February Field Notes Newsletter

The Work Ahead, Jim Cornelius, Executive Director

What areas of work should the Foodgrains Bank be focusing on? The Board of Directors and staff have been examining areas of our work that should receive particular strategic focus over the next few years; three areas have emerged:

Program Quality. We must continue to find ways of strengthening the capacity of our staff, member churches and implementing partners around the world to deliver the highest quality programming possible. We have been entrusted with significant resources from thousands of Canadians, and from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). We are continually wrestling with how we can use these resources as effectively as possible to meet immediate food needs, reduce malnutrition, and help achieve sustainable food security for hungry households and communities around the orld. We are examining different ways we can ontinue improving our program.

1. Food Security Funding. The majority of our resources are used to meet immediate food needs and help people cope with shocks and disruptions to their livelihoods. These feeding programs help protect peoples’ lives and livelihoods. In recent years we have also been increasing our funding for efforts to strengthen and build peoples’ livelihoods so that they are able to feed themselves in the longer-term. This often involves strengthening and improving agriculture practices and farmers’ access to markets. We are exploring different ways of increasing funding for this aspect of our program.

2. Resource Generation. We recently completed a major review of all the ways we work with Canadians to raise cash and grain. This review affirmed much of the work that so many do to grow crops and raise funds for the Foodgrains Bank. The review also suggested actions that can be taken to invite more Canadians to participate in this mission of ending hunger. We will be further developing and implementing many of these recommendations.

The Board of Directors will be reviewing each of these areas of focus to determine what actions should receive priority attention during the next three years.


Champion Conservation Farmer Crowned, Alden Braul, Capacity Development Manager

Raymond Wutire proudly displays the maize crop

that he is growing using the Conservation Farming (CF) method.

  Raymond Wutire of Zimbabwe is a champion—a conservation farming (CF) champion. In 2010 Raymond participated in an annual CF contest for farmers participating in the program, which has been implemented by Christian Care Zimbabwe, a partner of the United Church of Canada (UCC) and Foodgrains Bank. Prior to participating in the CF program, which emphasizes minimal soil disturbance, maintenance of a mulch layer and crop rotation, Raymond was not able to produce enough maize for his family. In the first year of using CF techniques, he produced over 500 kg of corn on a 20 x 30 metre plot. This was a record crop for him, and almost enough food to feed his whole family. Now Raymond’s family is food secure. He has increased his plot size by more than four times, and grows both corn and peanuts using CF. This year he is looking forward to his best crop ever.
Raymond recently participated as a community representative in the evaluation of the CF program in Zimbabwe. The evaluation team also included representatives from UCC, CFGB and Christian Care. The evaluation team learned that many farmers are learning about CF farming from their neighbours. This local transfer of knowledge is key to making sure the CF program is sustainable.

Public Policy Update, Paul Hagerman, Public Policy Manager

Food crisis. Poor people around the world are still recovering from the global food crisis of 2008, and now it looks like another one is on the way— international food prices are at an all time high. Though higher farm-gate prices help smallholder farmers over the long term, the extreme volatility we have seen in the past few years hurts both farmersand consumers.  Stu Clark, the Foodgrains Bank’s Senior Policy Advisor, has been studying the potential of food reserves as a tool to reduce volatility and thereby combat hunger; he has also been sharing his perspectives with the Canadian government. Food reserves will be up for discussion when G20 agriculture ministers meet in June.

Food security. After many years of advocacy work by the Foodgrains Bank (and others), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) announced in 2009 that it would double aid for agriculture over three years. Those three years are almost over. Although we have seen a big increase in agricultural investment in developing countries, we need CIDA to continue its focus on food security so that poor people can feed themselves and improve their livelihoods. Paul Hagerman is in dialogue with CIDA officials, urging that food security remain a priority theme in Canada’s aid portfolio.