REPORT FROM THE 1ST SESSION OF WORKING GROUPS: INFORMATION NEEDS, GAPS AND CONSTRAINTS

Information needs
Many of the groups expressed a desire for information of policies and initiatives carried out by other countries in a similar situation - in an effort to learn from those experiences. Technology was mentioned - “we would like information on tried and tested technology from other countries,” one group reported.

Learning from research was also a core requirement. All groups expressed a need to hear research results on a local, national, regional and international scale. This included scientific research and results from informally gathered information, for example through participatory techniques.

Several groups expressed a need for market information, covering prices, input availability and so on. Policymakers also highlighted a need for information on policy from other sectors

Information sources
The groups outlined a multitude of sources from which they and their peers could find information. These included national and international institutions that carried out research, and organisations specialising in communications such as CTA.

The internet was noted as a key resource - and specialist websites in particular. Face to face contact in the form of workshops, meetings and seminars was also considered a good way of sourcing information.

How is information made available to other groups?
When it comes to sharing information with other stakeholders, the ideas were equally plentiful. They covered face to face contact such as meetings, field trips, seminars and so on; printed documents such as workshop proceedings, articles, newsletters and scientific papers; and internet transmission including websites, email and so on.

Gaps in sources
The gaps in sources of information centred on the capacity of the sources themselves and the communication channels used to transmit that information. One group highlighted the weakness of sources specialising in agricultural information and soil science in particular. There are also gaps regarding the storing and processing of data, and several groups highlighted the need for better database systems, particularly electronic systems.

Constraints
Manpower was a common constraint in several presentations. “We need better human resources,”one group said. There was a call for training, so that people could understand communication needs and the tools required to fulfil them better.

Accessibility to information was also a key constraint. Internet access, access to journals and other scientific data such as soil maps, statistics and so on, are limited in many developing countries. Funding was also considered a problem by most of the groups.

Recommendations
The following is a summary of the recommendations suggested:

• Promote involvement of all stakeholder groups in the design and implementation of strategies for soil fertility management
• Provide training within all stakeholder groups in collecting and storing information
• Form effective partnerships and networks
• Use the media effectively e.g. rural radio and the training of those involved
• Build on local knowledge and collect such information through informal methods
• Support local development initiatives
• Build on institutional memory and establish mechanisms for the collection and storage of information within institutions
• Promote international forums with international partners
• Strengthen ICM capacity of the private sector
• Creation of databases
• Translation of scientific information into simple messages
• Establish clearer links between soil fertility management and the multiple benefits that accrue

How can CTA help?
The presentations recognised the role of CTA as an organiser of seminars and workshops, useful in the dissemination of information, building capacity and for forging contacts, and expressed a strong desire for it to continue that role.

However, participants also wanted to see CTA help scientists to publish their findings, create and manage a database - particularly one of experts in the subject. Other suggestions were to set up a virtual library, funding exchange visits and sensitisation of policymakers.

REPORT FROM THE 2ND SESSION OF WORKING GROUPS: COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Why is it important to formulate a communication strategy?
A communication strategy would ensure that all stakeholders are involved in development of policy. “Direct consultation is the way to go,” one policymaker/public sector group reported. “The more channels the information goes through, the less accurate the information becomes.”

It would also strengthen linkages between the research community and farmers groups, and ensure compatibility between the information requirements and provision.

How should the strategy be tackled?
Recommendations included the creation of a working hypothesis, which highlighted the need for information and communication, and the use of appropriate tools. The policymaker/public sector group suggested that a communication strategy should be an overall multi-targeted strategy rather than focusing on smaller targets. Such a strategy requires a national technical coordinator to deal with the management of land and soil who must be trained in communication techniques. There should also be decentralised communication centres, which are given greater communication capacity.

Priorities for the communication strategy
The following issues were recognised as priorities for any communication strategy:

• Market information in agricultural inputs and products
• Integration of soil fertility management
• Information of soil characterisation
• Access to sources

Suggested ways of addressing those priorities were the traditional media, new forms of communication e.g. the internet, as well as workshops, seminars, conferences.

Information from research
Communication between researchers and those requiring the information was described by one group as “interactive soup”. In other words, it requires a blend of activities, which lead to the empowerment of farmers to demand research while also involving all stakeholders.

“We are not doing enough to communicate the output to our ‘clients’,” one group explained. It is important to ensure that the information is disseminated as researchers have a responsibility to the farmer.

For an effective communication strategy, researchers need to make sure the research meets the need of the client i.e. the groups for whom the information is intended. It is important to ensure that the product (i.e. the output of research) is right. Also important is understanding the information needs of different clients, the need to identify the audience. The need to adopt appropriate terminology both for the message and for the audience, removing as much jargon as possible was also highlighted.

Appropriateness - timing, volume and the ‘packaging’ of information included the use of local languages and publishing scientific work in local journals rather than foreign publications.

Closing the seminar, Dr David Dent (director of ISRIC) encapsulated the challenges faced in communicating soil fertility management. “Poor soils make poor people,” he reminded participants. “There are some things that are easy to fix, and we should. And there are some things that are difficult to fix and we must.”

Thursday, October 23 2003
Posted 24/10/03 10:51 by Kevin Painting

Policy issues were the focus of day three, with presentations outlining policy initiatives in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. It also included an overview of the World Bank’s Soil Fertility Initiative (SFI). Attention then shifted to CTA’s particular area of interest – information and communication support.

POLICY ISSUES

Why does soil fertility need to be included in policy?
“Agriculture is taking a severe beating [in the Caribbean] at the moment,” said Dr Nazeer Ahmad from Guyana. This is due to rocketing land prices and falling output prices alongside problems with soil fertility. “Fertiliser use has gone down significantly within the Caribbean – the only exception is Haiti where fertiliser use has almost doubled since 1996 because shifting cultivation has led to nutrient mining and left the soil very eroded,” he explained. “But there is no clear cut policy on land use,” he said. Also, “research has been sporadic. Research is not within the national framework.” Alongside that, is an increasing realisation that current production systems are unsustainable, he said.

In the Pacific, soil fertility and its management is also a significant problem with between 8.7 and 13.6 per cent of land having a severe fertility problem. “It requires consistent effort at the international, regional and national level,” said Anton Benjamin of the Ministry of Agriculture, Papua New Guinea.

Meanwhile, in Mali, Zana Sanogo of the Ministry of Agriculture reported that crop production had stagnated because soil was impoverished. Data showing increasing production of cotton was misleading because this was down to an increase in land area for cropping. In fact, yields were falling, he said. Problems of soil degradation that need to be addressed included salinisation and acidification, he explained.

In Ghana, “we need to sensitise farmers on the integrated nutrient management,” said John Poku, also from the Ministry of Agriculture. “And we need to harmonise strategies of improving soil fertility.”

What are the constraints?
Anton Benjamin raised the issue of implementing policy and associated difficulties. Referring to soil fertility policies in the south Pacific, he said that implementation of policy was very limited. “We need to find what has gone wrong and how we can improve on that,” he said.

Another constraint is the issue of divisions of opinion, explained John Poku. “There is divided opinion of the use of organic and inorganic fertilisers,” he said. This of course influences the direction of policy. As a result, “the rate of progress is slow,” he said. “This needs to be hastened.”

Guidelines for good practice
Several speakers called for clear guidelines for fertiliser use and land management that would clearly state what is considered ‘good practice’. “We need guidelines on land use and fertiliser use,” explained Anton Benjamin. “Because soil fertility and management problems are real issues for the Pacific.”

Dr Ahmad agreed with this: “There is a huge gap for information for meaningful soil fertility maintenance,” he said. “Fertiliser levels should be raised. And for that we need a framework for soil rehabilitation including recommendations for fertiliser use.” Meanwhile, improved land management policies and programmes should include a component on soil fertility maintenance, he explained.

In the panel discussion, Patrick Heffer of the IFA (International Fertiliser Association) called for policy to promote balanced fertilisation to balance the economic and environmental benefits. However at the moment “the economic benefit of using fertilisers is limited – mainly due to the input/output ratio in Africa compared with other countries,” he said.

Policymakers must also consider women, explained Mrs Azoadam R Juga of the Bali Women’s Union of Farming Groups in Cameroon. “Women have been struggling for many years without support from the government as their role as rural developers have not been recognised. They also lack market openings and the distribution network is not there for them. They lack credit as they only deal with small micro credit that they generate in groups,” she said.

The Soil Fertility Initiative
Yves Coffi Prudencio, senior agricultural development consultant for the African region with the World Bank, gave an overview of the Bank’s Soil Fertility Initiative (SFI). Launched during the 1996 World Food Summit, the aim of the SFI was to facilitate the creation of National Action Plans (NAPs). Twelve African countries formulated action plans or concept papers between 1996 and 2001, which aimed to build capacity, and create an environment with soil fertility management as core including the creation of a land/soil policy unit in each country. Those countries will then be eligible for grants of $4-5m over four to five years to tackle the issues. “[Current] efforts are limited and inefficient to effectively tackle soil fertility problems in sub Saharan Africa,” he said. “We need to revive dormant interests and disseminate the NAPs. We need to empower farmers and local champions with information and financial resources.”

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT (ICM)

The importance of ICM
“There is a wealth of experience worldwide, but we need to document it in a way that allows easy access and comparison,” said Godert van Lynden of ISRIC, which produces the WOCAT products (including questionnaires to document experience, guidelines, maps, journals, books, CD Roms and a website). “[Sharing experiences and lessons learnt helps to achieve better soil and water conservation,” he said.

Communication barriers
Barriers to effective communication include lack of mutual recognition, differences in focus, objectives, different degrees of urgency, terminology and poor communication skills, said CTA’s José-Félipé Fonseca. “Researchers tend to address causes and tend to use the principle of absolute truth,” he said. “While policymakers seek solutions that are socially and physically possible.”

Sharing information
“Distributing information through papers and meetings is not enough,” said José-Felipé Fonseca. Instead, it should be targeted and presented in such a way that it creates knowledge and wisdom. Imparting knowledge in such a way is a “chain of added value”. With communication we should “start with the end in sight,” he explained.

Market information
“Market information and ICT is indispensable for developing countries to face new challenges,” explained Kofi Debrah from IFDC, Togo. He described the African Agricultural Market Information System (AFAMIN) which provides such information through its website which was launched last December (2002). Through the website, several business opportunities have been generated and many requests have been made for information from others.

Challenges of ICM
Describing the information systems provided by the Information Centre for Low External Inputs in Agriculture (ILEIA), Marilyn Minderhoud-Jones said that information providers should “never lose sight of the context”. They must also ensure that the technologies they are sharing do not disadvantage any groups of the community or produce a labour burden for sections of society.

Maintenance of the quality and usefulness of data is also a challenge, explained Kofi Debrah. “Information systems also need to be financially sustainable to ensure that the private sector benefits from it and will invest in the future,” he said.

Information systems focusing on soil fertility
Participants heard presentations outlining the following information systems that focused on soil fertility:

• WOCAT/SOTER Biophysical information system www.wocat.net
• The African Agricultural Market Information System (AFAMIN) www.afamin.net
• FAO Gateway to Land and Water Information www.fao.org/landandwater/swlwpnr/swlwpnr.htm
• ILEIA http://www.ileia.org
• The African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNET)

Participants were then divided into six working groups to discuss ICM strategies for sustainable soil fertility management. Each group will report back with their findings on day three of the seminar, which will be reported in the next bulletin.

Wednesday October 22 2003
Posted 22/10/03 20:48 by Kevin Painting

Technical aspects of soil fertility management were the focus of the morning's presentations. Soil fertility, use of chemical and organic fertilisers and the importance of farmer-led discussion of soil fertility management were all put under the spotlight. The afternoon saw the focus shift to the policy aspects with presentations covering participatory technology development, socio-economic factors and policies and communication between farmers, scientists and the policymakers.

Food production and fertiliser use
Growth in fertiliser use in Asian countries had dramatically increased, but this had not happened in Africa, said Alfred Hartemink, a soil scientist from ISRIC. For example, in China, yields have doubled and fifty per cent of that growth was due to fertilisers, he said. Meanwhile, African rice yields were declining. "Globally, food production has grown dramatically and total population has flattened off," said Hartemink. But still the number of hungry people in sub Saharan Africa is likely to grow over the next decade, he explained. Regional differences were down to differences in natural resources, but soil fertility was not the only problem: "There are other problems too. Poor soils make poor people, and poor people make the soil worse."

Inorganic vs organic
Andre Batiano from TSBF in Kenya, gave his own diagnosis of the problems of soil fertility in Africa and his analysis of the solutions, which focussed on use of chemical fertiliser. He highlighted the consequences of poor soil fertility and gave an overview of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) which involves integrated use of organic and inorganic fertilisers, understanding of markets, integrated pest management (IPM), institutions and policy, as well as soil conservation and water management. This is the new paradigm, which unlike previous ideas integrates the biological, chemical, physical, social and cultural aspects of crop production.

However, speaking in the panel discussion, Mareko Tofinga (University of the South Pacific, Samoa) disagreed with the use of chemical inputs: "In the South Pacific, low input systems are good for the people because high input systems are expensive," he said. "These days, when people start to think of commercialisation, they switch to tillage systems and high input levels. I don't know why. Mono-cropping systems with high fertiliser use leads to erosion and pollution - traditional, low input systems are better."

Also favouring an organic approach, John Njoroge of the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming said that African farmers should be encouraged to make use of biomass rather than burn it: "If you look at African farmers today they are burning all the time - crop waste, home sweepings and even manure. But these are important resources that they should be encouraged to plough back into their garden. By using these, they would rely less on fertilisers."

But Andre Batiano believes that use of organic matter such as manure is not feasible. "Manuring is very important, but there is not enough grazing land to maintain yields through manure," he said.

Water or fertiliser?
The issue of whether water or fertiliser use is the most limiting factor in crop production has been a contentious issue throughout the seminar so far. Should money be invested in provision of fertiliser over that of irrigation systems? "It is well known that the use of fertilisers has an effect on the water use efficiency," said Andres Batinou. "Water goes hand in hand with nutrients."

Similarly, John Okalebo, of Moi University in Kenya said that low rainfall was a constraint, but improved crop management, such as improved plant spacing, and use of fertilisers brought better results.

Farmers in the development of agricultural information
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are typically organised around Integrated Pest Management (IPM), but also have applications in soil fertility management, explained Davies Onduru from ETC East Africa in Kenya. As part of the 'Integrated nutrient management to attain sustainable productivity increases in East African farming systems' (or INMASP) initiative, Mr Onduru explained that FFS were being used to diagnose problems and highlight areas where information was lacking, as well as finding ways to address them.

"Farmers perceived that soil fertility is a major constraint," he said. But however hungry farmers were for information, scientific information was difficult to pass on due to its complexity. Laboratory analysis of soil samples were meaningless to people without sufficient background knowledge, he explained. Instead they used simple graphs to compare laboratory analyses rather than interpreting the technical jargon thus making the information more approachable.

Technical officer for the FAO, Sally Bunning, agreed that FFS were a useful method for addressing soil fertility issues. The FAO is piloting use of FFS for soil productivity improvement among smallholder farmers in south and east Africa. "However, it is more difficult because it is not always possible to show an improvement over one season," she said.

Jean-Marie Diop (from ETC, The Netherlands) highlighted the importance of combining both farmer innovations and scientific information. This he described as "clapping with both hands" while just using farmer innovations or scientific information was clapping with one hand. "And I'm sure that clapping with both hands makes a lot more noise," he said.

Documentation of farmers' experiences is also very important, said Fred Muchena (ETC, East Africa). While these experiences would not be taken seriously and published by scientific journals, they offered an important insight into why farmers adopted some technologies and not others. "Indigenous knowledge is a valuable asset," he said, emphasising the importance of understanding farmers before any research is carried out.

Policy Aspects
A common issue throughout the day's proceedings was that of protection of markets. Andre de Jager from LEI/WUR in The Netherlands, was one of those advocating such action. "We need market protection within Africa to make sure that the agriculture sector is not wiped out by competitors," he said. Speaking in the panel discussion, Nazeer Ahmed from Guyana agreed with this viewpoint: "I think what we need is some sort of protection for our farm products. Unless we get that I don't know how we can compete on the world market," he said.

Visit the seminar website at http://www.cta.int/ctaseminar2003/

Tuesday October 21 2003
Posted 22/10/03 14:31 by Kevin Painting

Welcome to the first of four daily postings reporting on events and activities during CTA's 2003 international seminar. These postings to the website will give a brief outline of the presentations and the debate and we would be pleased to receive any comments you wish to make.

PROGRAMME
More than 70 participants from all ACP regions are meeting in Arnhem to discuss these issues. They will be reviewing technical issues - such as the availability of organic and inorganic inputs, soil and water conservation, agroforestry and integrated nutrient management. They will hear presentations describing institutional and organisational issues and policy including national soil fertility policies from a cross section of ACP regions. The debate will then move to a review and discussion of information and communication support initiatives and is expected to conclude with clear recommendations for information support and communication strategies.

INTRODUCTION
Opening the 2003 seminar on behalf of CTA, its Director, Carl Greenidge, welcomed participants, explaining that its annual seminar is always the highlight of the Centre's year and that 2003 has special significance as CTA celebrates its 20th anniversary. Soil fertility management is a subject on which there appears to be no broad scientific consensus, but there is great demand, from policy makers as well as farmers, for information, he said. Mr Greenidge emphasized that he was not expecting participants to come up with solutions to Africa's soil fertility problems during the course of the week, but he hoped participants would cast light on the issues and, in particular, draw out implications for information and communication support. He hoped for an enthusiastic debate, an exchange of ideas, expertise and experience and some clear pointers to help inform CTA in the way it provides support to ACP countries.

LET US FINISH WITH MYTHS
For Henk Breman, biologist by training and director of the African office of the IFDC, assuring the future of African soil fertility demands a systematic deconstruction of the policies of the past 30 years, and the myths that inspired them. "No, farmers are not irrational and conservative by nature," said Dr Breman. The policy makers are the ones who need to be trained to respond to farmers' needs. "No, the lack of water is not the main constraining factor of Sahelian agriculture." Lack of nutrients explains low soil productivity and is much less expensive to treat than irrigation. "No, privatisation and liberalization of agriculture in African countries are not improving farmers' access to fertilizers." Structural adjustment plans have proved that, without an interventionist policy, the consumption of fertilizers stagnates. Having put these myths aside, Dr Breman put forward his views on the reasons why the Green Revolution passed Africa by. The low natural quality of soils, low internal demand, poor road infrastructure as well as the lack of national and international interventionist policies prevented the uptake of agricultural fertilizers. Soil fertility requires integrated management. Public authorities should allow the development of a regional market for fertilizers, and perhaps protect it temporarily from international competition. It has to become sufficiently attractive to encourage private operators to invest and farmer organizations to spread the use of the available products.

IT'S NOT ALL THE SAME OUT THERE!
In a lively presentation that participants thoroughly enjoyed, David Dent, Director of ISRIC, demonstrated the art of good communication by presenting clear points in a most memorable style. Using the analogy of a car breakdown to demonstrate the difference between a situation, a preference and a defined problem, he showed that any problem can be defined by identifying and describing a situation, judging in what ways that situation is bad and finding ways and means to make it better. In the context of soil fertility, the problem is that the land does not respond in the way that we want it to. Solving a problem by trial and error is often unsatisfactory because situations change so rapidly. Making decisions based on experience, whether that experience is from farmers or a scientist's trial, is fine but of course only applies to the specific site and conditions. But that experience is valid elsewhere if comparable sites can be identified. At this point, David Dent appeared to defeat his own argument by suggesting, "It's not all the same out there!" From maps of soils types derived from remote sensing techniques, he demonstrated the huge variation that can occur across a small area of an apparently featureless landscape. Yet within that variation, patterns emerge. By using those patterns, it becomes clear that comparable sites can be identified - sites where investment would be justified and sites where it would not. Soil management implies intervention and intervention implies risk. Risk can only be contained by information much of which will be derived from modelling. But modelling is only effective if the output matches the users' criteria. David Dent appealed to policy makers to make it clear to scientists what their needs are, and to scientists to explain their work in clear, ordinary language that all can understand.

DISCUSSION

Water or nutrients?
A sometimes heated discussion focussed on whether water or soil nutrients are the limiting constraint to agricultural production in some areas. More on this subject in later postings.

Information not confusion
How can farmers gain clear information about soil fertility management, especially in view of the variation in soil types and the lack of soil analysis facilities?

The power of communication and pressure
Participants called for more effective communication, especially between scientists and policy makers although it was suggested that policy is more likely to be influenced by pressure groups. Farmers groups in the north are strong, hence their access to information and subsidies - this is not the case in Africa.

THE WORLD SOIL MUSEUM
Visits to the World Soil Museum - which according to ISRIC is the only one of its kind in the world - gave participants the opportunity to see soil profiles from all over the globe. The museum, in Wageningen close to CTA and just 20 minutes from the seminar centre in Arnhem, consists of 80 soil profiles preserved in resin. Highly detailed maps also illustrate areas of differing soil types and highlights areas prone to soil erosion (by human interference and by nature such as water and wind). David Dent, the director of ISRIC, gave a brief overview of what participants could find in the museum, before allowing them the chance to explore. Many took the opportunity to quiz Dr Dent on the soil profiles, to learn from his vast experience.

DAY TWO
A full programme of presentations and discussions including technical and policy aspects of soil fertility management. See http://www.cta.int/ctaseminar2003/programme.htm.