If you don't want to receive this monthly update from the Forest and Farm Facility,
please answer NO to this email.
|
May 2021 |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Forest and Farm Producer Organizations and their members are developing strategies and implementing practical solutions to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and build back better.
Identifying new marketing channels, using digital tools to reach customers, delivering online training, and finding ways to diversify their income-generating activities are some examples from grassroots organizations across
the globe.
Here we report on how such organizations, with Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) support, are connecting farmers and forest producers with governments and other stakeholders to create the enabling conditions they need to
move forward. |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Mainstreaming mobile technology among pastoralists to access markets in Kenya
Telephone companies have expanded mobile connectivity and the government has invested in basic infrastructure in the remote areas of Laikipia North. The Cooperative has taken advantage of this and encouraged its members to use mobile phones for marketing. They
started using calls and text messages, but after a bit of training, their members began using WhatsApp, Facebook, and other media as well.
Using these platforms helped the Cooperative's members to get good returns from their livestock. Between July 2020 and March 2021, they reported selling 613 sheep for KES 7.8 million (around USD 72 300). The Cooperative has received orders for sheep and goats
from various organizations and individuals interested in restocking after the drought and locust invasions.
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Supporting farmers to access financial services in Vietnam
To support these organizations to overcome their financial challenges, the Hoa Binh Provincial Framers' Union organized policy dialogues with the provincial People's Committee and other stakeholders to help the cooperatives to access financial services, especially
for short and medium-term capital needs. This has resulted in the following:
• The provincial People's Committee provided the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development with additional funding to help farmers produce chicken, mushroom, wood, rice, and vegetables.
• The Lien Viet Bank committed to providing credit to producer organizations, reschedule debts from six months to one year, and facilitate credit at zero interest.
• The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has committed to providing low-interest credit packages of up to VND 1 billion per Cooperative for cooperatives to invest in building warehouses and processing plants, preserving
agricultural products, and expanding production as soon as the pandemic ends.
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Rebuilding the rural economy in collaboration with local government in Nepal
The Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN) lobbied local governments to develop COVID-19 recovery plans, noting the importance of community forestry in emergency response and to build the resilience of poor communities. FECOFUN emphasized the
COVID-19 response objectives should acknowledge that sustainable utilization of available natural resources could help to address the socio-economically disadvantaged groups' needs. The local government in Dang, Tulsipur Municipalities is currently applying
this approach.
With the recent new wave of COVID-19, FECOFUN continues to work with the governments to distribute food and sanitation materials to people in need. They have worked to equip 1400 buildings with basic furniture for use as quarantine and isolation centers. They
raise awareness about the threat of gender-based violence during the pandemic and work closely with local governments and other local organisations to respond to the pandemic. |
||||
|
|
||||
|
Upcoming events
|
||||
|
With support of |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Visit our website
Forest and Farm Facility Follow
us on #ForestFarmFacility If you don't want to receive this monthly update from the Forest and Farm Facility, please answer NO to this email. |
||||
|
|