Farming conference a success
24 November 2008

A group of farmers based in the north of Scotland attended a first-of-its-kind conference in Dingwall, near Inverness, on Friday 21 November.

VETAID’s ‘Family Farming in east Africa’ conference gathered the farmers, along with other members of the agricultural sector and overseas development experts, to discuss and debate some of the most pressing issues facing the world’s poorest small-scale farmers.

Neil Fisher, former Food Security Advisor for development organisation Action Against Hunger, introduced the group to the countries of east Africa and the types of farming that people are engaged in there. The majority of people living in these areas are subsistence farmers, growing enough crops and rearing livestock for their own needs.

The group was informed about the various crops grown by families in east Africa. They also considered the pros and cons of some of these crops. For example, ‘ugali’ (which is made from ground maize) is a staple for many families in the region. But maize is not an indigenous crop and, in fact, traditional vegetables are more nutritious.

Many comparisons between farming in east Africa and in the UK were made, in order to make the conference as relevant as possible to those attending. For example, average cereal yields in the east African region are around 1.5 tonnes per hectare while in the UK, each hectare produces an average of 7 tonnes of cereal.

Many of the attendees had lived in east Africa in the past and were interested in learning about farming developments in the region during that time.

Oxfam’s Eilidh Whiteford then went on to discuss some of the wider issues affecting east African farmers. She considered the impact of biofuels, trade tariffs and climate change upon their way of life.

VETAID’s John Ferguson commented “The conference was an opportunity to reach people in the north of Scotland where there are a lot of smaller farms. I felt we brought something new to the area.

It’s important that we can bring information about people living in other parts of the world to people across Scotland, not just to those living in the cities. So, holding the conference in a rural area has been important in order to reach our target audience.

It’s clear from the enthusiasm of those that attended, that there is an interest in the issues affecting poorer countries in Africa and across the world.”

Notes to editors:

1. The conference is part of VETAID’s ‘Herds and Clans’ project, which aims to increase awareness of farming in east Africa among the Scottish agricultural community. The project is part of a Europe-wide initiative, run in partnership with Vétérinaires sans Frontières (VSF) in France, Italy and Belgium. For more information, please visit: www.vetaid.org/sustainable-farming.asp.

2. A second VETAID conference will be held at the Moredun Institue, Pentlands Science Park, outside Edinburgh on 23 January 2009. Anyone interested in attending this event should contact John Ferguson at VETAID at john@vetaid.org or 0131 445 6244.

3. VETAID is a registered charity working for reduction in poverty and increase in food security for people in Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania who are dependent on livestock for survival.