CRAFT integrated into Kenya’s Multi Stakeholder Platform on climate smart agriculture
To enhance promotion and adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Kenya, stakeholders implementing CSA came together to establish coordination and collaboration at national and sub-national level, known as the Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP) for CSA. The Climate Resilient Agribusiness for Tomorrow (CRAFT) project is a member of the Kenya Multi Stakeholder Platform on climate smart agriculture and is integrating project learnings and training into five thematic working groups across a wide range of counties in the country.
The Kenya Multi Stakeholder Platform on Climate Smart Agriculture (MSP on CSA) is a network of organisations whose work is inclined towards CSA technologies, practices, services, livelihoods, and policies. The platform’s main agenda is to coordinate stakeholders and their work and is founded on Kenya’s commitment to implement CSA measures to address the impacts of climate change, as well as to meet its obligations to the Paris Agreement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The MSP’s operations are backed by the Kenya CSA Strategy and Kenya CSA Implementation Framework, through which the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments are being achieved within the agriculture sector.
The Kenya portfolio of CRAFT, including SNV Kenya and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), are members of the Kenya CSA MSP. SNV Kenya and ILRI have mainstreamed CRAFT technical content into the Kenya CSA-MSP’s thematic working groups for further engagement not only in the counties CRAFT is supporting but also in the other counties.
The following aspects of CRAFT work were included in the thematic working group activities both at national and county level:
Training county-based staff on climate smart agriculture practices
Supporting Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs) to build their capacity to train and apply CSA technologies and practices
Influencing county policy on CSA technologies, practices, services, livelihoods, and policies.
Other areas of interest to CRAFT included sensitising county extension officers about CRAFT’s intention to collaborate on:
Training of extension service providers – both public and private – to ensure harmony of key messages on CSA technologies, practices, services, livelihoods and policies
Training of lead farmers, Farmer Field School Training of Trainers (FFS/ToTs), Farmers Service Centres (FSCs), other beneficiaries within and outside CRAFT agribusiness partnerships
Setting up of demo sites and trials
Extension and outreach.
The following CRAFT content is being mainstreamed into the thematic working groups.
Thematic Working Group 1: Knowledge sharing
Convenor: Peter Kimwele – Climate Change Unit (CCU) of Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives – MoALFC
Create awareness on climate smart agricultre.
Share knowledge products and information (achievements, contribution to MSP-set climate change/CSA goals) from CRAFT to other stakeholders, e.g., ready CSA value chain training manuals on potato, green gram, sorghum, and common bean
identify sustainable approaches to information sharing, especially weather information synthesis and integration to fit the needs of various actors
downscale forecasting to farmers locality.
Map CRAFT as one of the MSP partners.
Provide a platform to promote the project.
CRAFT has a repository of CSA practices and technology that could contribute to CSA-MSP thematic working group one, ranging from climate smart manuals and training aid, climate projections and policy briefs especially on the CRAFT value chains – potato, green grams, common beans and sorghum.
When CSA MSP what to hold fairs, workshops, symposiums, webinars on CSA, CRAFT could be one of co-contributors and co-founders.
If MSP want a joint establishment of demo sites in counties, CRAFT will be willing to support on this, especially demo sites on CRAFT value chains.
Thematic Working Group 2: Coordination and reporting
Convenor: Peter Kuria – African Conservation Tillage Network – ACT
Reporting achievements on uptake of CSA technologies and practices from CRAFT’s activities.
For reporting, CRAFT contributed to the development of the MSP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reporting framework, and will be willing to report CSA achievement in the MSP M&E reporting platform.
CRAFT to be incorporated in the M&E framework to share information and reporting achievement of the project’s CSA interventions.
CRAFT pledged to support initial CSA-MSP coordination, harmonization and capacity building in selected counties, as long as counties own the process and link up directly with the national CSA-MSP.
Thematic Working Group 3: Networking and collaboration
Convenor: Nancy Rapando – Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development
Identifying additional investments from other stakeholders within the MSP to leverage CRAFT’s investments in the CSA space.
Facilitating linkages to CRAFT’s agribusiness partners in the counties.
Introduction/linkage of CRAFT to the various state and non-state MSP actors, looping CRAFT in the existing MSP implementation tools.
Establishing partnerships with other like-minded stakeholders involved in CSA to continue the objectives of CRAFT.
Strengthening the partnership with Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD).
Opportunity to document CRAFT’s business partnerships as well as the climate business narratives for the specific value chains, enhancing collaboration with County Governments, showcasing CRAFT’s expertise in the various thematic areas.
Thematic Working Group 4: Policy development and dialogues
Convenor: Joab Osumba (ILRI-CGIAR) – CRAFT East Africa
Policy and advocacy.
MSP to facilitate identification of policy gaps of CRAFT’s interest.
CRAFT willing to jointly work with MSP on CSA policy issues, especially if it involves the value chains CRAFT is working on: potato, green grams, common beans, sorghum.
CRAFT is keen to pursue the issue of County Agriculture produce CESS; this is an issue we could jointly pursue with MSP.
Thematic Working Group 5: Inclusivity
Convenor: Daphne Muchai - Women Farmers Association of Kenya – WoFaAK
CRAFT is very keen and strong on inclusivity and there are potential areas of collaboration to share and learn.
Inclusion/mainstreaming of gender issues within CSA interventions, promotion of gender responsive CSA practices and technologies.
On the basis of the mainstreaming presented in the textbox, the CSA-MSP National Steering Committee, with the support of SNV, organized the establishment of county MSP chapters in 11 out of the 47 counties in Kenya, totalling 277 participants from government departments and agencies and from private sector, NGO, CBO, CSO stakeholders.
More information: The Climate Resilient Agribusiness for Tomorrow (CRAFT), is a five year project, implemented in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with focus on three pillars; increasing adoption of climate smart practices and technologies amongst farmers and agro-enterprises; increasing investments and business growth in climate smart value chains; and creating enabling environment necessary to ensure large-scale roll-out of market driven climate smart agriculture. The project is passionate about women and youth inclusion as one of the indicators seeks to increase the number of women and youth employed in the private sector. The cross-cutting workstream for gender and youth inclusion emphasizes targeted interventions where needed, to ensure equity and inclusion through a sustainable gender sensitive climate smart service provision.