Our core programmatic focus is championing the nutrition, health and livelihoods of small-scale farmers, particularly marginalised livestock farmers who are the target group we have worked with since our inception in 2003. This year with the addition of our ‘Funds for Impact’ initiatives in Ghana and Tanzania, we have been able to support over 200,0000 people across Africa and the Pacific to improve their nutrition, health and livelihoods. We supported over 40,000 people to adopt improved agricultural practices that supported better livelihoods and reported increased incomes. We have a strong focus on ‘agriculture for nutrition’ in our improved village poultry health programs. As such, all trained participants receive messaging about the importance of meat and eggs (as well as a locally sourced, diverse diet rich in micronutrients) in combatting malnutrition, particularly for women of childbearing age and children under five. This year, over 100 women and children were involved in specific nutrition-sensitive training or feeding programs. We also helped reduce the risk of high disease burden for close to 20,000 people through malaria treatment and control, education on sexual health, antimicrobial resistance awareness and support with COVID-19 prevention measures on all projects.
Carl Ume (Pacific Program Coordinator) and Emmanuel Ume (Vanapa Farm Master Farmer) visiting the Pinu women’s group in PNG after their training on improved village keeping in April 2022.
Photo credit: Ali Ume.
Ethiopia
The ‘Improving poultry health service through community animal health workers’ project with key partner CARE Ethiopia funded by USAID through the ‘Feed the Future’ – Global Hunger and Food Security initiative, finished in February 2022. Kyeema worked with Dutch NGO SNV and other local government partners in Sidama and SNNP regions to pilot a new public-private model of animal health delivery. Under the pilot project, the parastatal National Veterinary Institute (NVI) produced the quality assured thermotolerant Newcastle disease I-2 vaccine and distributed it to private veterinary vendors, who then trained and worked with community vaccinators to buy the vaccine and implement vaccine campaigns for small-scale poultry farmers at household level through a fee-for-service model. A key achievement of the project included a behaviour change of households from free to fee-paying service for poultry vaccines. A large percentage of households stated that the vaccination service was beneficial (citing fewer chicken deaths and growth in flock size) and wanted to participate in future campaigns.
Mozambique
The Fundação Kyeema team is supporting implementation of the ‘Sofala Province Water, Energy, and Food Security (SWEF)’ project under the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) led team, with funding from the Austrian Development Agency. Kyeema is providing the livestock component which aims to improve food and nutrition and income security of 25,000 smallholder farmers in three districts of Sofala Province.
This year, 625 people were trained in or participated directly in improved chicken or goat management, including improved local feeds development and a community animal health worker-led vaccination service. A nutrition-sensitive program for women of childbearing age was also implemented. Improved income and nutrition outcomes will be tracked throughout this three-year project.
Health Tanzania
Under the ‘Reducing Malaria in Tanzania through the Island Model’ project delivered by partner Health Tanzania, funded by Palladium ‘Our Communities’, 3,129 people in the Rufiji District were tested and treated for malaria and hotspot environmental bio-larvicide spraying was conducted in an area estimated to protect a population of 13,000 people. A key achievement was an overall decrease in prevalence of malaria in project villages when compared to control villages, which has led to the local government’s commitment to sustainability of the project initiatives.
Our ANCP projects
In 2021-22, the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) supported three programs:
Papua New Guinea (PNG) – the ‘Food security and income for villages through village chicken rearing and reef restoration’ project provided training in improved village chicken keeping, chicken wire and a starter chicken flock (three hens and a roster) for 12 women (10 from a women’s group in Pinu) and 24 men. It also supported the ongoing coral restoration sites in Tubusereia, with scoping trips including community consultation and expansion to Ala Ala and Gabagaba, with participation of around 100 community members.
Malawi – our core partner Rural Poultry Centre trained and supported 173 community-based poultry workers (56% women) to deliver vaccinations to 9,773 fee paying households in Mchinji and Dowa East under the ‘Village Poultry for Better Livelihoods’ project. Follow up surveys in Mchinji found vaccinating households reported 60% and 33% increased poultry production and income respectively.
Ethiopia, Mozambique and Kenya – we have rolled out Newcastle disease control in poultry e-learning modes and undertaken follow-on activities for animal health professionals and students, as well as community-based animal health workers. Partners include the Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Centre of African Union (AU-PANVAC, our core partner), College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of Addis Ababa University (AAU), VETAID East Africa and district veterinary services in Mozambique.
