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Retired Board Member Ruth Oniang’o Says “IFDC’s Future is Already Here”

What changes have you seen at IFDC during your 7 years as a Board Member?

I have seen IFDC grow from a small organization to one that can compete with large international NGOs. I have seen IFDC assume a very important position in Africa’s agriculture. The budget has grown. The governance and culture of the organization have remained uniquely strong.

How do you see IFDC’s role in the future?

IFDC’s future is already here. Its niche is in the fertilizer area. Fertilizer has been taken for granted for years. There has been no new research in many years and no new products have been developed. IFDC should provide leadership in this area because of its expertise. IFDC should spearhead training and research and encourage private-public partnerships that favor development of affordable and environmentally friendly new products.

Research should focus on products that are energy efficient—both to produce and to use. New fertilizer products should not only be affordable, but also compact, to reduce transport costs. This might be achieved by new technology—nanotechnology, a future manufacturing technology that would make fertilizers lighter, cleaner, less expensive, and more efficient.

You have resigned your place on IFDC’s Board of Directors; what are your plans for the future?

I left the Board prematurely to reorganize my NGO and to work more effectively with IFDC to fulfill its mandate. I want to spread good practices throughout East Africa. When I first joined IFDC, I did not know much about fertilizer. As a food and nutrition scientist, I now compare the soil’s need for fertilizer to the body’s need for nutrients. We cannot be productive without nourishment. Likewise, soils cannot produce without inputs. African farmers do not use much fertilizer, yet African soils need fertilizer more than anywhere in the world. Working with the rural community over the past 18 years has taught me what poor farmers need—consistent technical support. Our center provided many needed veterinary services to about 400 women dairy farmers. Rebuilding the small milk processing plant, which produced yogurt, is essential to those farmers. ROP also helped food crop farmers. Recently, a widow told what ROP had done for her at a community meeting: “I thank you, ROP, for teaching me how to use inputs. Now my small plot produces eight bags of maize instead of the two that I produced without inputs.”

ROP also operates early childhood development centers and provides services to orphans, widows, and the elderly. Needy students have also benefited from our scholarship fund.

How do you see Kenya’s current situation in regard to farmers?

Kenya’s post-election violence hit at the heart of farming in the Rift Valley and Western Province during land preparation time. The area was not cultivated and the farmers were in “internally displaced person” camps. Many still are. The few who planted did not use fertilizer for two reasons: fertilizer was not available because of the violence and fertilizer prices had skyrocketed worldwide. The planting time was over when the fertilizer reached the farmers. The government promised to subsidize the inputs, but logistically it was impossible to move the inputs quickly from the port of Mombassa to the other side of Kenya where they were needed most. It is therefore not surprising that food production for 2008 is estimated to be about 30% less than other years, and pockets of serious famine are being reported. The violence lasted for 2 months and showed us how vulnerable we are; we do not have food stocks to last a mere 2 months. We must employ modern farming methods, build our food reserves, and address the entire food chain through research, policies, and practical implementation. I will continue working with our farmers. After serving in Kenya’s Parliament, I fully understand how policies can be influenced and I can work in that area to make improvements.

MAINTAINING THE DIGNITY OF STUDY SUBJECTS
DURING DATA COLLECTION AS A PRACTICE

By Christine M. Mwangi, Senior Research Officer, KEMRI
Email: cmwangi@kemri-nuitm.or.ke

As nutritionists we can set the standard for good practice in research. Study subjects are human beings with feelings and must be treated so. More often they have a deep hidden need for love, especially when they are sick. They look at the researcher as their ‘savior’ and expect a magic solution immediately. Treating human subjects with kindness and love is not only godly it is a natural practice. Unfortunately the scientists, probably in a hurry to consolidate and analyze the ‘much awaited data’ fail to capture the opportunity to be the missionaries of hope and change. Because of being too engrossed in data collection, to the researcher the subjects remain so – subjects. My belief is that the greatest outcome of a study (and this needs to form part of the objectives) is not information- to- policy, it is rather the difference the study team will make in the personal lives of their subjects as they interact with them. Time has come for a paradigm shift from research studies that are driven by funding and publication to research that is geared towards solving problems of humanity and changing lives. Policy information is just information if the target problem remains so. A study population has the will power to solve a lot of their problems if confidence is cultivated into them through kind deeds. Such Kind deeds extended to study subjects may not be part of the research methodology, but can go a long way in attracting community ownership of the project as they build trust with the team. Examples of kind deeds may include sharing your kids’ old clothing with your subjects when you notice that their infants are shabbily dressed or are exposed to cold. This can go a long way! In fact the message passed through this small act of love is so strong, it can change a community for good. This change of attitude by research scientists will transform research into mission, and that is when it becomes research!