For those of you who have wanted more information on what I do I am pasting in an article I had to write describing the department that I am helping to set up for the Farmers Union of Malawi. Work days are long here with the day going from 8 till 5 with a one hour lunch but no breaks. Janna has to work even longer as she has to work from 7:30 to 5 every day. I am lucky that I have competant Malawian counterparts to work with who will be able to continue the work I am doing once I am gone. Janna is in a much different situation. She is the sole person responsible for monitoring and evaluating all of the programs that the Catholic Church in Malawi is doing, especially with regard to disaster assistance. Right now she is working on a program helping people in the south part of Malawi who have lost their homes due to flooding. Current estimates are that 100 000 people have lost their homes and Janna is integral to coordinating the response. One thing that I have learnt here in Malawi is that development work is in some ways different than I thought. Labour is not a problem here, there are plenty of people willing and able to do whatever work is necessary. For instance, there is no need for people to come from the Western world to do things like building schools or to teach simple skills, that expetise is already here in the people and they are already desparate to be hired. What is needed is expertise and management ability at higher levels, some of that exists here but more is needed. Anyways, below you will find a description of my department (which is me and one other person).
Farmers Union of Malawi is Raising the Voice of Farmers
The Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM), just like many other farmers’ unions, was formed to perform the functions of advocacy, lobbying and representation of farmers. During the 2008 Annual General Meeting (AGM) the executive structure was revised resulting in, among other things, the creation of a Lobbying and Advocacy Standing Committee. Part of the duties of this committee shall be to cooperate with the President of FUM in activities involving lobbying and advocacy. The overall objective is to ensure that farmers effectively and meaningfully participate in the design, formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of policies, strategies, programs and plans aimed at improving their livelihoods in Malawi.
To assist this committee the FUM Secretariat has created a Research, Policy Analysis and Advocacy department. We are very excited about this new department as it is fully aligned with the core function of the union. In January we were happy to have Cindy Kacherenga join our team as the department head of the Research, Policy Analysis and Advocacy department. For one year she will be assisted by Jules Arntz-Gray, a volunteer on a one year leave of absence from the Ministry of Labour in Ontario, Canada. This component provides FUM with an opportunity to identify and implement pro-poor research and policy analysis activities in order to galvanise the view of farmers countrywide and to solicit a new perspective on agricultural development issues / processes that affect the livelihoods of farmers. FUM also engages in processes that offer farmers an opportunity to contribute to the development agenda enabling them to create a pathway out of poverty.
FUM networks beyond its immediate membership by encompassing the general public, the private sector, civil society, the donor community and other stakeholders. In addition, the department engages in empowering farmer organisations through training in lobbying and advocacy to collectively speak out and to lobby and advocate for favourable policies that benefit them. Some of the past lobbying activities that have occurred include involvement in agriculture policy platforms conducted with government, civil society and private sector in collaboration with CISANET; representation of farmers in government projects such as the Farm Income Diversification Program (FIDP); and participation in key policy formulation processes including the Food and Nutrition Policy and the recent Agricultural Development Program.
In the last few months our department has been very busy. In February we held our 2008 Annual General Meeting (AGM) where we were intimately involved in preparing all policy related items including the speeches given. Importantly this included the drafting of a speech for His Excellency Bingu Wa Mutharika, the guest of honour who officially opened the AGM for FUM. In March we were involved in budget consultations with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) where we were invited to make a presentation. We successfully lobbied the government to use the population census to facilitate the National Identity Programme, which will lead to an improved and more equitable administration of the Input Subsidy Program (ISP). Currently the ISP will continue to focus on food security issues but the government agreed to consider other commodities as well in future in response to our proposal. Additionally the MOF has agreed to consider increasing the funding available for extension services and research after our request for a review of the budget allocation for these very important services.
Recently we participated in the newly established Network on Science and Technology.
On April 15 and 16, 2008 we are holding a stakeholder lobbying and advocacy session which will bring together members, civil society, government and other interested parties to a brainstorming session with the goal of creating a strategic plan for our department. Later in the year we plan to hold training sessions in understanding policy and in lobbying and advocacy for our members. All of this activity is in line with FUM’s strategic objectives especially the objective to ensure that FUM and its members have adequate capacity to lobby for a conducive policy and legal framework for agricultural production, marketing and fair trade agreements. Working from a five year plan we will pursue the following specific objectives; to identify and evaluate areas for lobbying and advocacy; to ensure FUM has the capacity to understand, analyze and respond to policy and legal frameworks and trade agreements, and using this to develop a lobbying and advocacy strategy.
Farmers are said to be empowered when they have access and control over structures and processes that transform their natural resource assets into outcomes that they desire. Poverty in Malawi could be defined by the poor people themselves as not only “a situation of perpetual need for the daily necessities of life…” but also “a feeling of powerlessness to influence the things around them”. It is this second aspect of poverty that the Research, Policy Analysis and Advocacy Department is focused.
The time has past where farmers are just on the receiving end of policy decisions. FUM is committed to increasing the capacity of farmers in lobbying for the policies that affect them. FUM believes that farmers can and want to be involved in the decisions that affect their livelihood if they are provided with the tools to do so. We look forward to working with our partners and our members.
Written by Jules Arntz-Gray
No comments:
Post a Comment