ONE WORLD no hunger - Meet the people driving rural transformation

In the past five years, Namikuta Evans has made his way from smallholder farmer to mentor for his community of Kaanja in Zambia, after adopting sustainable agriculture practices. Because of his own experience that he has passed on to 420 other farmers in his region, the villages now apply conservation agriculture technologies and have departed from farming in wildlife corridors – a strategy that both helps secure natural habitats for the region’s wild animals and also brings in greater yields and food security.

Aliomani Geoffrey, 47, from Eden village in the district of Arua has come a long way from his days as a subsistence farmer. Since 2016, when Geoffrey enlisted in a Farmer Field School group, he has applied his upscaled knowledge of crop and livestock management to improve his livelihood and support his community. When he lists his current occupation these days, it ranges from animal health worker to trainer of trainers in conflict resolution or savings and finances to community trainer in good agronomic practices, life skills and nutrition.

85% of all farms are small family farms according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Born in 1978, Tchanti may be one of millions of similar farmers. However, with his 10 hectares of family farmland, he is striving to make a break with tradition of monoculture many of his peers follow. Corn, sorghum, yam, mung beans, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and cassava are all produced on his plots. He also processes some of his crop to keep an even greater share of income. Where? In the family, of course.

For Sylvia, the decision to grow safe food in her kitchen garden for her young family came about after she learnt how unsafe chemical inputs were to their health. That was over ten years, and now she is a certified organic farmer. As her garden grew more than enough for her family, Sylvia’s Basket was born in 2016, her first business. In November 2019, she opened her Organic Farm Shop in Nairobi to make organic food accessible and affordable, and to provide other small-scale farmers with a reliable market for their produce. Her wares can now also be bought online and she is always glad to welcome visitors to her garden.

Madagascar‘s flora and fauna may be rich in diversity but is under threat from human intervention. Where large parts of this natural paradise were once covered by rain forest, only a fraction remains. For Andrianirinarimanana Miray, sustainable land management, forest and landscape restoration and the fight against land degradation are vital to retaining the island’s ecological balance and helping farmers escape the cycle of poverty. In her case, she is devoted to educating smallholders about the destructive effect of slash and burn tactics on their land.

And the winner is? Andrew Makatiani! In 2018, this young Kenyan and founder of Lianfam took home the award for best invention and innovation at the Kakamega Agricultural Show. His idea? He came up with the design and construction of a high-capacity brooding machine. With this apparatus, he wanted to put a stop to high mortality rates among chicks. He also wanted to put a stop to the trend of smallholders losing interest in poultry farming, due to loss of investment. To this former Prime Minister for Youth Champions for Change, the key to successful agricultural enterprises lies in multiple value chains and in using the right technology to scale efficiency.

More than three quarters of Madagascar’s population live in extreme poverty, many of them in rural areas. One third of the island’s people are malnourished. Nonetheless, the population is expected to double over the next 30 years, putting intense pressure on food security and biodiversity. For Maya Disraëli, agronomist, forester and researcher at the Land, Landscape and Development Research Lab, sustainable land management is at the heart of transforming the island’s subsistence farming system. Working in the field of landscape management for communities she contributes to Medium online magazine where she writes from the field on the issues facing Madagascar and what solutions the island can come up with.

For Hamidou, rural development is a holistic approach. Born in 1986 in Gouandé, he terms himself a modern farmer and has been working on his agropastoral centre since 2012. His motto: “You recognize an artisan by their work.” Hamidou takes his vision seriously. Holder of a professional certificate in environmental management, he works in the fields of soil restoration, sustainable agriculture, beekeeping, aquaculture and integrated livestock and on promoting innovative techniques. Making agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climatic hazards, he believes, will not only benefit people and farmers in terms of income. He also sees advantages in the social sphere when the local population, especially under 5-year olds, can get the right nutrition for healthy growth.

In Egypt, a country where almost 80% of the country's arable land is cultivated by small farmers, a great challenge is how to reach many of the smallholders who live in virtual isolation. Like their peers elsewhere around the world, they face numerous challenges, including a lack of knowledge of cultivation practices, control of plant diseases and pests, and inadequate equipment. That is why In 2017, BASF launched its mobile agricultural clinics in Egypt. Housed in containers, the clinics can easily move from location to location and bring farmers and BASF experts to face-to-face. This is where you will see Inji Zaki, working with farmers who need advice and helping them find out what diseases their plants are suffering from. 3,500 farmers have made use of the clinic, but the demand shows the need for more.