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 were 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.
Days 3 and 4 were devoted to the IPW, starting with the traditional “marketplace” to share ideas and lessons. Cases of farmer-led joint research for food and nutrition security were presented, focused on gender issues. The participants reviewed the process of regionalising the Prolinnova network and planned how to continue the process. A new member of the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG), Lisa Williams van Dijk, introduced the Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) in the UK. The participants then reviewed progress in achieving the Prolinnova strategic plan 2016–20. A taskforce headed by Joshua Zake of Environmental Alert (Uganda) will continue this review, analyse changes in framework conditions and start developing a strategic plan for 2021–25. The IPW wound up with action planning for the coming two years, including regional meetings of CPs in Africa, Asia and the Andes in 2020 and the next IPW in 2021.
On Day 5, a field visit was made to Keur Mangari Ka, a village near Thiès, where participants interacted with a group of farmers (mainly women) who do market gardening in a 5-ha area that is fenced in and irrigated. They learned how the farmers are experimenting with the use of poultry manure in their garden plots. A visit was then made to the urban farm of a Toubab Dialaw resident, Babacar Diop, who has developed a highly diversified and intensive, integrated system combining market gardening, arboriculture, small ruminants, cattle, horses and poultry, taking advantage of a water spring on his property.
The final report on the Proli-FaNS meeting and IPW in 2019 can be found here.
