonstrated is how the combination of traditional knowledge (barefoot) and demystified modern skills can bring lasting impact and fundamental change when the tools are in the control and ownership of the rural poor,” confirms Dr Bunker Roy, the Director of the Barefoot College.

The women are also supporting a greener form of energy usage. Many live in villages without any electricity at all, where kerosene usage is high. Yet kerosene is not a sustainable resource, nor is it cheap or healthy. Barefoot College estimates that the initiative now saves around 160,000 litres of kerosene a month across South America, Africa and Asia.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, the new technicians are also taught how to train other villagers in the maintenance of these lamps, and encouraged to set up electronics repairs shops, which will generate a regular income.

The programme can be a formidable challenge for the women. “In the beginning, many women face problems, since it is the first time they have left their children and village,” says Leela Devi, a teacher in the solar engineering department. “But we have to be like their sisters, and constantly remind them of the advantages of being here and learning solar engineering.” Their trainers, who mostly speak Hindi, must cut across linguistic and cultural barriers using gestures and signs.

Yet the desire to light up their communities and empower the women in them, has proven a unifying bond. With just six months training in the college, students have shown that they can transcend tremendous barriers, and emerge as self sustaining solar engineers, and change-makers.

Source: United Nations

Banda, Sirleaf Pave Way for More African Female Leaders

Africa Good News Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Joyce Banda’s swearing in as president of Malawi last month made her the second female head of state in Africa - following Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s election victory in Liberia in 2005. Many see this as a key advance for women on a continent that has been dominated by male political figures.

Joyce Banda

John Kapito, chairman of the Malawi Human Rights Commission, has been following Joyce Banda’s career for many years. He watched in 1990 as Banda founded the National Association of Business Women, which provides training and loans to women wanting to start up small-scale businesses.

He also followed the creation of the Joyce Banda Foundation, a charity that helps orphans and low-income children in Malawi get an education. In 1997 Banda was awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger - conferred by the U.S.-based Hunger Project.

Banda’s slow but steady climb to the top has not been easy. She walked away from an abusive marriage in 1981 at a time when most women stayed in such situations. Much later, as vice president of Malawi and also deputy president of the ruling party, she lost her party position after refusing to support then-president Bingu wa Mutharika in his bid to have his brother take over the presidency.

Becoming president

So, after Mutharika died suddenly at the beginning of April, Vice President Joyce Banda became President Joyce Banda.

Malawi Human Rights Commission chairman Kapito says Banda is a role model for women and the nation as a whole - well able to ensure that the rights of the poor, especially rural women, are respected.

“As a woman I think she has demonstrated that, one, she can be listened to," said Kapito. "She cannot be manipulated quickly. Most of the businesses in Malawi are run by the male, and they are dominated by the male. And that, I think, will be a test where she can put her foot down and say, I would want to transfer all these resources to the rural people, to the poor people in the rural areas.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Skip over to the other side of the continent, where Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is enjoying her second term as president of formerly war-torn Liberia.

Ebrahim Faqir, manager for governance at the South African-based Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, notes that both Presidents Banda and Sirleaf have had strong track records in promoting women’s rights as well as holding positions in the corporate and private sector - skills, knowledge, and experiences that they brought to their presidencies.

President Sirleaf, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, was an executive in the international banking community and a former economist working for The World Bank and Citibank in Africa.

Like Joyce Banda, Sirleaf has taken heat for some unpopular stances, including a crackdown on corruption, stringent debt-reduction measures, and what some considered an over-reliance on foreign aid.

Living up to hopes

Faqir says he thinks Sirleaf has largely lived up to the great hope that surrounded her 2005 election.

“She instituted a truth and reconciliation commission," said Faqir. "She announced very drastic policy changes - the most key among them free education at least for children up to a certain age. She introduced some kind of policy change for revitalization in the health sector and in the economy, and trying to stem the tide of corruption.”

Faqir says Sirleaf’s and Banda’s successes come at a time when child-rearing and domestic chores still limit many women from pursuing high-level positions in public office - and that a lack of support for women in these areas is a world-wide phenomenon. He says in many parts of Africa, there is still a clash between traditional and modern views of women’s role in public life - but that is changing rapidly.

Role of women in Africa

“There are massive shifts taking place across the African continent," added Faqir. "There is a rise of a civil society, a rise of direct citizen action. And I think much of this does find in evidence an increasing role for women, not just among civil and political actors, but also in the economy.”

In the opinion of Elisha Attai, founder of the African Women in Leadership Organization, the Sirleaf and Banda presidencies highlight qualities inherent in women that seem to suggest they can be better leaders in places like his home country, Nigeria.

“Most of these positions that have done so well - whether in government, whether in national industry - are being manned by women; and you do not have issues," said Attai. "But most of the corrupted offices that we had problems with, are being handled by men. So I just feel naturally a strong woman, who is well-educated, is not really corrupt.”

In addition to possibly being less corrupt, he says he thinks women are less likely to go to war or to get caught up in politically-motivated wrangling.

By Cathy Majtenyi

Source: VOA News

DRC Farmers Reaping Rewards of New Methods

Africa Good News Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are embracing a new variety of cassava which, in combination with improved agricultural techniques, easily outperforms yields from other popular types of this important crop.

Cassava is a staple food in many parts of DRC, and farmers disappointed with harvests of the popular F100 variety, which has proved vulnerable to a plant disease called mosaic, have turned to a newer strain with great success.

"We produced 58 tonnes of TME 419 cassava from a two hectare field in 2011," said 27-year-old Romain Twarita. "That's a yield of 29 tonnes per hectare, compared to the 10 or 12 tonnes per hectare of F100 that we harvested in 2010."

Twarita, the coordinator of Action Jeunes Pour le Développement de Nkara (AJDN), an association of 22 young farmers at Nkara, 90 kilometres from Kikwit, the capital of the southwestern DRC province of Bandundu, says the 2011 crop brought in more than 25,000 dollars for AJDN, against 10,000 dollars the year before, and just 3,000 dollars in 2009, the year the association was established.

He said AJDN has also adopted "binage", a new method of hoeing which maximises the benefits of irrigation –"worth two waterings", as Twarita put it. Binage calls for the surface of the soil to be broken up, to allow more rain to soak into it. The young farmers also use compost and manure to enrich the soil with organic and mineral matter.

"The big problem is a shortage of farm implements, and the lack of understanding from landowners who ask so much money for a plot – 40 or 50 dollars for half a hectare, depending on location," he told IPS.

"The cassava is bought from farms here by traders, then sent to the capital, Kinshasa, where it sells fast," said Jacques Mitini, president of the provincial network of small farmers' organisations in Bandundu, which includes 255 smallholder associations, nearly a third of these representing young farmers between the ages of 21 and 33.

In the west of DRC, in Bas-Congo province, the Comité de Développement de Kakongo (CDK) is planting trees to create windbreaks and maintain soil moisture, boosting production of other crops on a three-hectare plot.

"We are using intercropping, that's why there are these wind-breaks of moringa trees which also fertilise the earth without us needing to use chemical fertilisers. Irrigation is also important," said Espérance Nzuzi, president of Force Paysanne du Bas-Congo, a network of 264 smallholder farmers associations, including 87 created by youth.

"The 84 tonnes of TME 419 cassava harvested last year earned us 39,960 dollars, compared to just 6,160 dollars from 14 tonnes of F100 in 2010," said Nzuzi.

On two hectares on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, another youth association, Jeunes Dynamiques de Malulku (JDM), has also found success with the adoption of new techniques.

"We've only been practicing binage since we started this venture in 2010. We produced 15 tonnes of TME 419 from a single hectare that year, but in 2011 we harvested 28 tonnes from a hectare and a half, applying a little bit of chemical fertiliser," said Anne Mburabata, 32, president of the association.

"Before we started popularising TME 419 cassava, we tested it carefully," said Didier Mboma, who heads the technical innovation service at the Impresa Servizi Coordinati (ISCO), an Italian NGO which is making free cuttings of the new cassava variety available to farmers.

"Since the tests in 2008, we have planted 3,000 cuttings, and we have harvested 30,000."

Mboma said that young farmers are strongly establishing themselves as productive farmers, while contributing to the country's food security.

"Young farmers must move towards professionalisation, and take control of the entire value chain from production, to processing, to marketing," said Dr. Christophe Arthur Mampuya, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Livestock.

"The TME 419 variety is a high-yielding one. It's also among the best varieties being promoted," he said.

Mampuya said emerging young farmers must also plant woodlots, as adoption of the new cassava variety is scaled up.

"TME 419 is more popular in the west of DRC than in the east, but step by step, the variety could spread across the country," said Paluku Mivimba, president of the National Confederation of Agricultural Producers of Congo.

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman

Source: IPS News

Palestinian Children Learn the Afro-Brazilian Way

Africa Good News Editor — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Standing under a canopy just inside Jerusalem’s Old City walls, a group of 20 Palestinian children are banging drums, clapping their hands and singing in Portuguese. This is capoeira, the traditional Afro-Brazilian sport that mixes dance, music and martial arts, and it is sweeping through the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"In capoeira, they can find a safe space where they can resolve their aggression and energy. There is a lot of (learning about) how to be in control of your movements and controlling yourself, expressing yourself and also taking care of the other ones around you," explained Jorge Goia, a Brazilian capoeira trainer who led the class in Jerusalem.

"Because capoeira is a kind of martial art, there is also a big sense of discipline in terms of being part of a group where you have to do things together. I think this, among the boys, has a very strong impact on them," Goai told IPS.

Non-profit organisation Bidna Capoeira (‘We want capoeira’) began offering capoeira classes in March 2011 to children and youth in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the West Bank. Since that time, it is estimated that 800 Palestinian children have taken part in the capoeira programme.

Today, courses take place in the Shuafat and Jalazone refugee camps, in Hebron and Ramallah, and in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the programme continues to promote its goal of empowering Palestinian youth and giving them a healthy, positive outlet for their frustrations.

"Capoeira can be a very powerful tool for children in terms of increasing self-confidence, (and) increasing the sense of belonging to something. Capoeira is played in a group; you need people singing and playing the instruments, so you create this idea that you are part of something and that everybody there is helping each other to develop and learn," Goai said.

Sahar Qawasmeh’s six-year-old son, Ahmad, began capoeira classes in Jerusalem’s Old City in February. "It’s new. He did before lessons in karate and swimming, but for a change, capoeira is nice," Qawasmeh, a resident of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, told IPS. "I’ve seen capoeira in some festivals. (Ahmad) gets to use his strength and he likes it."

According to Ilona Kassissieh, Public Information Officer at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides support to Palestinian refugees and partnered with Bidna Capoeira to organise capoeira classes in the West Bank refugee camps, the impact has been clear.

"(The children) have learnt a lot and they have proven that they are very eager and can learn very fast," Kassissieh told IPS. She explained that providing extra-curricular activities to Palestinian children in refugee camps is important since it gives them an opportunity to escape their difficult daily circumstances.

"Refugees in general, and children in particular, are the vulnerable group because they live in very difficult circumstances. The infrastructure does not help children receive the required aspects for a normal standard of living. These kind of extra-curricular activities are always beneficial on a child and leave a positive impact. It creates a certain coping mechanism where children can think outside the box and can put their energies into something they like and would like to learn further," she said.

For Jorge Goai, the history of capoeira as a grassroots movement used by oppressed communities in Brazil offers a direct connection to Palestinians who today are living under Israeli occupation and control.

"Capoeira was developed by slaves in Brazil, so it was created by people who were under oppression and they used capoeira as a way to empower themselves and get self-confidence and cope with all the demands when you are living under oppression," Goai explained.

"The focus is more into escaping, into learning how to face a situation where you are the weak one. You are the one who doesn’t have any kind of gun or weapon, you just have your body, so how can you survive? How can you escape from being oppressed?"

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours

Source: IPS News

Solar Panels Turning Dirty Water Clean in Angola

Africa Good News Editor — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:51:00 +0000

The brightly painted old shipping container with solar panels on its roof and high-specification filtration devices inside looks out of place in this dusty Angolan village of Bom Jesus, 50 kilometres east of the capital Luanda.

But it will soon be providing nearly 20,000 litres a day of clean, drinkable water to the area’s 500 residents who currently rely on dirty supplies from the nearby river.

Designed by Canadian technology company Quest Water Solutions, the stainless steel drinking station called "AQUAtap" is being globally piloted in this Southern African nation with a view, if it is successful, to start manufacturing the systems locally to roll out across the region.

Using solar energy stored in large batteries, water from the River Kwanza, 50 metres away, is processed through sand and other filters. Then UV is used to sterilise the water to World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking standards ready for it to be dispensed out of a stainless steel tap at the front.

"It is really very straightforward and simple," explained Quest’s John Balanko as he gently pushed one of two taps at the front of the block to allow the water to come out into a bottle.

"Yes, it looks a little out of place and rather advanced for here, but it’s not, it’s really quite simple and the beauty is it is very low maintenance.

"The machine itself will only need a service once a month and we are training up some Angolans do be able to do that once we have gone back to Canada."

The stainless steel taps – which dispense a fixed amount of just over one litre per push – and the aluminium platform, have been designed for easy cleaning and there are drains around the edges to collect any spilt water.

Balanko and his business partner Peter Miele, both from Vancouver, have a background in using technology to solve rural water supply issues in Canada.

A chance meeting four years ago with an Angolan resident in Canada, however, gave them a new African focus.

The AQUAtap has been designed specifically for a rural Angolan community where a lack of clean water and limited sanitation is a major contributor to the country’s high childhood mortality rate, which claims one in five youngsters before their fifth birthday.

Since the end of its three-decade civil war in 2002, the Angolan government has spent millions of dollars repairing infrastructure and providing basic services like water to its population of 19 million.

As part of the "Agua para Todas" (Water for All) scheme taps and boreholes have been installed in communities across the country, although according to the government’s own figures, around half the population is still without access to drinking water.

The village chosen by Quest Water Solutions, which was suggested by the municipal authorities, has one of those government-installed taps, but locals, most of whom are subsistence farmers without formal employment, told IPS it had not worked for over a year.

Carlos de Costa Gabriel, 25, welcomed the new machine and made no secret of the fact he wanted a job as its security guard to watch over it at night and prevent the theft of its solar panels.

He said: "We like this project very much. We have been using river water, which causes a lot of problems like vomiting and diarrhoea.

"I have two young girls aged three and five so I am very pleased that now we can get clean water because it will resolve the health problems."

Mother-of-five Joaquina Xavier, 38, added: "We are very grateful for this. At the moment the water we use is so dirty and it is hard work bringing it from the river in buckets.

"The children get sick from the water, and some in my family have died because of this, but this machine, it’s really going to help."

Balanko and Miele are working in conjunction with Angola’s Ministry of Industry, which is in charge of sourcing the equipment for the Agua Para Todas programme.

The device, one of two they shipped to Angola at no cost to the government, is being sold for a once- off fee of 150,000 dollars, which comes with a two-year maintenance guarantee.

"We can’t deny we are a for-profit company with a product to sell," Balanko explained. "But I think you need to be able to make profit so that you can then give back.

"This is a one-off cost for the government, which they will absorb but the villagers will in return get clean, healthy water for at least the next 15 to 20 years.

"It is also very cost-effective in the long-run because our water works out at around 2.30 dollars for 1,000 litres, while at the moment people are paying as much as 30 dollars for 1,000 litres, which is more than 10 times more."

The water from the AQUAtap will be free for the villagers, Balanko explained, a decision taken by the authorities.

The Canadians accept there are risks involved with the fact the water will be free, that the machine might be vandalised, or hijacked by people who want to sell the water commercially.

But they said they hoped the village would take pride in the new device to stop that happening. Balanko said: "Time will tell, but we believe it will be taken care of. We are going to have a security guard here and possibly flood lights for added security.

"We have told the villagers this is their machine and they must take care of it and we have engaged some elders and respected members of the community to help spread that message."

By Louise Redvers

Source: IPS News

Agro Chief Discusses Farming Opportunities

Africa Good News Editor — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:01:00 +0000

One of the biggest business opportunities on the African continent is — perhaps surprisingly — agriculture. As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the demand for food. That doesn’t necessarily mean one has to go there with the intent to export crops around the globe, explains Patrick Devenish, Group Chief Executive of AICO Africa Limited.

AICO is a Zimbabwe-based agro-industrial conglomerate, with a focus on cotton, maize, wheat soya and other commodities. The company is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of $101.5 million.

“The first opportunity, and lowest piece of hanging fruit, is really the opportunity to help Africa feed itself,” he tells Afribiz. “That’s where our seed business comes in. Seed is the foundation of all agriculture; improved seed is the foundation of improved agriculture.”

Devenish and his partners at AICO emphasize research in order to develop the best possible seeds. They currently have research farms in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya. At the farms they have African scientists, where other companies may import their workers, who research new products and collaborate with others in the industry worldwide.

As much of Africa relies on imported foods, the markets there are both eager and sizeable enough to support many domestic agricultural operations. “We see much bigger opportunities in helping the growing African middle class to get what they want out of life,” he says. “That’s eating better, eating more protein, and protein comes from grains (which feed) chickens, pigs and cows. The increased production of cereals generally leads to industrialization, so that’s another opportunity.”

He also says there’s Africa’s biggest opportunity may lie in its potential to feed China and India, two of the most populous nations in the world.

AICO expanded operations into multiple African countries using a five-step expansion plan, which included exporting from the country, opening a local office and beginning local production activities, Devenish said, adding that transferring head office activities such as human resources and IT to the local office usually follow.

There are three companies under the AICO umbrella, with the seed business poised to expand outside of Zimbabwe, with AICO’s cotton and consumer good businesses to follow. AICO’s five-step expansion plan may serve as a model to companies looking to do business or expand in Africa, Devenish said. By introducing one product initially, gaining a foothold in the market and establishing a strong reputation for the brand, companies can provide a mechanism to introduce several products into a market.

For AICO, one of the keys to success as been the company’s strategy of hiring locally when moving into new markets, Devenish said. By hiring local talent you help to improve the local economy, integrate yourself and your company into the community and eventually win the business of local consumers.

“We would rather find a local who understands the local territory and the customs, culture, language, etc. and then teach him our ways,” he said.

One of the reasons that so many Western companies have traditionally brought workers with them to Africa is that many of the locals were uneducated, but this is no longer the case, he said.

“The standards of education in Africa, over the past 40 years or so, have improved significantly,” he said. “You’re getting a lot more people being educated overseas, so I think there’s a much bigger pool of talent to draw from.”

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New Home for Black Rhinos in Kenya

Africa Good News Editor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:56:00 +0000

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Services, has completed the second, and final phase of its US$72 250 (R560 000) project to transport 21 black rhinos from the privately owned Solio Ranch and Mugie Rhino Sanctuary, both in the Rift Valley province, to Ruma National Park in the southwestern Nyanza province.

Home to a wide variety of birds and animals, including roan antelope which are found nowhere else in Kenya, the 120-square-kilometer Ruma National Park is managed by the Kenyan Wildlife Services (KWS) and was declared a rhino sanctuary at the end of 2011.

Another advantage is that it is free of tsetse fly, that large biting insect that transmits diseases such as sleeping sickness.

While the move was underway, the country’s forestry and wildlife minister Noah Wekesa reaffirmed Kenya’s stance on poaching, saying: “I want to send a strong message to the poachers that they shall be dealt with severely according to the law.”

He then said that his ministry will review current penalties for those caught poaching, and if necessary would make them harsher.

The move was also done to help encourage tourism in western Kenya. While it was once normal to see several rhino at once on a game drive, that is no longer the case, and the mighty animals were last seen in the area more than 50 years ago.

Saving the black rhino

Kenya’s black rhino (Diceros bicornis) population now numbers just 620, when a few decades ago it stood at over 20 000. The lowest numbers were seen in the mid-1980s, when just 300 individuals remained.

The country, which once had one of the largest rhino populations on the continent, is working tirelessly to help save the remaining individuals, and has seen its efforts rewarded with the doubling of the population of black rhinos in recent years.

The ever-present poaching situation is a serious threat to the goals of KWS to boost the numbers.

However, Kenya has still escaped relatively lightly compared to the poaching toll in other countries. Of the almost 500 rhino killed in Africa over the past five years, 70 died in Kenya. In South Africa, 52 animals have been poached in 2012 alone – around one every day.

Most poaching activity occurs in South Africa and Zimbabwe because of the bigger populations found there.

The greatest demand for rhino horn comes from Asian countries, whose citizens mistakenly believe it has near-miraculous medicinal properties, and Middle Eastern nations such as Yemen, where the horn is carved into a highly prized dagger handle.

The sophistication and the level of organisation of poachers and illegal traders has soared in recent years. Poachers are becoming almost military in the precision and speed of their operations and it has been noted that some former soldiers, with their combat training, have taken to poaching.

Various groups such as the WWF, the International Rhino Foundation, the African Rhino Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and Saving Rhinos, to name a few, as well as national wildlife authorities, are fighting a constant battle to protect the sought-after beasts.

Because of the poaching problem, KWS conducts a rhino census every year between July and October in the Tsaveo West Sanctuary. A few months after the census, which provides information on the number and distribution of black rhinos, the animals’ ears are notched to help with identification and tracking.

During the 2010 exercise, transmitters were also inserted into the rhino horns. Under sedation, the animal received the device, which was placed into a hole drilled into the horn. The hole was sealed and the animal was marked, allowed to recover and then released.

By Lyndon Jaftha

Source: Media Club South Africa

Rural Banks Make Life Better for Women in Uganda

Africa Good News Editor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:17:00 +0000

For most Ugandan women, obtaining a commercial loan to start a business has been very difficult. Many do not have the required collateral of land title deeds and many cannot afford the interest rates charged by commercial banks.

But six women-led rural banks have begun changing the lives of women in rural Uganda, easing their access to credit and enabling them to start small businesses and improve their food security.

About 20 kilometres from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, is Wakiso. Here the African Women Food Farmer Initiative, a cooperative savings and credit society, is one of the six rural banks run by women. It has over 1,600 savers and borrowers and is supported by the Hunger Project, an international organisation promoting sustainable end to hunger.

"It is a unique bank because it is run by women and it supports women, especially those engaged in agriculture. We mobilise women and encourage them to fight hunger and poverty by saving as well as accessing small loans," said Rose Nanyonga, the bank manager.

Nanyoga explained that unlike commercial banks, this village bank is owned by women who have a stake in its growth.

"Our members buy shares in the bank. So they own it. And they get dividends at the end of every year," said Nanyonga. All seven of the bank’s board members are also women.

The bank does not merely provide clients with access to credit. Outside the banking hall agricultural input, lanterns and even solar panels are available for sale to the bank’s clients.

Joel Komakec, a project officer from the Hunger Project, told IPS that they want to ensure that the bank’s borrowers buy the right seed and equipment with the money loaned to them.

"With the current energy crisis in the country everyone is rushing to buy solar panels. But the chances are that a borrower will access a loan only to buy a substandard one. So we make sure they get the right one," said Komakec.

Daisy Owomugasho, the Hunger Project Director in Uganda, told IPS that the village bank microfinance programme is part of a strategy being promoted in Uganda and eight other African countries.

"So the credit they get in the form of microfinance is supposed to help communities either grow food, or access inputs, or improved seed or any other thing that they might need. We look at it as a holistic approach to ending people's hunger and poverty," said Owomugasho.

Owomugasho said men were also free borrow from the bank.

She said communities are trained how to effectively manage and use credit in order to escape poverty.

"But we realised that to empower women they also have to be in charge of credit. They are taught book- keeping skills, banking skills and they are able to manage the rural banks themselves," said Owomugasho.

She said all the six banks are not only making a profit, but have had a high rate of loan repayments because their members feel that they own the banks.

Fourteen kilometres away from Wakiso is a blue metal kiosk that provides banking services to the rural areas around Kikandwa Parish and beyond.

It is run by Aisha Nansuna, who collects the daily deposits and facilitates withdrawals from clients who cannot travel to the main branch.

Nansuna told IPS that the location of the kiosk has helped instil a culture of savings among rural women in Wakiso. "You see women bringing even the smallest amount of money for saving because the bank is near," she said.

Nansuna is also a beneficiary of the rural bank. Behind the kiosk is her well-stocked medicine shop.

"I have benefited a lot from our bank," she said, "I started with a loan for poultry, then I later applied for 1,500 dollars, which I used to establish this drug shop." With the money she makes from her business she has been able to send one of her children to university.

Dorothy Kabajungu, 50, is another beneficiary. She told IPS rural banks have lower interest rates compared to commercial banks.

"We are now paying 20 percent interest and they give us a period of 10 months to repay that amount. But I’m told the other banks are charging over 30 percent for loans," she said.

"This bank is very good because it is our own bank. We, the villagers, we like it very much because we are not put under too much pressure to repay loans," she said.

Kabajubgu began with a 125-dollar loan, which she invested in poultry. Once it was repaid, she was given access to a larger loan of 500 dollars, which she has invested in poultry, but it also using to start a firewood business.

"I have just taken on the firewood business because charcoal is very expensive and there is demand for firewood," she said explaining that through the skills training she was taught to identify and follow a need.

Kabajungu told IPS that through the training she has learnt how to survive even amid hard economic times.

By Wambi Michael

Source: IPS News

Miracle Tree is a Supermarket

Africa Good News Editor — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:11:00 +0000

When a food crisis hits the continent, African countries tend to look to the international donor community to mobilise aid. But a fast-growing, drought- resistant tree with extremely nutritious leaves could help poor, arid nations to fight food insecurity and malnutrition on their own.

A 15-hectare plantation of the "miracle tree" with the botanical nameMoringa oleifera has already started to make a positive change in the rural village of Tooseng, which is located in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, Limpopo.

Moringa leaves are dubbed a "super food" because scientists found that they contain the calcium equivalent of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of seven oranges, the potassium of three bananas, three times the amount of iron found in spinach, four times the amount of vitamin A found in a carrot and twice the amount of protein in milk. It is like a supermarket on a tree.

Mavis Mathabatha, a former school teacher from Tooseng, has been working hard to set up a Moringa farm over the past three years that will produce enough leaves to make a positive difference in her community and further afield. "I want to make an impact in my area, province and across the country through this project," she explains.

In 2009, she started harvesting, drying und grinding Moringa leaves from the first few trees she had planted, to sprinkle them on the meals provided to about 400 poor children at the local Sedikong sa Lerato (meaning "Circle of Love" in Sesotho) drop-in centre.

The centre feeds children from households with a combined income of less than 250 dollars a month, which includes practically all boys and girls in Tooseng, a community suffering from high rates of unemployment, poverty, food insecurity and low diet-diversity, malnutrition and HIV-infection.

"The results were visible almost immediately. The health of the children improved in a short period of time," says Elizabeth Serogole, the drop-in centre’s manager who works closely with Mathabatha. She says many children had been showing signs of malnutrition, like open sores on their skins, which started to heal soon after the children regularly ate the leaves.

Supplementing their meals with Moringa also notably increased children’s ability to ward off new illness and infection and boosted their mental development, Serogole adds: "Most can now better concentrate at school." All it needed was one teaspoon of leaf powder a day.

Dr. Samson Tesfay, a postdoctoral scholar at the South African University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Horticultural Science Department, confirms that Moringa is truly a multi-purpose wonder.

"The Moringa plant is unique in that every part can be utilised for beneficial purposes. It has medicinal, therapeutic, nutritive and practical uses. It is extremely effective in combating malnutrition," says Tesfay. In addition, Moringa’s immature pods were full of essential amino acids.

Moringa leaves can also be used for medicinal purposes, to treat skin infections, lower blood pressure and blood sugar, reduce swelling, heal gastric ulcers and to calm the nervous system, Tesfay further explains. The plant, which is native to northern India, has been used in Ayurveda medicine for centuries and is said to prevent 300 diseases.

Moreover, the seeds of the tree can be used to purify water in rural areas where access to clean drinking water is difficult and often a cause for disease. "The seeds are effective in removing about 98 percent of impurities and microbes from contaminated water," says Tesfay.

The slender tree with drooping branches is non-invasive, needs little water and grows fast, reaching a height of three metres within a year. It even grows steadily in Tooseng, in South Africa’s northeast, an arid region that has been suffering from repeated lack of rainfall in recent years.

"The tree can survive in relatively unfavourable conditions and does not require sophisticated and expensive farming methods or inputs," explains Tesfay.

Moringa could thus indeed become a widely used hunger prevention method, food experts say, as it can grow in all of the world’s subtropical areas, where droughts and malnutrition are prevalent – in most parts of Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East and South-East Asia.

Since 2009, Mathabatha has built up her Moringa plantation little by little. After she heard about the multiple benefits of the tree, she applied for a grant from regional funding agency Southern Africa Trust, which help her to set up her own plantation. Today, she is the proud owner of 13,000 Moringa trees.

But Mathabatha did not stop here. She wanted to share her discovery of Moringa’s nutritious benefits with others and has therefore distributed more than 6,000 Moringa seedlings to poor families in various communities around Tooseng, together with a nutrition education campaign.

"Planting and distributing Moringa is a holistic approach to deal with the problem of food insecurity," Ashley Green-Thompson, who managed the project grant, explains why the SAT decided to finance the project. "The level of household food insecurity is one of the key indicators of poverty, and it’s very high in this region."

Today, Mathabatha’s farm produces and packages up to 10,000 tonnes a year of Moringa leaf powder, which is distributed not only within South Africa, but also exported to Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho. "I am hoping to further extend my market in the next few years. There is a lot of interest in my product," Mathabatha says.

But it is the urge to help much more than the desire to make money that motivates Mathabatha to expand her business. At the cost 60 cents per 40 grams of leaf powder – which lasts one person for about a month – the 52-year-old business woman puts affordability clearly before profits.

By Kristin Palitza

Source: IPS News

Tanzania's "Butterfly" Effect

Africa Good News Editor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:39:00 +0000

When one thinks of farming, butterflies are not the first commodity that comes to mind. But in Tanzania, this unlikely crop is cultivated to help conserve threatened forests and provide an alternative income to more than 250 farmers.

Forests under threat

Tanzania's East Usambara Mountains are home to extensive, verdant forests and a large number of animal and plant species found only in that area, making it one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.

Now seriously threatened by human development and natural habitat destruction, the slopes have become attractive places to farm: an increasing number of people have settled in the mountain villages and forests are being cleared to make way for tea estates and small farms.

Forests have also come under pressure as a source of building supplies, charcoal, and firewood.

Novel conservation solution

The main cause of butterfly extinction is habitat destruction. By providing an economic incentive to preserve this insect's habitat, the Amani Butterfly Project is helping to save butterflies as well as other plant and animal species found in the East Usambara Mountains.

The Amani Butterfly Project works with rural Tanzanians from villages in the area.

According to project manager Amiri Saidi, the main goal of the initiative is to find an alternative income for local communities living in the mountain area and also reduce timber cutting in the forest.

Traditional conservation efforts haven't been as successful and often resulted in more poverty in communities who earn a living from logging and farming in the forests.

The Tanzania Forest Conservation Group started initiatives such as the Amani Butterfly Project to incentivise locals to conserve forests, while also earning an alternative income.

Boosting family incomes

Participating farmers, of which more than half are women, receive about 65% of sales of butterfly pupae to overseas markets. The remaining 30% in earnings covers the project's staff salaries and operating costs.

About 5% to 7% of profits are set aside for a community development fund which is used to finance projects to would benefit the whole community, such as building schools and hospitals.

Butterfly farming is supplementing the income of many needy households. Some families earn less than US$400 (R31.75) a year but with the new venture, the average household has seen a 25% increase in income.

Depending on species, each pupae is worth between $1 (R7.90) and $2.50 (R19.80).

At the end of 2010, the Amani project was selling a 50 000 pupae a year to 13 buyers.

The main market for these colourful insects are butterfly farms and zoos in the UK, US and Europe.

Saidi says that as most tropical butterflies don't live that long, exhibitors usually order new pupae every two to three weeks.

The main limit on increasing sales is the relatively small size of the live butterfly exhibit market.

To help increase the market for farmed butterflies, the project is looking to create butterfly souvenirs for the tourist market in Tanzania and gift shops of live butterfly exhibits in Europe and the US.

The project has been experiencing problems with courier companies that have suspended their service to transport pupae to overseas buyers.

This has delayed deliveries and increased the cost of transporting pupae using air cargo. However, they are in discussions with the courier to resume deliveries.

Butterfly farming explained

The process starts by capturing a few female butterflies from the forest and placing them in an enclosure with plants. Here they can fly and lay eggs. Each butterfly species uses a different host plant.

Once the eggs hatch, farmers place the larvae on plants cultivated in host plant nurseries. Many butterfly species prefer seedlings to lay eggs and farmers rely on the forest as a regular source of seeds for their nurseries.

The Amani butterfly farmers seldom need to catch more female butterflies from the wild after a captive population is established. However, they still have to capture male butterflies from the wild to maintain genetic diversity in captive populations.

The butterfly farming process also has no negative impact on the health of wild populations as very few wild butterflies are removed from forests.

A single female butterfly can lay between 250 and 500 eggs in her lifetime, so very few female butterflies are required to start captive populations.

Conservation incentive

He says that studies conducted by the project show that butterfly farmers are taking ownership of forest conservation.

"Because butterfly farmers rely on forests near their communities to provide host plants for their butterfly farms, many farmers now support forest conservation," he says.

Farmers are also encouraging communities to plant trees and drawing attention to illegal logging.

By Wilma den Hartigh

Source: Media Club South Africa

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