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Case studies > Malawi, Kenya

Mitigating through improved services delivery

Two case studies: Conservation Agriculture equipment for Bondo (Kenya) farmers Seedpacks and treadle pumps for Mulanje and Thyolo Districts in Malawi Issues and Challenges Extension service quality, intensity & HIV mitigation focus (Social extension: FFS, FLS, PEA etc. manuals, videos etc. available) Traditional practices that worsen the situation (wife inheritance and loss of draft animals to funerals) Appropriate farmer empowerment and entry point (needs assessment, which technology, sustainability etc.) Multi-sectoral approach and coordination (farmer does not think or act sectorally) Linkages: from farm to local leadership and nationally to policy level (inclusiveness, bottom-up approach) Responsiveness, capacity and resilience (home-grown?) Roles of NGO, private sector versus government (Forums for cooperation and planning) URGENT: Communities needed help yesterday! Paradigm shift (especially to favour group and social approaches) > process versus prescriptive How to advance a concept or a position specific to HIV/AIDS Not sure interventions so far have brought about behavioural change (command approaches, campaign) Current system has mostly relied on medical interventions (condoms and drugs How do we close the gaps in knowledge Million $ Question(s)??? What makes the intervention an HIV/AIDS mitigation? What is different now from non-HIV times of the past? How will we be sure to reach the most disadvantaged this time round (when they are even weaker ??)

Way forward

Scenic Structure: Creating awareness, postering understanding of what is happening now for countering vulnerability with resilience… Identify local issues that need to be discussed and processed, determine what is needed and build interventions on what exists… Set the scene for Government, NGO private sector and farmers forum Build agents of change in extension capacity under the new paradigm multi- disciplinary, old skills re-forged and applied anew, farmers, priests etc as extension agents (ToT), train those with an eye for opportunistic innovation Integrate efforts with the health and other actors (paradigm change in medical, finance etc.) Radical and swift action is needed: let the infected and affected discuss and express needs and suggestions for action talk about HIV even at funerals! take discussions beyond the immediate cause let FFSs and PEAs discuss change in traditional practices that curtail intervention action Build on these to find wider determinants of the situations we are in, hence a chance for workable solutions. Action research has an important role (yet already existing extension approaches/manuals and other tools have to be applied as widely as possible NOW!) Build into the characteristics and cultural norms of the most vulnerable (gender roles e.g. widows will not plough, must hire labour etc.) Those more able can build food banks for the sick and destitute Church groups, youth groups discussing HIV/AIDS (youth and family extension) Set-up community health systems e.g. Angola Small stock multiplication programme (HPI style) Exploit local level resource and ID community entrepreneurs (and use them) Scale-up is in contiguum (systemic), multi-disciplinary and co-ordination approach Correct mistakes of the past in approaches and inclusiveness Set well-represented HIV/AIDS policy and planning committee with links to the ongoing activities Policy development need nationals from within (in-house) who know the strengths and weaknesses Equip policy makers with “learning by doing” skill (case of Uganda)

Next Steps...

Link this roundtable with the ongoing, from community, to institutions, to policy Join efforts with SADC – FANR-PAN – SAPES Trust, NEPAD (linking HIV to agriculture) Let us be a lobbying group with an advocacy pro-active agenda Aim for convincing, head-on action: Set tasks and targets of which we can meet again later and gauge progress, in front of a wider audience. Add to action-research efforts (Ђ and $ will be needed, write proposals and link with + people) Establish conceptual approaches and models to help convince donors that our proposed ways are the best to follow Build ourselves into a forum or network, that will attract others to link and share with us Invite ourselves to other and high level fora and increase the number of people involved

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