The Civic Social Protection Foundation (CSP) is currently implementing the ASILI-B programme which is funded by VI Agroforestry. This is a three years project 2023 – 2025. Which covers six districts and two regions which are Kagera – Karagwe DC and Mara region (Butiama, Tarime, Serengeti, Bunda DC and Bunda TC). CSP implement the policy advocacy component of the program with the aim for “improving smallholder farmer’s family’s food and nutrition security, sustainable livelihoods, gender equality and resilience while enhancing biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation”.
The key intervention target groups includes core partner’s organizations (NGOs), government officials, policy makers at council and national levels, youth, women and high level political champions who are the driving forces/Key players, to support policy change for improved smallholder farmers family’s food and nutrition security, sustainable livelihoods, gender equality and resilience while enhancing biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.
CSP foundation under the Funding from Vi agroforestry implement the ASILI-B programme specifically the component of Policy advocacy that focused to increase the meaningful engagement small farmers in agroforestry activities. The CSP capacitated small farmers on advocacy related issues targeting duties bearers to increase budget allocation and political wills to promote sustainable agricultural practices. CSP through ASILI-B programme facilitated the formation of 6 small farmers’ platforms in Karagwe DC, Butiama DC, Bunda TC& DC, Tarime DC and Serengeti DC that will support small farmers to amplify their voices collectively to explaining challenges facing them collectively:-
We are engage in agricultural activities as means to sustain our families but we get difficulties to secure funding and loans opportunities to develop our small farming due to fact that government concentrate mostly on large agriculture investors and bad enough small farmers has no any union or/ platforms that will enable us to collectively amplifying our voices targeting duties bearers, therefor this platforms supported by CSP will be the machinery that will holds government and political leaders accountable – Forum Chairperson Tarime DC.
I am well impressed that one of the objective of this platforms is to increase political wills to policy makers and government leaders to increase budget allocation especially at district level and ministry of agriculture respectively, We understand the government has its own priorities such as health and others but agricultural sector is above all, because no food no health and I am happy that in this meeting we have councilor(diwani) therefore we task you to present this agenda to others councilors at district level including District commissioner to prioritize the agriculture sectors and in doing this led to increase of food security, nutrition to our children/people and minimize medication cost in health sectors because people will have a good health. – District Agriculture Officer Tarime DC.
Though the ASILI-B project CSP managed to established 6 agricultural platform in districts level in Kagera region 1 karagwe District and 5 in Mara region, the establishment platforms will help small farmers to collectivity amplify their voices on matters related agriculture initiatives, but also this will help the government to monitor challenges facing small farmers and they can easily able to see the existing gap through extension officers/Agricultural officers.
