PID with women in Ghana to improve nutritional value of local foods

Neina Naginpoan, a female small-scale farmer in northern Ghana, did her own experimentation with a local dish “wasawasa”, traditionally made from steamed yam flour, and made it instead from maize flour and powder from the yellow pulp of the dawadawa (Parkia biglobosa) fruit. She sells the food to schoolchildren and on the local market. Neina and some neighbouring women worked together with a female nutrition expert from the University of Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale and a female expert in Women in Agricultural Development and a male extension officer from the Yendi Municipal Department of Agriculture to experiment with different variations on her innovation. They sought to overcome difficulties of scarcity of dawadawa at certain times of the year and to improve the nutritional value of the dish. This 10-page report describes the process of participatory innovation development (PID) on the local food innovation.

Prolinnova completes Yr 3 of Proli-FaNS - and starts Yr 1 of SULCI-FaNS

The "Promoting local innovation for Food and Nutrition Security" (Proli-FaNS) project has come to an end. It was funded by Misereor/KZE (Germany) for somewhat more than three years (1 August 2016 to 30 September 2019) and was implemented by Prolinnova Country Platforms (CPs) in five African countries – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya.

ANN WATERS-BAYER RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM GERMAN COUNCIL FOR TROPICAL & SUBTROPICAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

Award ceremony in Kassel - the man on the left, Christian Huelsebusch, made for Ann the statue of a Fulani woman with cow

Our heartiest congratulations to Ann!!

Ann Waters-Bayer, a co-founder of Prolinnova and a longstanding and indefatigable member of the International Support Team, received a lifetime achievement award from the German Council for Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research. She received the award at a ceremony during the Tropentag 2019 held at the University of Kassel, Germany, on 18 September 2019.

Brigitte Kaufmann, Director of Research at the German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL), University of Kassel, gave the laudation at the award ceremony as follows:

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.

Proli-FaNS progress report Jan–April 2019

The third year of the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project is nearing its completion, which will be end of July 2019. The progress report for the period January–April 2019 gives a concise overview of what the project has accomplished in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya. This includes the field activities in supporting farmer-led research, documentation of local innovation and joint experimentation processes, and policy dialogue toward institutionalisation of Prolinnova's approach to agricultural research and development to improve food and nutrition security. See the report here.

Proli-FaNS progress report Jan–April 2019

The third year of the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project is nearing its completion, which will be end of July 2019. The progress report for the period January–April 2019 gives a concise overview of what the project has accomplished in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya. This includes the field activities in supporting farmer-led research, documentation of local innovation and joint experimentation processes, and policy dialogue toward institutionalisation of Prolinnova's approach to agricultural research and development to improve food and nutrition security. See the report here.

Agrecol: Northern Focal Point of the Prolinnova network

During the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG) meeting and the International Partners Workshop (IPW) in Senegal in mid-May 2019, the Prolinnova network agreed to ask Agrecol Association for AgriCulture & Ecology to serve as the Northern Focal Point (NFP) for the network. The POG felt that Agrecol would be a very suitable “home” for the NFP, as Agrecol and Prolinnova share a similar philosophy.

At the meeting of the Agrecol Board and the annual meeting of Agrecol members in Goettingen, Germany, in late May, the similarities between Agrecol and Prolinnova in terms of values and interests were recognised and it was agreed that Agrecol Association would take on the role of NFP for the Prolinnova network.

12 innovations by men & women farmers in Mertulemariam, Amhara Region

During the Proli-FaNS project, partners in Mertulemariam in the Enebse Sar Mider action-learning site in Gojjam in Amhara Region of Ethiopia identified several innovations by men and women farmers that contribute to improving the food and nutrition security of their families and communities. Twelve of these innovations, referring mainly to biopesticides for crops and livestock but also including sack gardening, making gasoline from weeds, local soapmaking, ploughing with one ox, soil & water conservation, and making beetroot juice, are documented in this report.

IPW 2019 + Proli-FaNS annual meeting in Senegal

The International Partners Workshop (IPW) 2019 and the third annual partners meeting of the Proli-FaNS (Promoting local innovation in Food and Nutrition Security) project was held on 13–17 May 2019 in Centre Mampuya / Sahel Vert near Toubab Dialaw in Senegal. It was hosted by Agrecol Afrique, the NGO that coordinates the Prolinnova Country Platform (CP) in Senegal.

Days 1 and 2 were devoted to the Proli-FaNS project with exchange of experiences between the five CPs involved – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya. The leader of the external evaluation of the project, Rosaine Yegbemy (Benin), presented the report. The findings fed into planning for the final months of the current project, to 31 July 2019. The meeting provided an opportunity for all CPs involved – with advice from other Prolinnova partners – to plan a follow-on project.

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.

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