Food Chain – What impact does it have?

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6 According to our readers Food Chain and its Spanish partner Cadena Alimentaria do have a varied and far-reaching impact on the livelihoods of marginalised and vulnerable people in the South, through the use of appropriate and quality information on small-scale agroprocessing. Food Chain is available to people in rural areas who use the information in the journal for income generation, improved food security and nutrition. For a large majority of our readers, Food Chain is the only journal providing this type of practical information. Food Chain is an extremely powerful information sharing tool that is highly valued by its readership. Over one year ago (in issues 26 and 27 of Food Chain) we asked you to help us assess the impact of the journal by telling us how you use the information. The response to these requests has been tremendous. A selection of the correspondence we received appears below. In addition to the appeal in the journal, we carried out interviews with selected readers to gain a deeper insight into how the journal is used. This was a fascinating exercise, rather like a detective trail in that each interview gave new links that needed to be followed. The interviews took place with readers in Sri Lanka and Peru. A selection of their stories appear below. We hope you find them inspiring and interesting. More of the case studies will appear in future issues of the journal.

Appeals Your responses to the appeal in issues 26 and 27 of Food Chain illustrate the diverse range of readership that we attract. These include people from international and local NGOs, government organisations, CBOs, the private sector, universities and other academic and research institutions throughout the world. Food Chain is sent to over 2800 readers in 140 countries and is read by many more. You informed us that Food Chain is used in a wide variety of ways including: ● ● ● ●

As a catalyst for ideas For technology transfer As a teaching aid and workshop materials For improving household income through improved processing and marketing methods

● ●

To help small and cottage industries to grow and prosper As a platform for exchange of ideas and technologies between developing countries.

Several of you told us how much you value Food Chain and expanded your reply to include details of the type of work it is used for. The map opposite shows a summary of how the material in the journal has been used in various countries.

Case studies from interviews A total of 18 case studies were collected from interviews with readers of the journal in Sri Lanka and Peru. In general, they provide anecdotal evidence of direct positive impact on beneficiaries, including income generation and improved nutrition. They also show evidence of the material being used in training courses and for workshop materials, as well as being a general reference source for NGOs. In some cases the material in the journal has been translated or used as a source for publishing articles. It is apparent that the original recipient of the journal is often only an intermediary who distributes information to the end beneficiaries. The case studies illustrate occasions where readers have passed on information to other end users. In order to identify how these people benefited from the material, it was necessary to follow some complicated but rewarding trails. This data has been recorded in the relevant case studies. It is evident that there are relatively few sources of food processing information available, especially to those of you living in rural areas. Again and again during interviews, you mentioned that there was no other source of practical information accessible in either Sri Lanka or Peru and that Food Chain fills an essential information gap for people trying to improve their livelihoods through income generation or improved nutrition. The interviews also revealed that on average between five to ten people read each copy of Food Chain. Recent research in Uganda and Ghana (Isabel Carter, 1999) has sought to address the value of information dissemination in developing countries. The report explores in detail the sources and types of information accessed by grassroots

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Part of reference library for CBO

Peru

Information for poor small-scale farmers

Brazil

Valuable consultation resource

Sierra Leone

Botswana

India

Bangladesh

Ghana

Nigeria

Carrying out nutrition education and used for training in food processing, preservation and weaning foods workshops

Zimbabwe

Food security at household level

Training manuals to address nutrient deficiencies

Kenya

Information for extension workers, community development workers and health workers

Translated into local languages to provide information on food processing and nutrition and it is distributed to rural community resource centres

Development of university library collection

Indonesia

Addressing food processing issues at household and community levels

Somalia

Income generation

Papua New Guinea

Identifying alternative sources of food processing for income generation

Cambodia

Vietnam Information on fish/aquatic product processing

Community development

Tanzania

Uganda

Philippines Information for forestry products utilisation

Sri Lanka

Global Impact of Food Chain

Technical information for setting up small-scale agro-processing businesses in rural areas

Zambia

Developing sustainable farming systems and small-scale post harvest processing facilities so farmers can develop more income from their small holdings

Cameroon

Addresses high rates of unemployment and poverty through entrepreneurial development

Technological support to industry

Income generation and poverty alleviation

Nepal Training for women, farmers and entrepreneurs

Trinidad

Training for small-scale food processors

Lectures in food product development

Income generating projects

Pakistan Poverty alleviation through income generating projects

US

Used by NGOs to assist poverty alleviation programmes in developing countries

Belize

UK Training for students

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Carter, I (1999). Locally generated printed materials in agriculture: experience from Uganda and Tanzania, DFID.

Chocolates made from maca

demonstrate that as long as one person in a community can read the language the information is written in, the whole community can benefit. This is demonstrated by the interviews with Mr Gamini Ratnayake in Sri Lanka and Maria Canto Zanabria in Peru who share the information in Food Chain / Cadena

Maria Canto Zanabria, Palian, Huancayo – Peru Maria Canto Zanabria is 36 years old. She is married with an 8 year old daughter and 2 year old son. She lives in a rural village called Palian. She has run a microenterprise in food processing for 10 years and produces jam and traditional flour from maca (a largely unknown root vegetable found at high altitudes in Peru). Chocolates from maca Maria has been receiving Cadena Alimentaria for four years and it is the only practical source of information available to her and other people in the rural areas. In June 1999, there was an article about chocolate production and Maria, with the help of her family, has used this article to start producing chocolate herself. Maria uses maca (Peruvian ginseng) to make the chocolate. In December and February, production levels peak because of Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Production is also high around Mother’s Day. Maria can produce 200 chocolates every day and in one week she produces 200 to 300 packets which contain either 5 or 10 chocolates. It costs Maria 2 soles to make and package 5 chocolates. She sells the chocolates to intermediaries in bulk for 3 soles. The intermediaries sell them to clients for 4 soles a packet. Maria sells to the intermediaries because they are the only people who will buy in high volumes. The chocolates are sold in Huancayo. Maria pays herself the minimum salary per month and invests the rest of the profits from her business back into the enterprise to buy equipment, for example, chocolate moulds and raw materials. She does not need a fridge because it is so cold in the mountains that the chocolate does not melt. Other uses of Cadena Alimentaria Maria used the article on chocolate processing to prepare her own chocolate. She could not find any other practical material but the article contained enough information for her to be able to copy it and produce a high quality product. She has also used some other articles, for example, information on the nutritional value of sunflower oil. She says that there is no other information available like this anywhere – it is usually very general whereas in Cadena Alimentaria the parameters are clear and the articles are specific so they can be replicated, for example, temperatures and quantities. No other organisation or individuals send practical information directly into the rural areas. Maria teaches eight other people about the information in Cadena Alimentaria. She has photocopied articles and passed the journal onto other friends in the area.

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ITDG/ECJ 2001

References

farmers. It is widely assumed that many grassroots farmers are non-literate and that print is an in-effective medium of communication with this target audience. As a consequence, printed information that is produced on agriculture is usually aimed at resource rich, commercial farmers. The findings of this research

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Mr Samarajeewa has worked as a professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of Peradeniya since 1981. Most of the information available to students and professors is from text books. Food Chain is unique because it is the only information source that provides practical experience, advice and solutions. About Food Chain Mr Samarajeewa has been reading Food Chain for the last 4 or 5 issues. He heard about it through ITDG. He keeps back copies for reference purposes Uses Food Chain: ● as a source of technical information ● as a source of social/economic information ● for lecture notes for school or college courses Mr Samarajeewa makes Food Chain available to his students. He recommends articles to read, passes on articles to colleagues and students and photocopies relevant material for his students. At the university, the students use Food Chain for the practical course work in food production. By educating students, information will be passed onto farmers and local communities where they carry out their field experience.

SEPAR, Junin Region, Huancayo – Peru Background SEPAR is an NGO working in local development and agro-processing, mainly in the rural areas. The organisation works with 3600 rural families and provides training and technical assistance in a range of products e.g. cereals and grains; dairy products; and bee keeping. The focus is on business aspects and gender and the aim is to improve quality, technical skills and equipment in existing work. SEPAR works with 67 micro enterprises to improve their sustainability and competitiveness. Use of the journals SEPAR have been receiving Food Chain since 1992 and Cadena Alimentaria since 1994. The journals are read by several staff members and they are kept in the library for use by other internal and external people. Each issue is photocopied three times and circulated to staff. SEPAR use Cadena Alimentaria for technical assistance and for practical purposes in rural areas. The journals are used for: ● a source of technical information ● a source of social/economic information ● a source of commercial or marketing information ● to keep up to date with food processing issues ● for training courses/workshops for small-scale producers/rural communities. Some examples of how the journal is used: ● The article on dryers has been adapted and used for experiments. As a result of modifications, there is now a successful micro enterprise with a good dryer adapted from a range of technologies. It incorporates a solar and mechanical dryer into the same system and belongs to five women who produce maca products and fruit products ● Adapted information on confectionery and dairy products for micro-enterprises ● Used article on candy processing and packaging to prepare training materials ● Share information in Cadena Alimentaria using flow charts and pictures so that rural people can understand the processes ● The library prepares two page information logs, which include all the articles in Food Chain/Cadena Alimentaria ● Used for reference purposes.

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Mr Samarajeewa, University of Peradeniya, Kandy – Sri Lanka

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Mr Gamini Ratnayake, Matale – Sri Lanka Background Mr Gamini Ratnayake lives in the hills above Matale and is married with one son who is nine years old. He is self-employed and runs “Growers and Processors” which produces organic vanilla, vegetables, fruit, spices and medicinal plants; and processes tomatoes, spices and medicinal plants. He cultivates spices, mainly vanilla, but when the rain is heavy and there is no sunshine, vanilla cannot grow. He works with local community groups, artisans and producers. Mr Ratnayake has been exporting vanilla for five years. Before that he grew and processed tomatoes but this became a difficult business when the government stopped the import tax on tomatoes coming in from India and other countries and he found that he could not compete with the prices. Worldwide, only 2% of vanilla demand is being produced and therefore Mr Ratnayake decided to enter the market. About Food Chain Mr Ratnayake has been reading Food Chain for three years. He finds the information extremely useful and uses it for domestic purposes and technology ideas. Mr Ratnayake can read Food Chain because it is in simple English. He would prefer it to be written in Sinhala because then all the housewives would be able to read it and use the information. He shares information with people in the village and for those who cannot read themselves, he explains the processes to them. He shares the information in Food Chain with people in his village, using small group teaching and teaching notes. Uses of the journal: ● He has adapted and translated information on mango chips and now produces mango chips himself ● He uses the recipe for family consumption but intends to try to produce mango chips for market level. About 30 other people have also produced mango chips for domestic consumption as a result of his recommendations ● They process other vegetables, such as bitter gourd ● He is also developing soya bean processing in the village. Alimentaria with other people in the rural areas where they live.

In summary The range of uses to which Food Chain contributes is impressive. We are delighted that the journal is having such a positive impact and that the information supplied within the journal is serving the needs of the target audience. However, we must not be complacent. There are more improvements that could still be made. We would like to improve accessibility of the journal by making it available in more languages. Another priority is to consider how we can cut down on the cost of publishing and distribution. This issue of the journal will be accessible via the ITDG website (www.itdg.org). In time we hope to make back copies of the journal available in this format. We are acutely aware that internet publishing is not the most appropriate format for all our readers, especially those

in remote rural areas. For this reason we will continue to seek funding to publish a hard copy. Lastly, the content of the journal depends largely on you, our readers. Food Chain is your journal, your platform for communicating and sharing experiences with other small-scale food processors. We are responsible for co-ordinating the information and ensuring it is made available to a wide audience. Without your input we cannot publish the journal. We need you to continue sending us details of your activities and experiences in smallscale food processing to share with the rest of our readers.

Remember, we can only make Food Chain suitable for your needs if you tell us what you want and feedback on your likes and dislikes. Please e-mail any suggestions, comments and articles for publication to [email protected]

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