Alice Karambe: Good morning everybody. My name is Alice Karambe. I'm coming from Kenya representing an organization that is working with women, Christian Partners Development Agency. But I'm here to represent Achang Kens, who works with a women's group in a remote area in rural Kenya. She did come to this conference but has become ill, so I am going to read her paper about organic farming from the experience of the Obien Women's Group.

I will read Chang's paper. I come from Homer Bay District,a province of Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria in East Africa. Kenya is a small developing country with a population of 30 million people and a 1997 GDP of about $9.2 billion. The country's economy includes over 90 percent of its population involved in this activity, most occupied with subsistence agriculture. Unemployment is over 50 percent and the literacy level is low, about 40 percent. The child death rate due to malnutrition and tropical diseases is high, and generally the standards of living are very low. Although women constitute over 50% of the population, they contribute little in terms of decision making. However, women contribute most in food security and other income producing activities. Women work in the fields, while men own them and pocket the earnings. This is traditional thing that we are trying to get away from. The Kargan community, where I live is dry, remote and densely populated. Most of the farming activities are geared to produce for families. Family sizes average eight. Most members of the community are ill-informed and government services are rare. The main crops grown include cassava, a variety of vegetables, maize, millet, sweet potatoes, and ground nuts. There is no other source of income. Families sell surpluses of these crops to meet household needs. Unemployment is very high. Those who can have left the villages to go to towns to look for employment. There are no factories or industries that can offer any form of formal employment. Most activities here are geared toward subsistence. A few non-governmental organizations work with their local communities to support education, child care and nutrition. However, these are not enough. Thus people have to look for other ways to make their lives better. It is under these conditions that the organization that I represent, the Obien Women's Group was formed in 1987 by a group of women who came together and felt that they needed a forum and a means to empower themselves. The current group has 34 members from the same area.

The goals are to educate members and share ideas on various issues that affect their lives. To raise our awareness of women's issues locally, nationally and internationally. We are trying to empower members to enter enterprises by helping them start small-scale generating activities. We encourage members to work together in building or developing community-based projects like schools, churches, etc.

Activities: the group has put together a project,in which they grow an assortment of vegetables, maize, millet and ground nuts. The village is surrounded by urban centers and communities. The group members each put in a portion of their time each week to organize seminars to keep operations going. Their meager earnings are saved in their bank account. From this they hope in a year or two years' time, the group will have raised enough money to purchase machinery to start a garment making operation. The group hopes that they will be able to secure a bank loan to assist in this venture and they will try to solicit external help, not necessarily monetary but expertise in project management, and technologies for their farming operations. Apart from seeds and farm equipment, the agriculture in organic input is free. This group was started because of their not being able to afford this kind of inputs for agricultural farming. They have realized that if they can still achieve a good yield they'll have to have machinery that will assist them. They use farm yard manure and compost for some of the crops, especially tomatoes and cabbages. With favorable weather, they are able to have good harvest for market.

For the first couple of years their members have worked hard and raised a considerable amount of money that can enable them to obtain credit and start their next project. The members have realized their potential, that as a group they can be able to accomplish much using the available resources. Most of their members and the community in general have started to appreciate commercial enterprise as a means of economic advancement as opposed to the traditional subsistence way of thinking and living. They will use this as a guide as one of their most important achievements. Through extensions and interacting with others the group has been able to get and use some farming technologies to produce crops for their domestic consumption and for the market. Some of these technologies were unheard of before, for example, organic farming which they practice on a farm suitable in a community like theirs. As a group they were able to lobby the government and other local officials on their problems such as health, nutrition, education for their children. They have been able to interact and have fun as members and as a community with a common purpose of fighting poverty by going over the traditional hurdles that kept women away from communal and commercial activities. They can now feed their children better, and now many members know the value of education.

The group has little government assistance and encouragement. In most of the activities they have had to wade through themselves with the little knowledge technically and in management. They need technical and management skills, good infrastructure, so that they are able to get out their produce to the markets easily. They need affordable power for their next project. Rural electrification is not in the area.

Organic farming is a new concept in Kenya that is rapidly gaining ground. Included in the merits of practicing organic farming are the impact on the environment, preservation, and production of quality products that fetch premium prices in the market. Through the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming, the women in Obien have been able to promote agriculture using the organic farming method. They hope that with the new technologies coming in the area, organic farming will be able to benefit more and improve their lives and those of their members in general and the community.

If you have any questions, I will try to answer what I am able to, because I am only representing someone. Thank you.

VK: My name is Visaruth K_____ . I am a professor at the University of Agriculture in Lithuania. I am head of a certification program in organic agriculture in Lithuania. Lithuania is situated in the southeastern part of Europe, over the Baltic Sea. Although a small country, it is the largest and most populated of the three Baltic countries. The climate of Lithuania reflects the geographical position of the country bordering the Baltic Sea. The mean temperature is 6 degrees Celsius. The mean annual precipitation is about 6/100 mm. More than half our country is occupied by the farming land. Rural population is about 32%. About 24% of the people are employed in agriculture.

The history of Lithuania is the history of the rural development. The farmer's social status and the lifestyle have been changed many times during the land reforms. Three land reforms have taken place in this century. I will tell about the last. The nationalization was made in 1915 and land was transferred into collective and state farms. The fundamental natural resource, land was left without its owner. The occupation brought very big changes in Lithuanian villages. The great majority of the rural population in the countryside was lost. During the last 50 years, villages were reconstructed for intensive development of agriculture and animal husbandry and for export.

The next period after the establishment of the Lithuanian independence in 1990, the law covering the ownership of property was passed. Land reform was started. Rural territories again undergo great structural changes. Different types of communities, individuals, and farmers, start the activities in the place of formal collective farms.

Lithuania, as all Baltic states is involved in the complicated task of transformation of societies from a centrally planned system to a market economy. Agriculture and rural life are the spheres which are most involved in the changes. In a few years it has become necessary to develop all the technology and the quality of production.

Lithuanian agriculture has some distinguishing characteristic features. First, from an ecological point of view, land is less polluted than in other countries. A few farms are quite small with a low income that excludes high input fertilizers and pesticides. Smaller farms with an excess of people can start growing crops and breeding cattle that they need without much labor force. New and old farms have a non-specialized mixed crop and livestock rotation.

Under the conditions of general decline of agriculture in Lithuania, development of organic agriculture is to be expected. Why organic? Farmers see a new opportunity for markets and major exports in the future. They feel independence from chemical companies. They cannot apply for governmental support. Consumers and farmers are concerned about the environment, about health. That is very good because we live in a world polluted by chemicals.

In Lithuania, like in other former Soviet countries, use of chemicals in agriculture has decreased. The decreased use of chemicals is not due to application of new technologies, but because of poverty and lack of money in the most cases. Use of fertilizers have decreased very much but crop yields are not as great without the use of nitrogen. Lithuania does not properly use fertilizers and it contributes pollution in water bodies. The quality of drinking water in rural areas is alarming. The number of polluted wells is decreasing, from 1998 to 1997, but the levels of nitrate in shallow wells is still more than permitted. The acceptable maximum level is 50 mg per liter, and the level is more than 50.

There is a reason for better agriculture practices. We are very much concerned about food quality, and as you know, organic food is food without pesticides. Investigations by our scientists and others show that there are also more nutrients in organic foods. This is very nice that we have more vitamin C, ascorbic acid, and that we have less nitrate.

The movement of organic agriculture in Lithuania was initiated after independence. A control committee of organic association farmers started inspection and certification of organic farms. The growing number of organic certified farms shows increasing interest for organic food from the side of producers and consumers too. We see a very similar tendency in western countries, increasing organic farming in west Europe, but maybe our numbers are a little small. Analyzers of certified organic crop production show that grains are very much the dominant organic market segment. The organic food sector is relatively small, but it has grown markedly in recent years. Also, there is hope for continued development. All preconditions are existing for sustainable development. Organic farming is supported by government and identified for funding under their specific program. Until this program, the expenses of certification and investment projects are covered. Direct financial assistance for farmers converting to organic methods is provided. Aid is payable on an area basis over a period of three years. The payment is about 50 -- 150 dollars.

Women have been a driving force in the development of organic agriculture in Lithuania as in other countries. Women's concerns about environment and food quality,are very deep and we feel a very big responsibility for our family, for all people and the planet. Women care about children and think about their future. We are close to nature and the holistic approach is more understandable for women.

We can use organic agriculture to face many challenges such as environmental protection, resource conservation, economic development, and social equality. We believe that organic agriculture is a huge agriculture, and despite all difficulties women will put emphasis on vitamins in agriculture, the future will come. What the future will be depends on us. We are very optimistic. Thank you.

AMBER TEENASON

Hi, I'm Amber Teenason from the USDA and I'm helping tide things over here. We have a third speaker who was not in your program but we are going to get her to come up here. Some people were very anxious to know that this session was being taped, which it is. And I want to remind folks when we come to questions for the presenters after our third presentation, since we only have this one microphone, if you presenters could sort of repeat the person's question from the audience and then answer it. And that way it will get on the tape. And our speaker is Grace Aseeko also from Kenya, right. Yes come now, because I think we have time.

GRACE ASEEKO

Thank you so much Madam Speaker. I want to present this paper on sustainable beekeeping. We all realize that beekeeping is becoming very much respected as a source of natural products, especially health products. Additionally, beekeeping is a means of sustainability, that is being used as a source of income for most rural communities.

We all know there is honey, beeswax, royal jelly, pollen and bee venom. Some are basically food supplements. The world is really revolving around the organic food substances, and most of these food supplements have not been available, especially in the developing world. In Kenya actually they don't have the technology to extract some of these products.

There is an intricate relationship between the bee and the blossom during pollination, which turns into increased fruit and seed yields, both in quantity and quality. So when you're keeping bees, you are not just keeping bees for the sake of income or for supplemental food, but you are also trying to encourage the quantity and the quality in a way this is best fit in this world where everybody is trying to get the best. Instead of using maximum fertilizer, the bee will fertilize for you, the crops and the yields will be increased. Then there are the conservation measures aimed at conserving the already existing nitro-forest and other habitats which will be encouraged. In Kenya we have had a problem of subdivision of parks and the ranges. However, when you introduce beekeeping, we assure that would be sustainable. It will reduce the subdivisions and the land will effectively be used for beekeeping and for wildlife and for many other purposes. We value our wildlife very much and it contributes to tourism. If we reduce the subdivisions of our land, that will positively affect our tourism.

Some element of honey is being used worldwide in cosmetics and other areas. There is also the beeswax, which most people ignore, and yet it used in soaps. Some from the eastern world, as well as West Africa and also in Kenya and other areas, use beeswax in their fabric. It is also used in the pharmaceutical industry the candle industry. There is an increase in earning of families' meager resources.

This paper focuses on beekeeping as sustainable resource management, especially the existing natural forest and other habitats. I mentioned the existing natural forest because elsewhere there's light scale production of cash crops, then the element of use of chemicals come in. So you realize that it is not going to interfere with the production of honey. There will be increased chemical use, but in the natural forest and other natural habitats like the Savannahs in Africa and Kenya basically, then you are sure of getting honey free from all those chemicals.

I'll also mention some of the support organizations for forestry and agri-forestry vis-a-vis beekeeping. I want to focus on sustainable resource management determinants. In Kenya, we have realized that lifestyle and traditions are some of the determinants of the resource management. There are also the farming systems such as agri-forestry establishment. Then there is economic activity for income generation. Some women's groups are involved in some of these activities to supplement their income. The government policy encourages increased food production supplemented by legislation and enactment of the same, especially by their setting aside of reserves and parks to support conservation measures.

Beekeeping is a bi-product of agri-forestry. We have tree growing as a cash crop by farmers on their private land. That is farm forestry. There is the boundary tree planting being used as living fences. There is tree planting for environmental conservation such as protection of water and capping of soil erosion by acting as wind breaks. This is referred to as community or social forestry.

There is tree planting in private woodlands, especially in high potential agriculture areas. There are also woodlands which are in the public domain, including the bamboo tree, which is very neglected. Those bamboo woodlands have great potential for production of beekeeping. We have the glades of grassland, the mangrove trees which also contribute to bee survival.

For the trees and grasslands to survive they have to benefit the community to give people an incentive to protect them. Beekeeping has helped people understand how important the forests and woodlands are. Some organizations in Kenya are helping to explain to people about these benefits. We have environmental organizations as well as technical corporations and some cooperatives such the women's group my colleague from Kenya told you about. Additionally, international groups have come in. The Canadian (CIDA) and Japanese groups are funding training and resource development. The United States aid has been very instrumental in training of group members, especially women members. Their support is really appreciated. Also, environmental licensing programs and the greenbelt movement are surviving and going strong.

Most of the honey is produced in the arid and semi-arid areas because of the agricultural limitations. But if we explore this opportunity, then the whole country would be able to produce a lot of honey for consumption and naturally people would be healthy. We would avoid other sweets like sugar and focus on honey as a diet. Actually, a healthy way of living. Thank you so much.

AMBER TEENASON

Why don't we have the other two presenters come up here because we about 30 minutes for a question and answer session. As you're walking up I'll start with one. You mentioned a Kenyan, I think an organic association. And could you tell us more about that. Who's in it. How big is it. Is the government involved, etc.

AK: It is an organic farming organization that is supporting organic agriculture, and beekeeping rather than using chemicals. There is an institution that was started by Kenyans and it is not a government institution. To assist sustainable development in Kenya, one of the issues is a dependence on using chemicals. Consumers are now starting to feel it is not the right way of sustaining agriculture. That's why they have gone into organic farming -- using the available resource. The manure and from the leaves in your compound. To be able to come up with an alternative to chemicals.

QUESTION: I just wanted to support Alice for what she said initially about the technical know-how. We are not undergoing a transformation within the government. We are trying to support private initiatives. Privatization and commercialization such that those areas which have been limited in towns of infrastructure have to be taught, you know. Farmers have to be told what to do. You know, they have to look for technical advice without necessarily waiting wherever they are for someone to go to them because of the limited resources within the government. The government cannot sustain this, especially if you are inaccessible. Then it is not possible, even to have a vehicle that goes into the most remote areas. So farmers are being encouraged to come up and present their problems. And maybe in the future they have to pay for it. The only problem is are they going to be able to pay for these services.

QUESTION: You mentioned the food grown millet. What is it and where would the millet have to be taken to be ground.

AK: The millet is -- you know there's a traditional way of grinding the millet at the homestead. The women are doing it. And then it is used for the daily bread, a kind of brown bread.

QUESTION: I saw a few months ago a demonstration of a grinder approximately this big that would connect to the frame of a bicycle. And that you could sit on the bicycle and grind about ten times more of your grain than could be done manually.

AK: In the village. Yeah, actually some of them just are encouraging appropriate technology that is accessible to the rural woman. One of the problems is the lack of equipment and machinery. The current set-up in Kenya cannot afford to come up with a machine that would assist. Let me say something about Kenya. With the lack of social services and community based organizations there are mostly are women groups. Organized women groups are taking the initiative to come up with some of the support unit to themselves so they become self reliant in the absence of the technology and the absence of the infrastructure and economical status and the social aspect of it in the region. If the women are given the support, they will be able to revive the cotton industry and able to come up with a garment industry of their own with the available technology, and with technical assistance and training. It is actually a serious problem in Kenya. You find that the people are bringing the second-hand clothes from wherever--America, Germany. We really don't know the source of that. Most of the industries have closed down, and therefore, there is no sustainability of the local people. Someone is trading in old clothes and the industry, the garment industry has collapsed. Thank you very much.

AMBER TEENASON

Let's switch to the other side of the world for a minute, because I have a question about Lithuania. I'd like to hear more about your organic certification. When did you get started and how is the system set up and running.

VISARUTH--------

The first organic certification organization was an association of organic farmers. But in the last year, a new certification organization was founded by the Ministry of Agriculture. It is a new independence from farmers and other persons and organizations. We have rules for organic farming, which are according standards and new relations. The financial support is not very big, but it is very important for our farmers. At first, for farmers financial support, partly covering certification and investment projects. 25% of investment projects can be covered by government. Certification is involved and inspectors from the Chamber of Horticulture help with assistance not only for organic but for all farmers.

QUESTION: I also have a question for Visaruth_____. I was so impressed with her talk. She talked so much about the sustainability of organic farming. I want to ask you, what are the alternatives to chemicals? Which chemicals have been approved that you are using to substitute some of these highly toxic chemicals because that's a major issue in the United States.

VK: If we are talking about organic farming, there are not any chemicals, fertilizers or pesticides. They are only bio-pesticides and organic, the most organic fertilizers. It can be only some kind of potassium and nitrogen, though I don't know what in English. Yes, some fertilizers, but not nitrogen synthetic fertilizer. The most important features of organic farming are crop rotation and organic fertilizers, such as manure and compost.

In our country, all families, not only women but men and all family usually works in the fields. And I think that, and they said that our labor work is less expensive than in other countries, why we can promote organic agriculture, and therefore, organic products may be less expensive than in this country. Our farms are very small farms. For example, our average size of our farms is 10 hectares and organic farms is 15 hectares. If you would like that in acres, you can multiply 2 and 5. Our farms are not specialized, but is mixed farming. About 60 percent of our farms usually are greens. After that you can have some parts in vegetable. The most part of our farms is growing cereals and grain. Use of such chemicals has dropped very much, but I said that yield is not so much because maybe we use chemicals about ten times less. But average maybe yield is less about 50 percent. But not ten times, as I think in every country too, if you will use many fertilizers, you see. Because yield in organic farms is about 20, 40 percent less than in conventional farm, usually. After the initial period, after two and three years, your yields will be increased a little.

AK: Okay. I also had a problem from our country. We are having a problem in our country because of the alternatives to chemicals. There are some chemicals which have been earmarked, they are of an environmental hazard. But so far there are no alternatives for us. Since our country is so much agricultural based, farmers are having it rough. They don't know what to use because they have to increase the food production. At the same time some of these organic methods might not work so well, because the yields would be very, very low. So this is a serious problem. Maybe unless an alternative is found, and farmers are happy about it and there is practical implication in the yields and productivity. Then I think we are still somewhere behind. Maybe this could be one of the challenges as we conclude this.

Question: Thank you so much for that important question. You're asking about the types of hives our local farmers are using? Yeah. We have developed a box. It's sort of a box hive. We call it the Kenya Top Bar Hive. It is a derivative of the European hive. Some farmers are using different types. They are doing a bit of research, but it has been restricted to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. There is high competition for this agricultural facility. So you find things like beekeeping had been forgotten. And I'm so glad that at the moment the government is seeing it as a priority because of the environment role it is playing and also because of the natural health products they are coming up with.

AT: It looks like it is time for us to wrap us since we've gone a little overtime. But it was a good discussion. Thanks everybody for coming, and I'm sure these presenters would be happy to talk with you individually as well.