In this section, several elements are discussed that could contribute to an institutional environment that is more conducive to the diffusion of sustainable practices like CA, also in terms of what type of stakeholders are under or over represented.
5.6.1 Government extension
When reflecting on the institutional context of CA in Madagascar, several stakeholders mentioned that there are several research institutes, but there is a need for dissemination which is considered primarily a task of the government. A respondent at CIRAD argued: “As a research institute, you could say we are making new knowledge. We put it in a ‘diffusible state’, and we test the adoption at a small scale. But the actual diffusion is not our task and is done by other stakeholders with whom we work closely together. However, at the moment there is a gap in terms of dissemination”
(CIRAD, personal communication, 27-02-2013).
A respondent at FOFIFA national explained a similar process. At FOFIFA they generally test new technologies and new CA systems with 2 or 3 farmers who assist in fine-tuning the technique for two years. Then there is a one-year period where they have a demonstration plot where farmers can theoretically pick up the new practices. “However, it is not really our responsibility. We are primarily there to do research, and that ends when the results are obtained. What we need more in Madagascar is training and technical assistance” (FOFIFA national, personal communication, 28-02-2014).
Also at the local level in the Alaotra area, stakeholders identified the lack of extension services as the weak point in the innovation system. As the seed-producer Andri-Ko argues: “What we are missing is training and the technical assistance for farmers (encadrement et appui technique). There is no need to support new equipment or inputs, that will appear once farmers are aware and willing to adopt the practice. Also, it is a political decision, it is not our responsibility but it is up to the government to support farmers with the available scientific knowledge” (Andri-Ko, personal communication, 21-02-2014). This was also confirmed by FOFIFA local, as the respondent argued that “research is pretty well covered by FOFIFA and CIRAD and even some other NGOs, but what we are really missing is the political decision making. Also we need extension officers to offer
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information and training” (FOFIFA local, personal communication, 25-02-2014). Due to the political crisis that paralysed national and local politics for many years, the interviewed stakeholders were still working policy document that dated back to 2007. Should the government regain the will and capacity to support agriculture in the Lake Alaotra region through extension, the DRDR would be the natural option. At the time of the study, however, their coverage was very limited, and completely absent in the study sites.
5.6.2 Technology development
At the local level in Kenya, several stakeholders argued that technology development was the most underrepresented element in the innovation system. As already described before, farmers preferred to use the animal-drawn or tractor-drawn direct planters. However, there were not enough service providers to meet the demand. The respondent at CETRAD argued: “Technology is the main thing.
There are so many farmers, and there is such a high demand that the service providers cannot meet.
If there were only two or three more 2-wheel tractors and motivated service providers, that would make a big difference” CETRAD, personal communication, 05-09-2013). The addition of
‘motivated service providers’ is an important one. In previous projects in Laikipia, several types of CA equipment have been made available to the groups, however, group ownership of the expensive implements proved ineffective and very few are still being used. From the current service providers it becomes clear that it requires a great deal of perseverance and determination to adjust the equipment to the local needs and to repair broken parts, etc.. Moreover, young men who would normally take up such a role were not eager to invest in agriculture and preferred to work in the city (MoA local, personal communication, 08-2013).
At mr. Sessions’ Lengetia farm, two 2-wheel tractors are available for hire by local smallholder farmers. As such he is filling a gap because such services are almost not available. The respondent at KENDAT argues that the lack of technology development is linked to political decision making:
“The support service in terms of CA equipment is lacking. For instance, you cannot buy a ripper or a sub-soiler off the shelf. It is easy to buy an animal drawn plough, but you cannot buy the jab planter for direct planting. So there is a big gap in terms of CA equipment within the CA context”
(KENDAT, personal communication, 31-07-2013). Similarly, 2-wheel tractors are easy to come by as are the ploughs to connect to it, but the direct planters to attach to a 2-wheel tractor have to be imported from other countries with the risk that it is not suitable for the local agro-ecology or farm systems.
137 5.6.3 Networks and coordination
Another aspect that the interviewed stakeholders saw as underdeveloped, in both countries, was the coordination and integration of activities related to CA. At national level, stakeholders were formally linked in the NCATF. Nevertheless, as a platform it was very young and the interviewed members were still waiting to see what role it would play although they were in principle not against the idea of the platform. In Madagascar, there was already a strong national-level coordination of activities through the GSDM which reduced the urgency of a national-level platform. In Kenya the respondent at ACT-Network argued: “At the government level we have seen gradual uptake of CA in policy. At the private sector level we have seen private companies coming up to manufacture CA tools and equipment. We’ve seen on the public sector NGOs coming up with projects. The next step is for these institutions to talk to each other. We have some steps to make in that respect” (ACT-Network, personal communication, 09-07-2013).
At the local level in the Lake Alaotra area, the platform function of coordinating stakeholders involved in agricultural development, not necessarily limited to CA, was performed by BV-Lac for a decade. After the project stopped, they left an empty place and currently there is little coordination of projects in the area. At the local level in Kenya, stakeholders were often not aware that other stakeholders were also involved in CA. In several instances during the interviews, I gave respondents an overview of whom I had talked to and what they were doing regarding CA, to which they responded surprised. Individual stakeholders did have their own channels of sharing the impact of their work and the lessons learned, for example Caritas was sharing information with other Diocese, and CETRAD organized meetings with diverse stakeholders to exchange ideas about CA and similar practices. However, they also recognized the need to coordinate and harmonise their efforts at the county and sub-county level.
5.6.4 Stable markets
The situation in Lac-Alaotra can be characterized as post-project. The BV-Lac project that for a period of ten years has promoted CA, also shaped the institutional landscape in many ways, including balancing supply and demand of CA related produce. In some stages of the project, farmers received seeds free of charge from the project, which meant that seed suppliers had a stable buyer, and farmers had a free or subsidised access to cover crop seeds. The project lasted long enough for farmers to adapt their farming systems to it.
Now that the facilitating role of BV-Lac has disappeared, farmers need to change and adapt to continue the same CA practices. One of the challenges is finding good quality seeds for cover crops and useful varieties of maize and rice. And although farmers complain that there is not enough production of seeds, interviews with seed producers show that there too little demand to sustain the
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production. Seed producer Andri-Ko is producing cover crop seeds out of personal conviction that CA is something that has the future in the area, not because he is making business with it. It will probably take time for demand and supply to be adjusted to each other in the post-project context.
A similar disruption of the project equilibrium was observed for Glyphosate, the most popular herbicide that is also used in CA systems. During the BV-Lac project, the use of herbicides was also subsidised and demand was more or less stable. In the first year after the project, the agro-dealers speculated that demand would fall sharply after the end of the project. However, during the season there was a huge shortage of herbicides. And the time it takes to import new supplies into the country is several weeks or months, which is too long to respond to such unexpected demand.
A respondent at SD-Mad described the agro-dealers as ‘speculators’ who are not interested in agriculture, but whose priority it is to make money: “If they can make more money by importing sugar, they will leave agricultural products and go for sugar” (SD-Mad, personal communication, 18-02-2014).
For Vetch, however, seed producers see that there is a steady demand. This is because Vetch can be grown off-season on rice fields, thus touching on the principle priority of farmers. There have been many good examples on the road side where people have been able to see that the rice after vetch is of very good quality. Overall, the input supply for farmers is still insecure in the Alaotra region.