Publications

This Working Paper presents key findings and case studies from the partnership on Domestic Accountability between the Minister for Development Cooperation of The Netherlands and SNV. The partnership was initiated in 2008, and has been operational since in four countries in East and Southern Africa, i.e. Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.

This Working Paper germinated in a meeting in Dar es Salaam (December 2010), bringing together SNV staff from various countries involved in the Domestic Accountability partnership with their respective Netherlands Embassies.

A capability statement concerning our work on Agriculture in Africa which focuses on equity and growth for smallholders.

La présente note thématique est basée sur les expériences de la SNV en matière d’appui aux pasteurs en Afrique, en vue d’améliorer leurs moyens d’existence. Elle se fonde sur une large gamme d’études de cas qui, à travers le continent, mettent en évidence un certain nombre de traits communs aux
pratiques des pasteurs. La collaboration avec les pasteurs nous a appris qu’ils ne sont pas les traditionalistes que l’on décrit souvent. Ils s’adaptent au changement rapide comme tout autre groupe en Afrique. La présente note met en exergue l’éventail de stratégies d’adaptation, d’options de commercialisation et de mécanismes institutionnels qui ont cours à l’heure actuelle au sein de ces communautés. Ces expériences démontrent que le travail de la SNV a permis d’apporter des améliorations  tangibles aux moyens d’existence des éleveurs, tout en augmentant leur contribution au développement écon omique dans certains des milieux les plus difficiles en Afrique aujourd’hui.

The Kenya Biogas programme is a component of the African Biogas Partnership Programme (ABPP), funded by the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs through two Dutch development NGO’s, the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos) and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV).

The overall goal of the Programme is to improve livelihoods of rural farmers through benefits of domestic biogas and develop of a commercially viable, market oriented biogas sector.  In the first 2 years of implementation a total of 3,239 plants have been installed across the country, 477 rural youth trained and engaged in gainful activities as biogas masons and some 67 biogas construction companies engaged viable business.

Over this time a total of over 18,000 farmers have been reached through the Programme’s promotional and extension activities, further raising awareness on the need to use clean energy and increasing agricultural production through effective use of bio-slurry. The Programme is also a key in the development of National biogas standards in Kenya Bureau of Standards that are expected to regulate development of the biogas sector for sustained growth and sustainability.

The year 2011 was the second year of effective implementation of the Kenya National Domestic Biogas Programme (KENDBIP). The year saw a significant expansion in its partnership network with over 55 institutions and organizations from both the private and public sectors collaborating with the programme in the implementation of the various programme components, enhancing the programme’s outreach and service delivery to clients.

This document presents basic information about biogas technology in the form of Biogas Digest Volume 4. The document contains 19 sections on different countries and regions. They are respectively:
• Biogas technology in Bangladesh
• Biogas technology in Belize
• Biogas technology in Bolivia (region Chochabamba)
• Biogas technology in Burundi
• Biogas technology in China (Sichuan)
• Biogas technology in Columbia
• Biogas technology in India
• Biogas technology in Orissa (India)
• Biogas technology in Sangli (India)
• Biogas technology in the Ivory Coast (region of Korhogo)
• Biogas technology in Jamaica
• Biogas technology on Java (province of Central Java)
• Biogas technology in Kenya
• Biogas technology in Morocco (region of Souss-Massa)
• Biogas technology in Nepal
• Biogas technology in Tanzania
• Biogas technology in Thailand
• Biogas technology in Tunisia (Sejenane, El Kef)
• Biogas technology in Vietnam

In June 2010 SNV, together with IFAD, organised a conference on ‘brokering knowledge for upscaling best practices in Inclusive Markets Access in East & Southern Africa’, which brought together over 70 participants from 11 African countries from donor, public and private sector to share experiences. This report summarizes the main issues discussed during the conference, of which the main focus was seeking to bring about systemic change for larger-scale sustainable inclusive markets with a wider significance.

The main purpose of this study was to explore the potential of camel milk from the Isiolo district in Northern Kenya to access sustainable formal markets. And secondly, establish whether the value chain presents a business case for investments by the private sector and development agencies interested in increased livelihoods of pastoral communities and other actors involved in the value chain.

This publication has been produced as part of a series under the Building Advisory Practice (BAP) initiative of SNV East Africa; conceptualized and supported by a team of SNV staff and advisers. Lead consultant for the BAP initiative is Rob Sinclair.

The document presents the summaries of the 12 case studies used to illustrate SNV practices which contributed to the writing of the practice brief N° 4 focusing on Gender and Agriculture (see: www.snvworld.org/en/sectors/agriculture/publications/gender-and-agriculture-practice-brief). The summaries provide an insight of the gender issue and what practices SNV implemented to address to this specific constraint. The document also offers you hyperlinks at the end of each summary to enable you read the full intervention.

The camel and its products have been described by some as a ‘sleeping giant’, summarizing the potential that the camel has, especially in the face of droughts, effects of climate change and the unexploited nutritional value of camel products. This case study focuses on camel milk in the greater Isiolo region (Northern Kenya) and what various actors, including SNV, are undertaking to make the chain more effective, market oriented, and consequently contributing immensely to people’s livelihoods.

The dairy value chain in Kenya has the potential to provide income and employment opportunities for over one million smallholder households. This tremendous opportunity has however remained untapped due to a number of dairy value chain constraints. Production segment is characterised by low productivity levels due to lack of knowledge on appropriate dairy husbandry and feeding practices, and farming is rain dependent making the production susceptible to severe seasonal weather fluctuations. The case describes how SNV Kenya has provided capacity development services since November 2008, targeting 5000 dairy farming households in the Lessos milk shed.

This annual report provides more detail of the strategic position choices SNV made in East and Southern Africa in 2007 and illustrates our approach with case studies from our practice.

There is a growing interest for camel milk and related products, particularly in the Horn of Africa. Camel breeds kept by pastoralists in subsistence production systems are very reliable milk producers during dry seasons and drought years when milk from cattle, sheep and goats is scarce. This case study highlights the experiences of a pilot intervention, among the first in the camel milk market, facilitated by SNV in Isiolo district of North-Eastern Kenya. A key objective of the SNV intervention was to enhance commercialisation of the camel milk sector in order to strengthen the socio-economic position of pastoralist women. It also sought to strengthen women’s organisations and enterprises, foster market linkages and private sector involvement within the sector, promote efficient use of technologies, develop and disseminate knowledge for replication of good practices in-country and across the region, as well as contribute to a policy environment that conducive to the commercialisation of camel milk.