The Legislation and Policy Environment For Ecological Organic Agriculture in Eastern Africa A Three Country Study Synthesis By Dr. Edith Kareko- Munene
Dr. Edith Kareko- Munene I am a Doctoral level policy and leadership specialist and independent consultant. I am a product of 3 Continents - Have worked extensively throughout Africa, Europe and North America. I have directed international projects and programs and influenced policies globally. I have written on population, social, humanitarian and development issues and presented papers in local and international conferences and symposia. I have won multiple prestigious international awards. Prior to founding LEAD Global Institute, I was a CEO and also an implementing international and regional partner of USAID and CDC. I am a strategic, energetic and entrepreneurial professional with practical work experience who has a great understanding of research, international development and public health issues and proven leadership and policy, organizational management expertise.
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Presentation Agenda • Background • Methodology • Results • Recommendations: Future & Way Forward Conclusion •
Goal for Today To share information briefly on; A Study On The Legislation and Policy Environment For Ecological Organic Agriculture in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda)
Background/ Project Context • The study was conducted in three countries namely; Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. • It was coordinated by Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) in collaboration with PELUM Kenya • On behalf of the Continental Steering Committee (CSC), Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The Purpose The Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative was established in • response to the African heads of states and governance decision. It is a landmark in Africa that is motivated by challenges • brought by this renewed interest and commitment by the African leaders to support organic agriculture (EOA, 2015) The overall goal is to mainstream Ecological Organic • Agriculture into national agricultural production systems by 2025 in order to improve quality of life for African citizens
The Global Advocacy Project (GAP) The Global Advocacy Project (GAP) is part of the EOA Initiative • supported by Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The project aims to stimulate and strengthen partner organizations in • their capacity to catalyze change with respect to greater policy attention to EOA programs and investments, in order to enable the establishment of relevant legislation and regulations and to allocate resources to build capabilities in various key areas including extension, education, market development etc.
Study’s Rationale The EOA initiative in Africa since 2012 has been implemented in • four (4) countries in Eastern Africa (Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya) and four (4) in West Africa (Benin, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal). The main challenge so far in realizing the full potential of EOA is • the absence of enabling national policies on EOA which is the biggest obstacle hindering African governments to develop sustainable, resilient and productive farming systems (EOA, 2015). This is the most pressing challenge EOA study wanted to • address
Specifically, the study was carried out to assess and establish: The role of different institutions, including government, non-governmental • organizations and other stakeholders in the EOA initiatives Conduct a mapping of the existing EOA policy structures that can be • strengthened in each country Establish the challenges that the countries are facing as they aim to get • the national organic policies enacted Review available policies (if any) to determine the gaps and opportunities • for change Make recommendations for possible advocacy interventions for promoting • EOA initiatives.
The Strategy • Focus was on how agricultural policies are formulated, developed and delivered in general • Particular interest was on ecological organic agriculture (EOA)/OA in order to stimulate discussion among policymakers, practitioners, farmers and development partners on policy interventions (content) and implementation and determine their merit, worth, or value in terms of improving the social, environmental and economic conditions of different stakeholders.
Policy Making Public Policy Making Defined: – When government decides to take action in response to problems or issues raised by people or groups as they operate in our political systems
The EOA /OA Definition Issue The definition of ecological organic agriculture is a • matter of debate and semantic s in the three countries and indeed around the world. • However, allthe definitions agree that it implies the application of agronomic, biological and mechanical methods of production in place of the use of synthetic chemical inputs. • Some of the synonyms encountered during the study included organic agriculture, organic farming, ecological agriculture, permaculture and traditional agriculture.
Policy making process (Anderson) Problem identification and agenda setting Policy formation Adoption Implementation Evaluation 16
Policy and Politics means � INFLUENCING � 17
Policy & Politics (Mason, Talbott & Leavitt, 1993) Politics Policy makers Competing sets of values Actors Competing sets of interests Idea/Resources Influencing Multiple interest groups Value choices Decision making Policy 18
EOA/OA Policy Making Triangle Context Actors Content Process
One of many Policy Analysis Frameworks: Policy Triangle • Grounded in a political economy perspective • Considers how all four of these elements interact to shape policy-making. • The framework has been used to analyze a large number of issues, including socio economic, agriculture, education , health etc. 20
Selected Theoretical Perspective The Advocacy Coalition Framework • The study was guided by the advocacy coalition framework (ACF). • This theoretical framework enabled a deeper understanding of the different factors that come to play in policy making processes since ecological organic agriculture/ organic agriculture continues to evolve with changing technologies and socioecological conditions in Eastern Africa. • Some requirements are based on scientific evidence, whereas others are driven by ideology.
Advocacy Coalition Framework Type of political system Coalition A Coalition B * Interests * Interests * Resources * Resources * Beliefs * Beliefs Policy formulation Implementation Policy impact Figure 3: Adapted Advocacy Coalition Framework by Jenkins-Smith & Sabatier (1994:181) and Birner et. al. (2011:22)
Production and consumption of organic goods in the world
METHODOLOGY
The Sample And Data Source Three distinct classes of N= 31 stakeholders were contacted. • Beneficiaries/ Primary Stakeholders – people the ecological organic • agriculture (EOA) initiative(s) aims to reach and who have been involved in EOA project activities to date. Development Partners – those who have knowledge of EOA and/or • projects and beneficiaries but who are not directly involved in policy development/formulation. This included financiers, donors and NGOs. Policy Development & Management – those who are directly • involved in developing and implementing policies including think tanks, government officials, , managers, staff, technical advisors and sub-contracted implementers
Country Visits • Country visits took place from September to October 2018. • Different structured questionnaires were administered to identify key informants/stakeholders selected in each country. • Data was collected through Key Informant Interviews (KII) in each country A combination of interview guides and participatory tools including the ‘context, evidence, links’ framework was used to collect data during KIIs.
Challenges in Undertaking Personal Interviews and the Network Referrals Due to lack of documentation in policy processes, • network referral or “snowballing” was the main method of data collection employed in this study. • Despite the fact that this method assisted in mapping out the interaction among stakeholders and their influence, it has a major drawback in the time it takes to complete the process. • Many of the interviewees are extremely busy people with tight schedules and little patience for long interviews
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS AND RECOMENDATIONS
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