cases from tanzania - Sustainet

5 Scaling up
• By-laws A by-law is a rule set by a local authority. Sustainable agriculture organizations
can press village and district authorities to design and enforce such laws. For example
HEM (p. 58) has promoted the implementation of by-laws on environmental conservation
through village governments in Moshi district in Tanzania.
• Environmental committees The sustainable use of local resources depends on the
ability of local people to manage the resources themselves. In Tanzania, HEM (p. 58)
helped to establish environmental committees in the villages it served. These committees
are composed of 8–12 villagers nominated by all the residents through the village
assembly. They oversee the conservation and protection of soil, water and vegetation
in the village. As a result of this pioneering work by HEM and other NGOs, in 2004–5
the government established environment committees in every village throughout the
country.
National and international
• Policy briefs Policy briefs are short documents aimed specifically at policy makers.
They can be a useful way of informing policy makers of particular issues, and can be
used in conjunction with other approaches. CCS–Eldoret (p. 21) prepared a policy brief
in support of agroforestry, and mobilized communities to back this brief. Local people
also used other channels: they discussed their concerns with parliamentarians who were
members of their church.
• Conferences, seminars and exhibitions These can be useful ways of reaching a
policy audience. For example, the CA-SARD project (p. 66) presented a keynote address
at a world conference on conservation agriculture in Nairobi, to which senior ministers
were invited. The ministers also saw several CA-SARD sites during the post-conference
tour. At the same conference, AEP (p. 48) promoted groundnuts as a major cash crop
and pressed for improved markets and access to quality seeds. At one exhibition, one
member of parliament bought 300 kg of groundnuts to promote in his constituency. In
Tanzania, the annual Nane Nane farmers’ day is an important event where PELUM (p. 85)
and development organizations and farmers can meet and discuss with policy makers.
• Strategy documents Government departments use strategy document to indicate the
direction they plan to move. Development organizations can develop relationships with
government departments, and supply them with information on sustainable agriculture
techniques, evidence that the approach works, and suggestions for policy changes. One
example of this approach is a forthcoming agro-mechanization strategy of the Department
of Mechanization in Tanzania; as a result of the CA-SARD (p. 66) and related
projects, this includes a chapter on conservation agriculture.
• Policy development Development organizations can be important contributors to
policy development. For this, they must be recognized as specialists in a particular area
or expertise, and they must have gained the trust of government agencies. For example,
in Kenya AEP (p. 48) is concerned about the rules governing the production of seeds,
which are biased against community seed producers. AEP is collaborating with Catholic
Relief Services (an international NGO) and several government agencies to develop a
policy paper on seed production.
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