Activity
name: Organize inception workshop at sub-county level
Introduction
The Embassy of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands has awarded ICCO Cooperation a 4 years Agri Skills 4
You (AS4Y) program which is centered on relevance, quality and accessibility of
formal- and informal vocational agricultural education and training for market
oriented small holder farmers and youth in Northern Uganda. The program will
contribute to the development of the Agro Business Technical and Vocational
Education and Training sector (BTVET) and aims at bridging the gap between
institutional and community based formal and non-formal skills training.
The Agri Skills 4
You (AS4Y) program will be implemented by ZOA and CEFORD in West Nile Sub
Region and in the districts of Nebbi, Zombo, Arua, Koboko and Moyo. The program
was officially launched in Bobi Community Polytechnic for the three regions of
Lango, Acholi and West Nile. To commemorate the district level start of this
program in West Nile region, district level inception workshops were held in
each of the 5 districts.
The purpose of the
district level inception meetings was to; share the project outputs,
outcomes/intended results to be achieved, target groups, approaches to
implementation, roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders among others. In
addition, the meeting aimed at getting input on implementation strategies,
selection criteria, targets and possible fears BUT also to incorporate other
prior experiences of stakeholders in the related field of intervention for
inclusion.
ZOA staff presents
during inception at Nebbi district
Cross section of district leaders at Moyo inception
Target participants/ attendance
The meeting was
attended by elected and appointed leaders and the technocrats of the district. The
two departments of production and education were particularly targeted, but
also the departments of Community Development Services, commercial office.
Specifically the
following persons attended the meetings: the production officers, agriculture
officer, fisheries officer, entomologist, NAADS coordinator, the DEC,
representative of the private sector, ABI –Zardi (Arua), CREAM, representative
of the VTI/BTVET, District Farmers Association, Farmer Forum chairpersons, district
speakers, representatives of the RDC’s, district NGO networks/forums, ICCO,
ZOA, CEFORD and the media.
Programme focus
·
Presentation of the project highlights
by ZOA and CEFORD
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·
Reactions and discussions by
participants
·
Talk shows (the districts of
Zombo/Nebbi, Arua and Moyo)
Key activity achievements
·
There was high attendance of those
invited for the inception workshop. Most importantly the key departmental heads
and the elected representatives were ably present. This led to discussions that
were from informed point of view
·
The project was welcomed by the
district leadership of all the 5 districts; this contributed to genuine
discussions and input for better implementation so as to achieve the intended
results.
·
The radio talk shows enabled the discussions
to reach to a wider community. People were able to call and ask for
clarifications and most importantly express fears to ensure that possible
strategies are put in place to remedy the fears
·
Some areas of focus that the project
did not fore see or those not intend to address were brought to light (land,
security), this paving way for linkages with other partners so as to reduce the
risk to the project.
·
The presence of ICCO at the inception
gave a good boost and hope to the participants, issues at higher levels were
ably addressed and responded to by the ICCO staff.
The ICCO/ZOA take
note of issues raised ICCO/
ZOA and CEFORD staff at talk show in TBS
Some of the key concerns/fears by the participants
·
Enrolment of the 60% male youth is
possible BUT having them practice or continue to practice the skills may be a
challenge. Reasons being that, youth are dynamic, one thing does not interest
them for long- hence possibility of abandoning practicing of the skills.
Besides, attitude of male youth to agricultures as being dirty, hectic and with
no or little returns.
·
Selection of the rightful youth with
interest in farming; participants expressed fear of malpractice during
selection processes (picking on relatives, youth who may not have been involved
in agriculture, youth who may not access to land)
·
Involvement of the local government
staffs needs to be clearly spelt out. There were fears that some NGO’s talk of
involvement without sharing work plans and reports. This limits the staff involvement
in monitoring and or supervision of what
is on ground
·
Marketing has been a challenge in the
region and many actors are independently doing something with no or minimum
results. Fears that this project may have limited results if the process of production
is not complete.
·
Farm Field Schools came and died with
the projects/ programs, mainly it was group owned BUT space was provided by an
individual, ownership became a challenge, therefore the Farm Resource Centre
establishment should be carefully planned if it’s to stay
·
The SAC is formed at regional level,
yet with diversity in West Nile, certain issues are peculiar to specific
districts or tribes.
·
The project only targets a few number
of the population, besides, districts like Arua with 27 sub counties have been
taken at the same level with small districts with 9 or less sub counties.
·
Issues of security for women on the
benefits accrued from the project. Besides possible conflicts over land which
now is limited in the region, women have access to land but they do not own it.
This prompts men to wish to take decisions on what the women have worked for.
This may bring insecurity for the women.
·
Some of the training
centre may be too far hence detaching the learners from their community. Zombo
DFI should be considered to train within Zombo.
·
Need for ZOA to register with the
district NGO networks/forum and the DCDO for recognition within the districts
of operation and also networking.
·
Need to share the M&E framework
with the stakeholders just like the project outputs and the outcomes. This will
help to have them effectively involved.
·
Age bracket of 15-25 years is within
the age bracket for children to attain based education= this may compromise a
child from acquiring formal education, and also some children may decide to
drop out of school to benefit from the project
·
Low adoption rates have been low in
the district, due limited trainings given due to funds etc, hence no/ low
adoption
Possible suggestions
·
The selection criteria should further
be improved by involving the district and sub county leadership. Local
community leaders (LC I, religious leaders, elders and opinion leaders) need to
be involved at the time of sieving the youth when getting the actual number.
Besides, verifications at the households of the youth need to be done by
CEFROD/ZOA.
·
Career guidance/ sensitization should
not be a one off activity, this should be continues and done in clusters
(parish levels) to avoid a mass mobilization with little effect. Involve
technocrats and role models (local) during career guidance.
·
Need for regular reviews so as to
address implementation gaps on time
·
Activities related to marketing should
be tailored or customized to meet the local needs e.g. talk of a cup of beans
instead of a kilo because the local people sell in cups.
·
There is need to have platforms at
district and Sub County levels to discuss implementation issues timely. This
will help to have a focus on local issues affecting implementation
·
Plans to replicate best practices from
the project for scale up should be well planned in advance
·
Value addition, agro processing must
be put right, much of what is grown here is sold raw and people earn little,
people out their benefit from it, they buy , process and sell back expensively.
·
Baseline survey needs to be done
extensively so that the results should be clearly geared to the project
·
How do you engage the sub county staff
in the existing structures- how is your work plan mainstreamed in the district
plans and budgets- who supervise the local staff on ground to ensure that they
are doing the best things on ground?
·
Issues of access to market
information- link with other partners doing the same- the dynamics of market
information need to be passed in the language of the consumer, customize the
market information to the context of the population.
·
Need to put strict measures and
penalties to guide and protect the inputs and any other resources that may
given to the project beneficiaries
·
Need for technical expertise from the
district, production and the education departments as early as possible- use
them to get the first hand information from them.
·
During the survey, there should be
interest to assess why those between 15-17 and who are supposed to be
undertaking basic numeracy and literacy BUT are out of school.
·
The cross cutting components should
prioritize mobilizing parents/ communities to support children’s education
·
High cost of production in Moyo,
reasons why there is low production in the region
·
Bulking of products is a challenge,
people fear to bring their products together for lack of trust
·
Production is affected by climate, too
much rain or dry season
Areas for consideration that the implementation process
has note directly addressed
·
Possibilities of categorizing youth by
education may have to be considered. The fact is that, an upper primary drop
out or secondary school dropout may not learn at the same pace with a youth who
has never gone to school. Such a mix may affect learning of some youth making
learning environment hostile. Issues of minimum standards for some courses or
need to cluster learning groups may be considered.
·
Translations of the curricula should
be done for use by local resource persons
·
Composition of SAC to include the line
secretaries of the political wing
·
Protection of women and youth from men
or social settings that may interfere with the benefits accrued from the
project. Many women may be compromised by their husbands or relatives, the you
are likely to start misusing benefits got as a result of this project (drug,
alcohol, polygamous marriage)
·
Need to liaise with the local
government to implement existing bylaws and ordinances to protect livestock
management and other issues that may affect implementation of the project
·
Youths should not only be mobilized
for VSLA’s but should be capacitated to get existing government funds for youth
to facilitate the agricultural activities.
Realities
on ground
·
‘If
the youth have food at home and are earning, they will not move out of home,
many are not organized and it’s the reason why they keep moving out. Youth
actually get involved in something that can generate income e.g. many get
involved in tobacco because they earn at the end of the day and have seen their
parents earn from tobacco’, said by the Vice LC V chairperson of
Arua district..
·
‘It’s good to change the mindset of the Youth today for
them to be better parents and leaders of tomorrow. Zombo is a vast land for
production and many youth are redundant, many people are trying to do farming,
but the issue of marketing is a problem. When we leave youth out there they
become crime committers. Many of them have not been shown alternative ways of
earning even still benefits that can be got from agriculture/farming’ CAO Zombo district.
·
Need to absorb the
people who were benefiting from the tree boom which is now destroyed and have
no alternative way of earning; those can be absorbed in the agriculture.
·
‘Youth of this district (Zombo) have lost their lives
during illegal trade a cross borders; they have been sort at with guns as the
authorities try to keep law and order. This project is a God sent opportunity
that may provide an alternative for the local youths in the district’ Secretary for Production
·
There is Cassava
Multiplication Stakeholders Platform in Moyo district already, this could be
build on to effect bulking and enable farmers to negotiate gate price.
Summary of attendance:
|
District
|
Total
|
Females
|
Males
|
|
Arua
|
26
|
08
|
18
|
|
Zombo
|
27
|
06
|
21
|
|
Nebbi
|
32
|
07
|
25
|
|
Moyo
|
36
|
06
|
30
|
|
Total
|
121
|
27
|
94
|
Prepared by: Paparu Lillian Obiale Design: CRMO Date: …………Sign………..
Approved by: Asipkwe Jean
Christabel Design: ED Date…………Sign…………
