About Prolinnova

PROmoting Local INNOVAtion in ecologically oriented agriculture and NRM  

VISION:    A world where women and men farmers play decisive roles in agricultural research and development for sustainable livelihoods

Structure of Prolinnova

Subregional Coordinators visualise Prolinnova CoP in Africa

The Prolinnova Subregional Coordinators in Africa - Brigid Letty for Eastern & Southern Africa and Georges Djohy for West & Central Africa - have made a diagram that shows the complexity and multiple links within the Prolinnova community of practice (CoP) in Africa, made up of the two subregional platforms and their links with Prolinnova structures in other parts of the world. The English version of the diagram can be found here and the French version can be found here. In addition, there is a much broader Prolinnova network, embracing the CoP and many more people throughout the world (over 700 addresses) in the Prolinnova Yahoogroup.

Catalogue of local innovations for food & nutrition security in Kenya

Various partner organisations in the Prolinnova–Kenya network have identified and profiled 37 innovations by small-scale Kenyan farmers - women, men and groups – to improve the food and nutrition security of their families and communities. The 48-page well-illustrated Catalogue of Local Innovations was compiled by Makonge Righa and Vincent Mariadho of World Neighbors Kenya, the host organisation of the Country Platform. The innovations were identified in the years 2016–2019 in Kisumu and Makueni Counties within the framework of the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project funded by Misereor/Catholic Central Agency for Development Aid.

Once in the Prolinnova family... always in the Prolinnova family...

Dharma Dangol has been an active member of Prolinnova-Nepal from its inception. He was also the Country Platform (CP) coordinator in the period during which the CP secretariat was hosted by the Natural History Museum of the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. Dharma retired in April this year but is committed to continuing the work of Prolinnova, especially in regards to integration of the approach into education at all levels. Dharma resides in the Kirtipur Municipality of Kathmandu and has started liaising with schools in the area, building on interactions he has had with some of them in the recent past.

Full story click here.

Farmer innovation fairs in Ghana for food & nutrition security

The local NGOs that are facilitating Prolinnova–Ghana’s work with farmers at the two action-learning sites in Bongo and Yendi held farmer innovation fairs at each site. Local media reported on the event organised by the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organization (NABOCADO) in Bongo in two articles: “Innovation fair held for farmers in Bongo district” in Citi Newsroom (3 May 2019) and “Bongo-Soe farmers boost food security” in Ghanaian Times (4 May 2019). These activities form part of the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project funded by the German Government through Misereor/KZE (Catholic Central Agency for Development Aid).

New Subregional Coordinator in Eastern & Southern Africa

Brigid Letty has been appointed by ACDEP (Association of Church-based Development Projects), the NGO that coordinates the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation for Food and Nutrition Security) project under the umbrella of the Prolinnova network, to take over the role as Subregional Coordinator (SRC) in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). She replaces Amanuel Assefa, who resigned as SRC as of 31 March 2019 because of a very heavy workload from other assignments.

Brigid is an agricultural development specialist and Principle Scientist with the Institute of Natural Resources (INR) in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She has a BSc in Agriculture (majoring in animal science) and an MSc focused on range and forage resources. She is doing research for a PhD in agroforestry systems at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

FaReNE writeshop in Mali documents 3 years of experience

The Farmer-led Research Network (FaReNe) project is a joint project of Prolinnova partners in Burkina Faso and Mali with financial support from the McKnight Foundation and technical support from the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), host of the Prolinnova international secretariat. It looks at how best to organise and use farmer-led innovation approaches, such as Participatory Innovation Development (PID), Local Innovation Support Facility/Fund (LISF) and farmer networking, and how these can contribute to agro-ecological intensification. Approaching the end of the current funding cycle, key members of the partner organisations from the two countries – NGO staff, researchers and farmer organisation representatives – met for a writeshop to document their three years of experiences, share and analyse these together, and work towards well-written papers.

African farmer innovation in biopesticides against fall armyworm

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, FAW) has recently appeared in Africa, where it is threatening food security, as it infests maize, which is a staple crop in many countries. Farmer innovators in Ethiopia and Tanzania (among surely many others) are trying out different ways to combat this new pest. The 4-page report “Towards farmer-led bio-management of fall armyworm in Tanzania” describes how a group of small-scale farmers in Tanzania has been trying out a sugar solution, pig fat oil and palm oil as substances to attract ants as a bio-control agent in maize infested with FAW. The 4-page report “Biopesticide to control fall armyworm: local innovation by Gebreyesus Tesfay” describes how a small-scale farmer innovator in northern Ethiopia developed a biopesticide against FAW.

Seeking external evaluator of Proli-FaNS project!

The Association of Church-based Development Projects (ACDEP), the Ghanaian NGO that is coordinating the implementation of the project “Promoting local innovation for Food and Nutrition Security” (Proli-FaNS), is seeking the services of a consultant to conduct an end-of-project evaluation. The terms of reference, deadline and procedure for submission of expression of interest are indicated here.

The expression of interest should be submitted to the Project Coordinator, Mr Joseph Nchor at nchor@acdep.org or nchor@yahoo.com by 17.00 GMT on Friday, 18 January 2019.

Farmer-led innovation promoted at FAO symposium

Syndicate content