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Where We Work

In KENYA

FIPS-Africa has developed and supports a network of over 3,300 self-employed Village-based Advisors (VBAs) in locations across Kenya. We partner with the Ministry of Agriculture, non-profit organizations, seed and farm input companies, and research organizations. These partnerships ensure that VBAs provide advice and guidance and sell inputs and services to support the most appropriate crop and livestock options for any given location. Our VBAs are working in their home villages with FIPS-Africa’s Small Pack approach to improve the food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kenya. FIPS-Africa is also actively involved in research, and developing agricultural enterprises to lift young people into dignified work.

ELSEWHERE IN AFRICA

The VBA-Small Pack Model developed by FIPS-Africa has been widely copied across Africa and beyond. This has had inconsistent results, especially when the work omits key and critical elements of the FIPS-Africa’s approach.

The FIPS-Africa Training Unit has developed a workshop process based on FIPS-Africa’s twenty years’ experience of implementing the VBA-Small Pack approach. It also supports its implementing partners in other countries to fine-tune the model to their specific country context, opportunities and challenges.  FIPS-Africa works with a range of organizations to develop the self-employed VBA-Small Pack Model in different African countries.

FIPS-Africa is currently supporting teams in 16 African countries including Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Haiti, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, Somalia, Ivory Coast, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Mozambique, and Tanzania. In total, this is around 50 organizations. The partners include the countries’ ministries of agriculture extension, non-profit organizations, seed companies, and national agricultural and other research organizations to ensure the VBA model is implemented by building on existing structures and success. The VBAs in these countries are already reaching over 500,000 farmers.

To find out more about partnering with FIPS-Africa Training Unit, contact our Training Manager Susan Ndungu at susan.n@fipsafrica.org