The Experience of ITDG in Participatory Development of the Donkey-drawn Plough in North Darfur, Western Sudan

Mohammed Majzoub Fidiel

 

Abstract

Introduction

Context

The Technology Development Process

Results and Impact

Lessons Learnt

Conclusion

Questions for Debate

References

Annex: Glossary of Local Terms

 

Abstract

 

This case study documents the process of developing animal-drawn ploughs in North Darfur, Western Sudan. It also reflects on how this process led to strengthening farmers’ and blacksmiths’ capacities to engage in PTD and attracted the interest of formal institutions of agricultural extension and training in this approach to technology development. The process followed a logical sequence of consulting available literature and looking into previous experiences in the surrounding geographical areas and as far as the United Kingdom. It also drew on the valuable inputs of local blacksmiths (who made the ploughs), project engineers and the farmers themselves, the end users of the product. The impact of the new ploughs on the livelihoods of the people in the study area is also discussed.

 

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Introduction

 

The experience started in 1988/89 in the Kebkabiya area under the Oxfam-supported Kebkabiya Smallholders Project (KSP), which was later extended by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) into two more areas, Jebel Si and Dar Elsalam, under the project Linking Indigenous Knowledge Support (LINKS). In 1998, when a further extension of LINKS started under the name Darfur Livelihood Integrated Project (DARLIVE), the animal-traction work was placed under its auspices, and the Azagarfa and Kutum areas were added.

 

This case study of the development and dissemination of animal-drawn ploughs is meant to contribute to institutionalising the PTD approach within Sudan. The study was developed in a participatory way involving local people through the following activities and methods:

 

  1. Review of secondary data, most of which are listed in the references
  2. Community workshops involving the following community-based organisations (CBOs):

·        Azagarfa Blacksmiths Society

·        Azagarfa Village Development Committee (VDC)

·        Kassara Blacksmiths Society

·        Kassara VDC

·        Jebel Si VDC

·        Shouba VDC

·        Kebkabiya Smallholders Charitable Society (KSCS)

Group interviews were conducted with some CBO committees. Individual interviews were also conducted with selected community members and with project and government staff.

  1. Working on the basis of major project documents: reports written by Simon Croxton, the first expatriate engineer with the project, based on monitoring data gathered by the national engineer, Mohammed Siddig Suliman, who still works with the project; and the first draft of the process documentation compiled by Abdelmajd Kgojali. The draft served as a base for the present paper, and information was added according to the case-study format recommended by the Advancing PTD workshop organisers.

 

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Context

Geography and Climate

The Farming System

The Kebkabiya Smallholders Project

 

Geography and Climate

Context

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The Greater Darfur Region, with a population of 3.5 million people, is divided into three states: North, West and South Darfur. North Darfur lies in the Sahel zone on the southern edge of the Sahara desert and has a population of about 1.4 million, with 70% or around 159,000 families living in poverty. Forty percent of these families are vulnerable to disasters such as drought, loss of animals etc; the other 60% are constantly threatened by food insecurity. The area is highly vulnerable to drought and is characterised by extreme remoteness, poor communications, poor infrastructure and poor public services.

 

Kebkabiya is one of the four provinces in North Darfur. Provinces are divided into local councils and village councils. Each village council is formed of 2–7 villages. Kebkabiya Rural Council, the project area, is situated in the southwest of the State at the bottom of the mountain known as Jabal Marra.

 

Most of the area in the northern part of the State is desert with 10–12 arid months per year; the southern and eastern parts are semi-desert with 8–9 arid months and suffer from low and highly variable rainfall. This ranges between 75 and 400 mm/year, with extreme variations in annual distribution. Kebkabiya Rural Council experiences 9 arid months a year; annual rainfall is 350–400 mm. The area was hard hit by successive droughts since the early 1980s (Table 1), resulting in a long-term deterioration in the people’s livelihood base, reflected in a severe decline in crop production, mass death of livestock, reduced range productivity and widespread ecological degradation.

 

Within North Darfur, Kebkabiya Rural Council has more agricultural potential, especially on the wadi areas of seasonal water flow. The economy is based on rainfed subsistence farming. The main crops are millet, sorghum, okra, cowpea, watermelons (mostly for seeds), karkadeh (hibiscus) and sesame. The better-off farmers normally practise dry-season small-scale irrigation on alluvial soils of wadi land where the water table is high. The main irrigated crops are chickpea, bean, onion, tomato and other fresh vegetables. Poor families without access to irrigation facilities grow wet-season onion, tomato and okra. Groundnut was introduced later as a result of the project and the introduction of the plough.

 

As one goes south, livestock decrease is importance but still remain essential for the economy. Goats and sheep are raised as a means of saving and investment; donkeys were used mainly for transportation and only recently as draught animals. The main tools used for cultivation are hand hoes.

 

Off-farm activities include collection of grass fodder, building materials, firewood and wild fruits; charcoal making; petty trading and handicrafts. Opportunities for non-farm income are limited to seasonal or semi-permanent migration of men to mechanised-farming areas, urban centres in central Sudan and abroad to Libya. Remittances from migrant relatives are the primary source of off-farm income.

 

The Farming System

Access to Land and Size of Holding

Cropping Patterns

Main Constraints to Farming

Context

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The farm unit is based on a nuclear family or families including married sons who, after three years of marriage, will have their own household. Women head 25–40% of the 5000 households in the area.

 

Access to Land and Size of Holding

The Farming System

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Land for cultivation is the basic resource of the households. Tenure types include communal or tribal land, family- or clan-owned land, village-owned land and individually owned land. In Kebkabiya Rural Council, access to land can easily be gained through inheritance, rent, sharecropping or borrowing from relatives or friends for 1–2 years. Land is not rented or sold in the area. Ninety percent of the women in the area own fields and have land titles. The main constraint to the amount of land cultivated is labour availability. The most successful households are the larger polygamous ones.

 

Each family owns several plots, each ranging between 2 and 4 makhammas (1.5–3 ha). The average size of holding ranges between 2 and 10 makhammas (3–7.3 ha). The dominant soil type is the hard-surface sandy loam locally called nagaa or gardud. Many families in the area own wadi land, which is more fertile but more limited in area than the other land types.

 

In Jebel Si, which was included in the second project phase (LINKS), good cropland is scarce because of the mountainous topography. People cultivate the mountain slopes on terraces built with stones. Gardud or wadi land is very limited and farm sizes range between 2 and 4 makhammas. In Dar Elsalam, the other area included in the second phase, soils are predominantly sandy (goz) and sandy loam (gardud) crossed by few seasonal streams where alluvial soil dominates. Farmers grow millet, sorghum and okra.

 

Cropping Patterns

The Farming System

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Millet, and to a very limited extent, sesame and sorghum are grown on sandy and sandy loam soils. Millet is dominant in the three project areas and is the main staple food. It is grown mainly for home consumption and covers 80% of the area cultivated annually. Tomato, okra, chickpea, cowpea and groundnut are grown both for consumption and cash on wadi land. Some farmers have started to grow tomato, okra and groundnut on the gardud soil in terraces.

 

Traditionally, millet, sorghum, sesame, cowpea and watermelon were intercropped. This practice was increasingly abandoned because of the decrease in rainfall and, more recently, the introduction of the donkey plough, which reduced the amount of labour needed for land preparation.

 

Main Constraints to Farming

The Farming System

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Farmers in North Darfur face three main constraints: poor availability of seed, inadequate labour and lack of extension services.

 

The project and its partner Oxfam realised the need for extension services and offered to build up a participatory extension system. The Village Development Committees (VDCs) nominated some of their members, who were then trained as Village Extension Agents (VEA) to deliver advice and services. The VDCs and their VEAs have played an important role in the PTD approach: they convinced their communities to take part in the process, they assisted in nominating farmers and allocating land for experimental and demonstration plots, and they liaised between their community farmers, the project engineers and the blacksmiths throughout the process. The VDCs initially started as informal groups of active community members. The project then helped them to register themselves as legal CBOs.

 

The Kebkabiya Smallholders Project

Context

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After the major drought and famine in 1984/85, Oxfam came to the area to give relief support. The main beneficiaries were the small subsistence farmers. Oxfam started a seed distribution programme to help people secure their food requirements in the 1985/86 season. Through continuous dialogue with farmers, the agency became aware of the main constraints in farming identified by the community: seedbed preparation (ploughing and ridging), planting and weeding. Most of the poor farmers cultivated sloping land with hard-surface sandy loam soil that restricted water infiltration and led to runoff. Under such conditions, cultivation with the traditional hand hoe is difficult and time-consuming. This causes much hardship for women, whom perform 75% of the cultivation operations, and has adverse impacts on productivity and the income-generation capacity of the households.

 

Although the average household sows 2–4 makhammas of millet, it manages to weed only 2 makhammas. The maximum period available for timely weeding is three weeks. The average production per makhammas is about 3 sacks. This means that the average household produces from 2 makhammas only 6 sacks of millet or only half the average annual requirement per family (12 sacks).

 

The long time spent on cultivation coupled with the hardship involved in the work and the effort needed for other household tasks exert mental and physical pressures on women, adversely affecting their health. It also prevents other family members involved in the farming operations from working for better-off farmers after cultivating their own fields and from non-farm income-generation opportunities.

 

Given the above constraints and farmers’ needs, the Kebkabiya Smallholders Project (KSP) was designed and implementation started in 1986. The ultimate project goals were to empower the KSP communities and to strengthen the relative position of the poorer men and women. The intermediate objectives were to:

To achieve sustainable livelihood security and empowerment, the project’s designated interventions were: the operation of a seed-bank facility to secure sustainable supply of seed; pest control; extension; and widespread introduction of animal traction.

 

In view of the droughts that had affected livelihoods and agricultural production, the local farmers were well aware of the importance of increasing yields and productivity. The project regarded animal traction as central for realising the three intermediate objectives of food security, control over resources and empowerment. The plough was a clear option, especially since some of the farmers in the project area had seen the benefits of the camel plough used by affluent farmers in adjacent areas and when they seasonally migrated to work in the areas of two large development projects: Jabal Marra and Western Savannah (see below). Farmers clearly gave priority to the plough.

 

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The Technology Development Process

The History of Animal Traction in the Area

The Role played by Bilateral Government Development Projects

The Role played by Oxfam

Involvement of ITDG

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

Distribution of Ploughs and Training of Farmers

Dissemination of the Plough in the Project Area

Scaling Up Plough Dissemination

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The History of Animal Traction in the Area

 

The Technology Development Process

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In the 1960s, nomadic camel traders brought a buffalo mouldboard plough from Egypt to Greater Darfur. These traders are based in Kass town in Southern Darfur, 300 km from El Fashir. In the 1970s, traditional Darfur blacksmiths modified the plough to suit the camel. In the late 1970s, the plough was used in rainfed plots but only by the few farmers who could afford to rent or buy it. In the mid-80s, a steep rise in the value of camels led to an upsurge in camel theft. The use of camels became more and more unpopular, and the focus shifted to donkeys.

 

The Role played by Bilateral Government Development Projects

 

The Technology Development Process

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The Jabal Marra Rural Development Project (JMRDP) started in 1971 with a main objective to develop farming in Jebel Marra area. One of its interventions was the development of animal-traction technology. The project adapted the design of the traditional mouldboard camel plough to suit the loamy clay soils of South Darfur, using the donkey as source of draught power. Also the Western Savannah Development Corporation (WSDC), which operated from 1974 to 1994 in Darfur, did research in animal traction and developed the donkey-drawn seeder/weeder.

 

The Role played by Oxfam

The Technology Development Process

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Oxfam’s early work in Kebkabiya built on these experiences. Implements designed as copies of those used by JMRDP and WSDC were tested in Kebkabiya in 1986 and 1987 and proved unsuccessful. In late 1987, the Oxfam animal-traction officer was sent to Britain for further training in animal-traction technology. He brought back a mouldboard donkey plough. Oxfam contacted a blacksmith in Nyala named Halatu to train seven Zaghawa blacksmiths from Kebkabiya area to make the plough. The aim was to transfer knowledge and skills in animal-traction technology to the village blacksmiths. Acquiring knowledge and skills for a technology demanded by all local farmers was expected to empower the blacksmiths.

 

To be able to experiment with the seven mouldboard ploughs, Oxfam established three demonstration farms in four villages in the north, west, south and east of the Kebkabiya area on land allocated by the village councils. In each village, the selected farm was situated on the main road to be seen by all passing farmers. The local extension agent cultivated the demonstration farm and was paid by the project. He also used the plough to cultivate part of his own farm and lent the plough to other farmers who showed an interest in trying it. Very limited success was achieved with this plough. Oxfam and the pioneer farmers concluded that it was too heavy for the donkey and did not speed up cultivation significantly. Nevertheless, farmers saw it as a step forward. A small number of farmers in the demonstration farm villages showed interest in it the following season. By mid-1988, it became clear that the limited experience with animal-drawn implements was constrained progress in the project’s animal-traction programme. For this reason, ITDG was contracted to provide technical support in identifying, testing and developing a suitable donkey implement for ploughing.

 

Involvement of ITDG

 

The Technology Development Process

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ITDG was involved in the project from mid-1988 until 1990 and then again from 1992 to date. Simon Croxton was employed by ITDG to undertake the work. He, in turn, recruited Mohammed Siddig Suliman on secondment basis from the Regional Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). The specific tasks of ITDG were to:

This third objective was to be achieved by working with farmers to ensure users’ participation in developing the innovation to meet their needs and working with and training local blacksmiths so that they could produce the implements without external support. The blacksmiths were regarded as the only option to ensure local manufacturing and maintenance of the ploughs, an element that was key for the sustainability of the technology.

ITDG’s intervention involved two aspects:

  1. Developing an animal-traction technology that uses the donkey as source of draught power and that suits the area and the farmers’ needs. To do this, ITDG conducted a technical survey to collect information about the status of animal traction in the area and the technologies available.
  2. Conducting a socio-economic survey to obtain information relevant to the use of animal traction by farmers practising rainfed agriculture, with special attention to the possibilities of using donkeys as draught animals. The survey started in March 1989 and ended in early 1990 because of the upsurge of tribal conflict in the area.

 

The surveys were a useful means for project staff to build relationships with and learn more about the communities with which they work. The surveys revealed that there was considerable interest in the use of donkey ploughs in the project area. All farmers who had had used them or had seen them being used by others stated that they wanted to use them, but seemed unclear as to what the actual benefits would be. The most commonly perceived benefits were improved water infiltration, less drudgery and easing the labour bottleneck during weeding. A large number of poorer households had no donkeys. There was considerable borrowing and lending of donkeys but it was far easier to borrow a donkey for light work and for a short period than for heavy work like cultivation. Women headed many of the poorer households. The proportion of female-headed households without donkeys was particularly high. Women household heads had had the least experience with donkey plough (this included seeing a plough working). Even in villages near demonstration plots, the number of women who had seen ploughs in operation was relatively small.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Approach

Designing and Developing the ARD Chisel Plough

Designing and Developing the Mouldboard (the Kebkabiya Plough)

Developing a Suitable Harness

The Technology Development Process

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The Approach

 

ITDG adopted the following approach in the process of designing and developing the animal-drawn implements:

 

From the beginning, the ITDG team was aware of the great restrictions on the possibilities open for implement design. Effectively, the need was to identify implements that were:

 

This meant that it was necessary to look for a chisel-tined implement suitable for cultivating light sandy loam that forms a hard surface crust. Such as implement could reach the farmer at a reasonable cost, could be manufactured by village blacksmiths, did not require a large amount of steel and could be pulled by a donkey. Although the mouldboard is not the implement most suitable to the area, it was decided to improve the current version developed by Oxfam in Halatu’s workshop.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Designing and Developing the ARD Chisel Plough

 

In order to reduce the need for large quantities of scarce steel, a wooden-frame implement was thought to be most suitable. In December 1988, ITDG hired a consultant engineer to develop and test some basic ideas for a simple wooden-framed implement based on a Middle Eastern ard (an ancient tool dating back to the earliest days of settled farming). The Ethiopians have their own version of it, the maresha. This work was done in England at the University of East Anglia’s Rural Technology Unit (RTU). Experiments were made with various frames to develop a short-beamed implement that could be drawn by a single animal. Once a frame had been designed, various tines – all simple enough to be made by local blacksmiths – were tested behind a trained mule and the power requirements for the different models were compared. Finally, RTU identified two tine designs as showing promise and the tines were taken to Sudan to use as patterns for blacksmiths in the Kebkabiya area to copy.

 

One of these tines was a scaled-down version of an Ethiopian maresha. The other was a simple chisel plough with sweeps. A further brief evaluation of these in Kebkabiya demonstrated the suitability of the tine with sweeps, and no further work was carried out with the maresha, which the English tests had shown to have higher draught requirements (i.e. more suitable to be drawn by oxen, as is traditionally the case in Ethiopia, than by donkeys).

 

The next stage involved working with blacksmiths in Kerikir village, near Kebkabiya, to show them the design and to see if they could manufacture the implement. The wooden frame is very simple, consisting of two poles, and it would be possible for farmers to make. However, certain parameters have to be met in its construction, the most important ones being the angle at which the tine will penetrate the soil and to ensure that the implement is symmetrical around its line of draught. As farmers had no experience with this implement, ITDG felt that the blacksmiths should be encouraged to make both the steel and the wooden parts in the first instance. It may be possible to encourage farmers to make their own frames at a later stage, once they have some experience with it. This would greatly reduce the price of the implement, as farmers would have to purchase only the steel tip from blacksmiths. At this stage, all work was disrupted and delayed by the upsurge in tribal conflict in 1989.

 

Work on the ard chisel plough was resumed after the 1989 wet season, this time focused on ensuring that the local blacksmiths were fully acquainted with its design. Some modification to the tine was necessary, as the blacksmiths found it difficult to copy exactly the design made by the English blacksmith. By now, the Zaghawa blacksmiths in Keriker were far more interested in the work than they had been initially and developed their own solution to the fabrication problem. The final cost of the ard was a little higher than expected, mainly because the blacksmiths were now aware of how valuable they were to the project and insisted on a fairly high charge for their labour. However, the ard still cost only one third the price of a mouldboard plough. The project felt that paying a slightly high price to the Zaghawa blacksmiths set no undesirable precedent. They were clearly doing no more than exploiting their monopoly position, and this advantage would disappear over time as the design become known by more blacksmiths and there was more competition. Their enthusiasm remained high, and the blacksmiths were now coming up with ideas of their own. The job of project staff shifted to trying to maintain steady progress in the work, rather than having to show them designs. It was a clear step towards local institutionalisation of the PTD approach when the blacksmiths themselves began testing their modifications and products in the field near the village. By the end of March 1990, 20 ards had been manufactured for distribution to farmers for training before the onset of rains, so that the new implements could be used for cultivation in the 1990 season.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Designing and Developing the Mouldboard (the Kebkabiya Plough)

 

The mouldboard plough is not a particularly suitable implement for a low rainfall area such as Kebkabiya. It inverts the soil so that soil moisture is lost to a greater degree than when some form of chisel plough is used. This is not such a serious problem on wadi soils where moisture inputs (through flooding or irrigation) and moisture-holding capacity (because of higher clay content) are relatively high. It is of far greater importance on lighter goz soils where the moisture-holding properties of the soil are poor. If these implements are used on goz soils, conditions for crop growth become critically dependent on subsequent rainfall patterns. A further disadvantage of the mouldboard plough is that it has a higher draught requirement than, for example, a simple tined implement. In addition, the mouldboard requires a higher quantity of steel. Steel is always in short supply in Darfur. This is true in the major urban centres of Nyala and El Fashir. It is even more difficult to obtain regular steel supplies in a remote rural area like Kebkabiya.

 

Despite these disadvantages, it was decided to continue with the development of a more suitable mouldboard version because there were other factors to be considered. Firstly, the farmers and blacksmiths needed several alternatives to experiment with, so that they could choose the most appropriate technology option. In the early stages of introducing a new technology, experimenting with several alternatives can lead to good and quick results. Secondly, it was clear that the training of blacksmiths in manufacturing the ard would take some time. It was doubtful if large numbers of ards would be ready in time for the next wet season (June–September).

 

A further factor influenced the decision to continue developing the mouldboard plough. This was the assessment that the project was suffering from a credibility problem among farmers with regard to plough supply. Farmers had expressed very strong interest in animal traction and knew that the project had been experimenting with various ploughs for the previous three years without coming up with tangible benefits. Although the suitability of the mouldboard was doubtful, the project felt that it was better to continue with the development of a model that could be manufactured locally. This would provide the most reliable way of ensuring that a reasonable number of ploughs were available in time for the next growing season. It was felt that, in an ideal world, the mouldboard would have not been promoted, but events had overtaken the project. The JMRDP had begun to work in the Kebkabiya area and was promoting its donkey-drawn mouldboards and offering them for sale through their extension agents. The mouldboard was the type of implement with which most farmers and blacksmiths were familiar. These ploughs were available in Nyala and would almost certainly begin arriving in Kebkabiya in small numbers. ITDG felt that it was preferable to maintain some control over the manufacture, distribution and use of the ploughs and this could be best done if the project were active in this field of work. The project could not impose a technology on farmers and blacksmiths. The most positive approach was to provide them with a choice of implements.

 

Work on the mouldboard was already in progress when ITDG involvement began. Experimentation in the 1987 wet season with the latest mouldboard version developed in Halatu’s workshop proved that the plough performed poorly. Farmers with demonstration plots and other farmers who used borrowed ploughs observed that the plough was too heavy for the donkey, it was not steady and stable on the ground (it jumped out of its path), the mainframe was weak and bent during operation, and ploughing was slow.

 

Closer examination of the plough design by ITDG revealed the following:

Work continued to correct the above-mentioned defects and to develop a mouldboard plough that suited the local conditions, met farmers’ requirements and could be manufactured by village blacksmiths. By early 1989, the mouldboard plough had been improved. It was lighter than the Jebel Marra donkey mouldboard, with a longer landsite made of steel section and requiring no welding to construct.


The project’s animal-traction officer had built up a good working relation with two of the Zaghawa blacksmiths who were among the first seven blacksmiths trained in Halatu’s workshop in Nyala. Both of them were based in Kerikir village near Kebkabiya town. They were more responsive to the idea of working with the project than the blacksmiths based directly in Kebkabiya who had also been trained in Halatu’s workshop. The town blacksmiths were more interested in continuing to serve the town dwellers in making gates, windows and hand tools.

 

Although the Zaghawa blacksmiths were skilled artisans, the process of developing a suitable mouldboard design took some time. It was necessary not only to avoid welded joints but also to use the steel section that was available. A prototype of a frame that used 2-inch waterpipe was produced, but supplies of this then dried up. The Agricultural Bank of Sudan (ABS) had a stock of steel in Nyala, which had been provided by the EEC as part of an aid package. The steel was marked for use in producing animal-drawn implements. The particular steel sections and sheeting that had been imported were not of suitable dimensions to produce the donkey mouldboard, but this was the only reliable source of steel in Darfur at the time. The design had to be further modified so that the available steel could be used. Moreover, there was considerable competition for this steel. Both WSDC and JMRDP required large quantities for their programmes and it was only after some negotiation that the ABS in Nyala was persuaded to allow the Kebkabiya project a reasonable amount of the steel. Steel pricing was also quite variable. The method followed by ABS was to sell at prices fairly close to the market price in Nyala, which fluctuated depending on supply and demand. Accordingly, ABS developed a price structure that seemed to change each time a new purchase was made. Despite these problems, steel was obtained and at a price that meant that the ploughs could be sold at a similar price to those available through JMRDP. The fact that steel was available only through the limited and non-permanent supplies of ABS underlined the non-sustainable aspect of using a design that requires large quantities of steel for each implement.

 

At this stage, it became clear that the Zaghawa blacksmiths in Kerikir, being few in number and busy making the ard, would not be able to manufacture a large quantity of ploughs before the next wet season. The project decided to commission Halatu (the Nyala blacksmith) to mass-produce 100 ploughs because, at that time, he was the only person able to accomplish the work in the time left. Halatu is an astute businessman and drives a hard bargain, and some fairly tough negotiations were necessary to obtain a fair price for this work. In addition, the standard of the work left much to be desired and some of the ploughs had to be modified locally after delivery. Actually, the 100 ploughs made by Halatu resembled more the JMRDP plough than the plough developed locally by the project together with the blacksmiths and farmers. This had happened in spite of the fact that the ITDG national engineer spent long periods in Nyala supervising work progress and quality control. This experience reinforced the conviction that future plough manufacture would be far more satisfactory if local blacksmiths could do it.

 

Before the beginning of the wet season, the 100 ploughs were ready for distribution but the work was disrupted by the tribal conflict and all staff left the project area by June 1989.The ploughs were not distributed in that season. In early 1990, work resumed and it was decided to commission another batch of ploughs from Halatu. The ABS still had a small amount of steel. The project wanted to obtain as much of the remainder as possible, which turned out to be enough for another 100 ploughs. This time, Halatu was asked to make mouldboard ploughs that were copies of the JMRDP design. Halatu had more experience with this design and it was hoped that the quality of the finished product would therefore be better. It would also provide further insights on plough performance, as farmers could then test three designs (two mouldboard designs and the ard).

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Developing a Suitable Harness

 

The project had only one leather harness stuffed with straw. This was used to harness the project’s own donkey working on demonstration plots. The original idea had been to copy this design, which is similar to the one for horses used for carting in Nyala and El Fashir. It had originally been envisaged that local leather-workers could make collars of this type. However, the project’s collar did not fit the project’s donkey well: it was too big and needed constant adjustment while the animal was working. This underlined the drawbacks of using this design, which must be made-to-measure for the individual animal or must be modified (and made yet more complex) to allow adjustment for different animals. When the project was working with the blacksmiths in Keriker, the plough needed to be tried out in a nearby field. The project’s collar was not available and the donkey was hitched to the plough with ropes attached to a riding saddle. Although this method is not an efficient way of utilising the donkey’s power, it worked relatively well and demonstrated the poor performance of the ill-fitting leather collar. Pricing the leather harness also showed that the high cost would make its widespread use unlikely. Therefore, simple harnesses were investigated.

 

The project team thought that a breast-band harness would be the best bet, as this style of harness suits equines (e.g. donkeys), which – unlike bovines (e.g. oxen) – can pull from the chest. A breast-band harness is easier to make than a collar, and it is fairly simple to ensure a good fit on the animal. The main criterion is to ensure that the animal’s windpipe is not constricted. Various materials were considered. Nylon webbing about 2 inches wide was available in the market. It is an inexpensive material that is widely used to tie baggage to camels. It is quite soft and therefore preferable to leather, which tends to become hard and crack as a result of the animal’s sweat drying on it, causing sores to develop on the animals as a result of chaffing. ITDG used the nylon webbing to make a breast-band harness. A double layer, stitched along the edges and stuffed with cotton, rags or straw, crosses the donkey’s chest. This is attached to single straps across the donkey’s shoulder to keep the harness in place. The traces to the implement are tied to each end of the strip around the chest. This harness works well, is easy to adjust and is now being promoted among farmers using donkey ploughs.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Distribution of Ploughs and Training of Farmers

Distribution of Ploughs

Training of Farmers

Monitoring Farmers’ Reactions

The Technology Development Process

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By the end of March 1990, the project felt that enough ploughs (200 mouldboards and 20 ards) were in stock to concentrate on distribution and farmers’ training. This was done with the cooperation of the centre committees (see below), the VEAs and the project’s extension officers.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Distribution of Ploughs

 

The results of the socio-economic survey in 1989–90 suggested that a large minority of households would not be able to afford a plough at any price, but also that a sizeable number of farmers were very keen to obtain a plough and did not consider the price to be a major obstacle. The project thought that the ploughs should be sold at a price that represents their market value. To subsidise the price would have undermined the blacksmiths’ ability to sell their own ploughs in the future. This would have run counter to the project’s overall philosophy, which stresses sustainability without the need for outside assistance or subsidy. In addition, any subsidy might jeopardise or delay spread of the technology in the future. The mouldboard design had been frequently tested, both in Kebkabiya on the demonstration plots and elsewhere in Darfur by WSDC and JMRDP. Many farmers had seen the plough in action and a few had borrowed one during the 1988 wet season. The modifications evolved with the Zaghawa blacksmiths were merely means of making manufacture possible in a village context but had not dramatically changed the implement. Farmers were not being asked to spend their money on an untried implement. The enthusiasm of a large number of farmers reinforced this view.

 

The project decided to offer the mouldboard plough for sale and fixed a price of Ls 450 ($US 22.50). It would allocate ploughs to each centre committee to make distribution fairly even, the centre committees would decide which individuals could purchase the limited number of ploughs available. All conversations with farmers had suggested that those who first bought ploughs would be those most able to afford taking the financial risk involved and that, if they proved to be successful, other farmers would follow their lead in subsequent seasons. The project planned to consider, at a later stage, methods of providing the less affluent households with ploughs. A different approach was proposed for the ard. As this was an untried technology, it would be offered to interested farmers on a sale or return basis. This would permit farmers to try them out without having to take the financial risk.

 

Distribution was made through the Kebkabiya Smallholders Charitable Society (KSCS). The society started in 1986 as a semiformal project management committee to link the Oxfam project team and the beneficiaries at the grassroots. Centre committees were established at village-council level, primarily to help deliver inputs and services, to facilitate implementation of other project activities and to take over implementation in the future. The idea to institutionalise the project management committee came from its members in 1989; in 1990, it was registered as a charitable society.

 

The project area was divided into 16 centres covering a total of 65 villages. According to the suggested approaches for plough distribution, centre committees in the 13 centres with suitable soils for animal traction were asked to select farmers who would buy the ploughs and 173 mouldboard ploughs were distributed for sale and 20 ards were distributed on a sale or return basis.

 

An attempt was made to ensure that women farmers would have equal access to the ploughs available, but this was not as easy as anticipated. Many female-headed households are among the least affluent in the community and this alone prevented many from obtaining ploughs. In addition, many women expressed doubts in their ability to manage ploughs. There was one marked experience, in Shouba village, where the women’s committee pooled resources to purchase a plough that could be shared. Later on and from interviews with women and men farmers in Shouba and Azagarfa villages, we came to know that ploughs obtained by male family members were also used by women (sister or wife) to cultivate their plots.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Training of Farmers

 

Distribution and training started in March 1990. Training was conducted with the cooperation of the project’s extension officers and VEAs. In each village, training started with plough distribution and continued for two days. Training covered the following:

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Monitoring Farmers’ Reactions

 

The project had hoped to monitor farmers’ reactions to the plough during the 1990 wet season, but it was difficult to move around the area because flooded wadis frequently made routes impassable. In addition, at this time of the year, farmers spend long hours in the field and it would therefore be difficult to find the individuals using the ploughs. Nevertheless, a tour was made of parts of the project area in August 1990, specifically to talk to farmers who had used ploughs and to obtain some feedback soon after they had cultivated. As expected, it was not always possible to find all those who had used the ploughs.

 

The farmers were not satisfied at all with the ard plough. The responses and comments of both men and women farmers were much the same: the ard was difficult to adjust, and the ridges formed were very small and were washed out after the first showers. Accordingly, the ard chisel plough was rejected as an option from the first season.

 

With regard to the mouldboard, some of the 173 ploughs distributed were typical of the JMRDP plough and the others were a mixture of the JMRDP design and the design developed by the project. The six farmers who could be interviewed responded positively about the mouldboard, although with some reservations, mentioning drawbacks in manufacturing and design. The main benefits identified were improved infiltration of rainfall, as the plough broke the soil’s surface crust, and the large size of the ridges, which resisted washing out by runoff, thus preserving more water. Some farmers mentioned that the ploughing made subsequent weeding easier. Although the number of farmers interviewed was small, the positive responses were quite encouraging. As all farmers had paid for the mouldboard, it was unlikely that they had responded positively merely to please project staff. Farmers’ experiences are the most valuable and informative means of evaluating the performance of the various designs in the field, as they are using the implements under realistic conditions that can never be exactly replicated in the trials done by project staff.

 

Despite the positive responses, farmers faced some problems in operation and mentioned the followed drawbacks of the mouldboard plough:

Nevertheless, the farmers continued to use the plough because of the benefits realised in terms of productivity and increased cultivated area.

 

The Process of Participatory Plough Development

The Technology Development Process

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Dissemination of the Plough in the Project Area

The Technology Development Process

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In 1991, ITDG was not involved in the KSP and no work was done to improve plough manufacturing and to produce new ploughs of better quality than the batch distributed in 1990. By November 1991, farmers had increased their complaints about the drawbacks of the mouldboard plough in terms of its heavy weight and the poor finishing and quality of steel. ITDG therefore became involved again as of January 1992. From this time onwards, the work was focused on disseminating the plough technology by:

 

In February 1992, training of local blacksmiths was started in Kassara village (30 km west of Kebkabiya) under the supervision of the ITDG engineer, first with the two blacksmiths who had already been trained in Halatu’s workshop and had worked most closely with the project. As a result of this additional training, 18 Kebkabiya ploughs were produced. ITDG supplied the raw materials. Through the training process, the blacksmiths’ knowledge about plough manufacturing and operation increasingly improved. They were applying their own new ideas and considering farmers’ observations to improve the plough. Car scrap springs and scrap steel sections were used for the first time.

 

All 18 ploughs were distributed on credit in the 1992 growing season through KSCS. Payment was in two instalments, 50% down payment and the balance to be paid at harvest. Project staff together with VDC members and VEAs used different methods to monitor farmers’ responses, such as:

 

Farmers gave very positive observations regarding overall performance of the ploughs compared to the 1990 batch manufactured in Nyala. Still, they made some negative observations about bending of the frog, which was made from light steel section, and the plough arm (handle), which was too short and required an additional effort from the farmer to cultivate in a straight line.

 

In early 1993, the two trained blacksmiths from Kassara worked with another group of seven blacksmiths from Sigring village, and focused on overcoming the defects of the frog and handle. Heavier steel sheets were used to make the frog and the handle was lengthened. They made 70 ploughs. As before, ITDG supplied the raw materials and KSCS paid for labour and distributed the ploughs on credit. The fund accumulating from plough sales was managed by KSCS and used as seed money for a revolving fund. In this year, farmers’ complaints related to finishing were very minor and blacksmiths immediately made repairs. As of 1994, demand for ploughs started to increase. Table 1 shows the number of ploughs manufactured and distributed between 1990 and 2000 by KSCS through 13 village centres.

 

Table 1: Number of ploughs distributed by KSCS

Year

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

Total

No.

193

109

18

70

95

260

250

55

63

101

150

1364

Source: KSCS records

 

Training of blacksmiths continued, using trained blacksmiths as trainers. Now, in 2001, there are 30 trained blacksmiths in Kassara alone. The village has become a source of trainers, facilitating technology dissemination in KSP project villages and in villages covered by the LINKS project. Between 1993 and 1999, Kassara blacksmiths trained 67 blacksmiths from Sigring, Kirung, Dar Elsalam, Azagarfa and Bardi village centres, with the project facilitating the links.

 

The number of ploughs manufactured and distributed during the lifetime of KSP was greater than the number in Table 1, as blacksmiths started to manufacture and sell ploughs on their own. The drop in number of ploughs distributed by KSCS between 1997 and 2000 was mainly due to the fact that the blacksmiths society and its members were selling directly to farmers without KSCS support. KSCS used to contract blacksmiths as an informal group to manufacture ploughs. It provided raw materials and paid for the labour against the delivery of ploughs. In this process, a blacksmith’s return to labour (i.e. net profit) was Ls 5000 per plough. As of 1998, the blacksmiths started to manufacture and sell ploughs outside of the KSCS contract and realised a net profit of Ls 17,000 per plough.

 

 

Scaling Up Plough Dissemination

Spreading beyond Kebkabiya

Scaling Up through Networking

Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

Institutional and Capacity Building of CBOs

The Technology Development Process

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Spreading beyond Kebkabiya

 

Dissemination of the animal-traction technology to other areas in and beyond Kebkabiya province was continued through the LINKS project after the end of KSP. The main objective of LINKS was to explore and develop effective methodologies for transferring local skills and knowledge to other rural areas. The strategy was to build on the success of the work with KSCS and disseminate more widely the technology options (for better weeding and post-harvest processing of agricultural products) and experience gained.

 

The role of ITDG was to facilitate the spread of technical knowledge in animal traction from one rural area to the other. In addition to animal traction, terrace cultivation and use of contour lines were introduced as adaptations of ploughing techniques from KSP, with the aim of minimising soil erosion that resulted from runoff and from soil inversion during ploughing. Terrace construction was also meant to increase soil moisture to counteract the negative effect on the crops caused by long dry spells during the wet season.

 

The LINKS project was designed and implemented in the period 1996–98. The project covered three areas:

 

It was an aim of the project to spread outside Darfur, but it occasionally provided technical support to other areas. This included support for Oxfam in the Red Sea Hills about 2500 km away and to Plan International in White Nile State over 1500 km away.

 

Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

The Technology Development Process

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Scaling Up through Networking

 

Out of its office in Khartoum, ITDG Sudan coordinates and networks with many institutions in a range of technology areas including food production and animal traction. ITDG organised workshops and exhibitions in Khartoum to demonstrate its fieldwork including the work on the plough. Many NGOs showed interest in replicating the success of the plough. Recently, FAO and UNICEF negotiated the possibility of training blacksmiths in, among other things, plough manufacturing in southern Kordufan and southern Sudan. Our advice, based on our experience, is to regard the PTD approach as a major determinant of success in adapting any new technology, especially to ensure sustainability of the continued technology development process in the rural areas.

 

Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

The Technology Development Process

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Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

 

ITDG organised training in making and using ploughs in all three project areas. The number of blacksmiths trained initially by skilled blacksmiths from Kassara was 10 from Jebel Si, 10 from Azagarfa and 8 from Dar Elsalam. There are now 25 trained blacksmiths in Jebel Si, 30 in Azagrfa and at least 8 in Dar Elsalam, all of whom are manufacturing ploughs.

 

Table 2 shows the number of ploughs manufactured and distributed in these three areas. Ploughs were distributed through farmers’ or blacksmiths’ societies. Credit arrangements and conditions, which were determined by the CBOs without external interference, differ between sites. For example, in Jebel Si, payment is in two instalments and the plough is confiscated if the farmer fails to pay the second one. In Azagarfa, the repayment rate was 61% in 1999 and 2000 on account of low rainfall and low production.

 

Table 2: Number of ploughs distributed between 1997 and 2000

Area

1997

1998

1999

2000

Total

Jebel Si

65

63

102

102

332

Azagarfa

-

42

65

14

121

Dar Elsalam

149

20

98

152

419

Total

214

125

265

268

872

Source: LINKS evaluation report

 

Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

The Technology Development Process

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Institutional and Capacity Building of CBOs

 

When the project began, the staff first met the community leaders and organised group meetings with them. When they developed trust that the people coming from outside would help them, they collaborated and nominated the members of their informal committees. Later, the formation and support of CBOs became the project approach. Through time, the number of CBOs has grown to six blacksmiths societies, three societies for manufacturing and selling intermediate means of transport and 63 village committees. The VDCs are involved in facilitating dissemination of the different types of technology adopted/adapted by the communities. Group formation is based of the people’s interest in formalising their informal CBOs. ITDG facilitated the links between the advisors, the concerned government departments and the community members. Constitutions for the associations were drafted. The project then facilitated strategic planning processes for most of the CBOs, facilitated the necessary training in management and book-keeping for all of them and provided financial and material support to some of them. The support was mostly in the form of roofing materials, doors and windows for their office and storage buildings, while the community provided bricks and labour. Many of the CBOs have now acquired premises and are actively involved in developing their communities by identifying needs, establishing links, seeking and managing funds, developing technologies, mobilising members, and running and managing necessary campaigns.

 

Blacksmiths Charitable Societies Established. In 1999 the Kassara blacksmiths formed and registered a charitable society with the main aims to supply its members with steel and to assist them in marketing. Total membership is 64 blacksmiths, of which 30 are trained in plough manufacturing. The society’s initial capital was formed of share dividends and members’ contributions (Ls 2500/month). ITDG supplied it with steel at a value of Ls 8,000,000 (approximately GBP 2000).This was used to manufacture 350 ploughs, 75% of which were sold, and a large number of hand implements. In 2000, the society procured 5 tons of steel and other raw materials. It either contracted its members to manufacture implements or supplied them with raw materials for cash or on credit. To increase its sales of ploughs, the society offers members who sell ploughs in neighbouring periodical markets a 10% discount. Currently, the society’s assets are worth Ls 14,000,000 (about GBP 3500) in cash, raw materials or finished products (99 ploughs in stock ready for sale next season). In addition to seed money, ITDG provided training in book-keeping and management. As a result of this training, the society now maintains satisfactory records for all its financial transactions and inventories.

 

The Azagarfa Blacksmiths Society was registered in 1998 with 43 members, 34 of whom are trained in plough manufacturing. ITDG gave the society support similar to that provided to Kassara, such as support in constructing premises, technical and management training and a working capital that was used to buy steel in the capital Khartoum. The society had completed the following contracts in 1998 and 1999:

This society realised a net profit of Ls 1,700,000 or 34%. In 2001, the society was contracted by the World Food Programme to make 750 sets of hand implements for a value of $US2000. The implements will be used in Food-for-Work rainwater-harvesting activities.

 

In 2000, the 46 blacksmiths who were trained from within and around Jebel Si formed a charitable society, which is now being supported by ITDG in terms of logistical support, access to raw material and management training, including book-keeping and credit management.

 

Blacksmiths Societies in the making. In 1999 20 blacksmiths were trained in Kutum and provided with the necessary support. Kutum was the site of a German-funded agricultural project that handed over its assets to the Kutum Agricultural Extension Society (KAES), a CBO developed and supported by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). KAES now monitors and gives field support to the Kutum blacksmiths after they had received technical support from ITDG. KAES and ITDG contacted the local authorities and managed to obtain a piece of land for the blacksmiths in Kutum market. ITDG supported the building of a blacksmiths’ shed. The group now consists of 47 blacksmiths, who are trying to register as a charitable society.

 

Thirteen of the 36 blacksmiths in the Dar Elsalam area were trained through ITDG. They are spread throughout numerous villages. The project is now working to train more in the area and to help them form an association to facilitate support to them.

 

Village Development Committees. ITDG has worked in 186 villages (85 during KSP and 101 during the LINKS and DARLIVE projects) through their VDCs. These play a vital role in community development by organising their people and supervising the building of infrastructure such as seed-/tool-banks[1], through which the villagers can access ploughs, among other things. In all the villages in which ITDG works in North Darfur, it supports VDCs by, for example, building premises including seed-/tool-banks, providing the necessary tools and seeds, and giving training in management and agricultural extension. The VDCs in all villages are now capable of planning and executing their villages' development activities.

 

Table 3: Blacksmith CBO membership

Name of area / village

Total No. of members

No. trained

Untrained members

1.   Kassara

64

30

34

2.   Jebel Si

46

23

23

3.   Azagarfa

43

34

 

CBOs seeking registration

 

 

 

1.   Kutum

47

20

27

2.   Dar Elsalam

36

13

23

3.   Kebkabiya

57

10

47

El Fashir*

?

6

?

Grand total

293

136

154

Source: compiled from monitoring data    

* Six blacksmiths were trained during early days of the project

? Large unknown number of blacksmiths in Fashir town

 

Scaling Up Plough Manufacturing and Distribution

The Technology Development Process

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Results and Impact

Impact on Farmers

Impact on Blacksmiths

Impact on the Environment

Gender Impacts

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Top

 

The introduction of the animal-traction technology into the area has a multitude of beneficial impacts on the farmers, blacksmiths and the environment.

 

Impact on Farmers

Results and Impact

Top

 

To date, over 3000 implements have been distributed to farmers. More farmers are expected to apply animal traction as the technology becomes more widespread in farming. A pictorial manual on how to use and maintain the plough was printed and distributed to farmers. Use of the plough resulted in improved tillage and seedbed preparation; increased water infiltration and timeliness in land preparation, weeding and planting; reduced drudgery; and savings in labour and time. By using the plough, some farmers cultivate and plant simultaneously. Others reported that ploughing made subsequent weeding easier. Furthermore, the introduction of rainwater harvesting combined with animal traction helped to improve yields and meant that growing tomato, okra and pulses was no longer limited to wadi land; it was extended to land with sandy loam soils. This was also promoted by training VEAs who, in turn, trained other farmers. Some farmers suggested alternatives for laying out terraces, by using a long rope instead of the wooden A-frame to determine the direction of the slope. This was then taken up in the whole area. Thus, farmers themselves apply a PTD approach to technology adaptation.

 

The effects of wider use of the animal-traction technology were reflected in:

 

Time needed for cultural operations was reduced by more than 50%. Table 4 shows the time saved in growing millet, the main staple food in the area.

 

Table 4: Time savings in producing millet at different project sites and on different soil types

Village

Soil type

No. of days using hand hoe

No. of days using plough

No. of days saved by men & women farmers

% saving

Azagarfa

Alluvial

7

2

5

71%

Ed el Beida

Alluvial

8

4

4

50%

Shouba

Alluvial

5.5

3.5

2

80%

Shouba

Hard sandy loan

4

2

2

50%

Jemmeiza

Hard sandy loan

3.5

1

2.5

71%

Jemmeiza

Alluvial

4

2

2

50%

Bardi

Hard sandy loan

4

1.5

3

75%

Ardeiba

Alluvial

5

2

3

60%

Average

 

4.5

 

2.6

58%

Source: adapted from LINKS evaluation report, November 1998

 

Table 5: Percentage increases in cultivated area resulting from plough use

Case No.

Area without plough (mk*) in 1992 season

Area with plough (mk)

In 1993 season

% increase in cultivated area

1

6

13

100%

2

2

4

100%

3

2

4

100%

4

3

9

300%

*mk = makhamma ( 0.74 ha)

Source: ITDG Support to KSP evaluation report, June 1994

 

Time and labour savings and timeliness in cultural operations allowed farmers to increase cropping area by 100% (Table 5) and to diversify crops to include, for example, groundnut, sesame and chickpea. Groundnut production, which has high labour requirements for planting and weeding, was first commenced with the use of the Kebkabiya plough. Farmers now sell the crop raw to generate cash or extract oil from it, using the service offered by owners of small presses in the area. Part of the oil is kept to meet household needs and the rest is sold, generating more cash as a result of the value added to the produce. This practice is now widespread in the area for both groundnut and sesame.

 

Total production of millet has increased on account of increased cropping area and productivity. Table 6 shows a comparison between productivity of sorghum in parcels on which the plough was used in a poor rainfall season in different villages and productivity in other parcels in those villages, when the hand hoe was used for cultivating in a good wet season. The increase in productivity ranges from 20% to 60%. The wide range gap could be attributed to variations in level of soil fertility.

 

Table 6: Sorghum productivity in plough parcels compared to hand hoe parcels

Village

Average yield / mk (in sacks)

% increase

 

Cultivating with hand tools in good season

Cultivating with plough in a bad season

 

Id Al Biedha

3.5

5.3

50%

Arieda

4

4.8

20%

Wadaa

4

5.3

32%

Diewanha

4

5

25%

Keriker

18

25

39%

Shouba

5

8

60%

Source: IT Darfur Newsletter No. 1, February 1998

 

The increases in total production and crop diversity have lead to increases in both food production and farmers’ income. The household’s asset base for livelihood security has also improved in terms of savings, increased ownership of livestock and larger reserves of millet. These effects were reflected in reduced household vulnerability to droughts. In meetings held in February 2001, farmers in Shouba (Kebkabiya) and Bardi (Jebel Si) reported that, compared with the famous drought of 1984, seasonal migration in dry years dropped after the plough became widely used for cultivation and new crops were introduced. Farmers in Bardi said that most of the families stayed in the village because they had some millet reserves from the previous season. They added that diversification in crops gave them new sources of income such as dried tomato, dried okra, cooking oil and onion. Because they had additional income from selling crops and savings from producing other foods (oil, onion, cowpea, chickpea etc), they could buy millet and sorghum from the market for daily consumption and keep their own produce for bad years.

 

Impact on Blacksmiths

Results and Impact

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Blacksmiths in the area, who mainly come from the Zaghawa tribe not indigenous to Darfur, face social marginalisation and exclusion. (The Arabic word for blacksmith, haddad, is considered an insult.) They have their own village or a separate camp in a village; they suffer from lack of representation in local community institutions and are often subject to discrimination in allocation of resources such as land. Intermarriage is discouraged and blacksmiths are forced to live on the edges of settlements with less access to services such as water and education. Blacksmiths benefit from the animal-traction technology in two ways – as producers and as users – because they are also farmers.

 

A total of 136 blacksmiths were trained to make this new marketable product. By enhancing the recognition of blacksmiths’ skills and increasing their value (through the production of improved agricultural tools for increased productivity), the blacksmiths’ market has become diversified, their social status improved and their income increased. This is reflected clearly in their general appearance.

 

Azagarfa blacksmiths estimated an average net return of Ls 300,000 per individual in the main season (June–August) in 1997, before they started making ploughs. Afterwards, the estimated average was Ls 416,000 per main season, an increase in seasonal income of 38%. Return to labour for Kassara blacksmiths, when KSCS was supplying them with steel, was Ls 5000 per plough. Their return to labour increased by 80% to Ls 9000 per plough when steel supplies were provided by their society. Currently, those who work on their own are realising Ls 17000 return to labour per plough, a difference of 88%.

 

Sustainability of such high returns is determined by the market size, stability in the price of scrap steel and skills dissemination. The size of market for the plough will continue to grow, as there is high demand for it in Darfur, and will grow even further if demand is created in adjacent areas with similar climatic and soil conditions, such as Kordufan. The diversification of types and sizes of ploughs will also affect the demand for them. The Azagarfa blacksmiths have developed a larger version of the mouldboard to be drawn by a camel. They have already received some requests for more ploughs. This also reflects the creativity of the blacksmiths, a talent that was refreshed after they received recognition from the people around them.

 

Evidence of the social impact on the blacksmith community, as a marginalised group, may take some time to materialise but signs are starting to appear in Kassara villages. People have begun to send their children to school. In 1999, only one child from the village was in school in a neighbouring village. The number increased to six in the year 2000. Sixteen blacksmiths reported that they managed to purchase wadi lands, which is more fertile and expensive. Seventy percent of those who use to migrate during the off-season to earn some income are now settled as a result of a year-round secured income in the village.

 

Impact on the Environment

Results and Impact

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Use of the plough is not expected to increase the cultivated area dramatically, since this is limited by the maximum area that a household can weed. Use of the plough in the sandy loam hard-surface soils increases water infiltration, reduces run-off and reduces soil erosion, compared with hand hoeing. Combining rainwater-harvesting techniques with ploughing has enhanced these advantages. Use of the plough encouraged farmers to shift from the fragile goz soil to the fertile wadi soil, giving the sandy soils time to recover.

 

Tractor use is very limited in the area. It is also not recommended for the local soils. The donkey plough has limited the use of tractors for tillage, because the cost of hiring a tractor is high (Ls 35000–40000/mk), equal to ten times the rent of the plough and almost equal to the cost of the plough and to the value of a donkey. Farmers of Azagarfa revealed that some farmers in the village council had been using a tractor for ploughing but they have not seen the tractor for two years since the introduction of the donkey plough.

 

Gender Impacts

Results and Impact

Top

 

Women are at the centre of the development process, in the delivery of training and services, capacity building in local institutions, and links to trade and policy-makers. The increase in area cultivated dictated by drought has increased women’s workload and placed increasing pressure on the natural resource base. The introduction of the plough has had a positive impact on women in a number of aspects:

 

 

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Developing Roles and Skills to Sustain the Technology

Introducing PTD within the Curricula of Centres of Education

Institutionalising the PTD approach

Lobbying and Advocacy of the Plough and the Process

Cost Effectiveness in Developing and Disseminating the New Plough

Results and Impact

Top

 

Developing Roles and Skills to Sustain the Technology

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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ITDG uses the term “institutionalisation” to refer to both a technology and the approach to developing it. Institutionalisation of a technology occurs when a demand for it is created among the users and its supply (in terms of the final product, raw materials, technical knowledge and other related services) is in equilibrium with demand.

 

In Kebkabiya, institutionalisation of the technology is heading towards maturity. Different institutions have participated in the process since the early stages of technology development. International NGOs (Oxfam and ITDG) provided technical expertise and financial resources, while CBOs (farmers’ associations, KSCS and blacksmiths associations) provided their vocational skills, experience, experimentation and observation capacities, and feedback.

 

ITDG realised the importance of long-term training so that the development, production and marketing of the plough through normal marketign channels could be sustained. During the course of the project, three technicians and engineers were trained in technology development. Two of them are still involved and their knowledge has been retained in the area, as they are from the region. A total of 120 local blacksmiths were trained in plough manufacture. Selected members of their associations were trained in procurement and transport of raw materials from as far as Khartoum, and other members in book-keeping and management of revolving funds.

 

Roles and responsibilities gradually shifted during the project. After the donkey plough had been developed and farmers had witnessed its benefits, ITDG and Oxfam were initially responsible for technical training and arranging supply of raw materials, while KSCS simply distributed the ploughs. After the project was handed over to KSCS, it assumed also the role of securing supply of raw materials, while ITDG focused on building the capacity of blacksmiths associations and disseminating skills to other rural areas. Over time, KSCS shifted its focus to other activities such as strengthening capacities of local communities to produce (e.g. through harvesting rainwater for cropping and domestic use), health education and other social services. Now the individual blacksmiths and their associations procure the raw materials from Khartoum and other cities and disseminate both the skills and the technology. Since 1991, the number of skilled blacksmiths has increased from two to 120, working in pairs in 60 workshops in the project area to produce ploughs and other hand implements. The market, without any external assistance, drives the process of dissemination and ensures sustainability of the technology.

 

In many villages, the project developed seed- and tool-banks. The villagers built the stores with project support. The stores were then stocked with some seeds and a variety of tools such as hoes, shovels, wheelbarrows and ploughs. Farmers can access seeds and tools by purchasing in cash, in kind or on credit, by renting and even by borrowing, in the case of poor people who are known to the community leaders who manage the stores.

 

Introducing PTD within the Curricula of Centres of Education

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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Involvement of universities and research institutions came late, because the intervention started as a consultancy with an agreed output of a report on a technical and socio-economic survey. The NGO way of funding is erratic, depending on the donors’ willingness to fund, usually on a short-term basis (1–2 years).

 

In 1998 and 1999, respectively, the Faculty of Agriculture of Khartoum University and the Rural Extension Department of the Faculty of Agriculture of Sudan University developed a curriculum for “Appropriate Technology” including sections on “Animal Traction” as part of an “Agricultural Tools” course. Both approached ITDG for support in curriculum development and acquisition of necessary literature. The course is intensive and incorporates knowledge of all agricultural tools and equipment, their relevance to the physical and socio-economic environment, and methods of technology development, including the PTD approach. In 1999, the University of West Darfur approached ITDG for a cooperation programme involving, among other things, development of hardware technology, including the plough. El Fashir University came on board in 1996 after the evaluation of the project’s first phase and organised a workshop to present the findings. It agreed to participate in development of hardware technology, but a restructuring of the university, which led to its split into El Fashir and Nyala Universities, brought these good intentions to an end. Later, El Fashir University signed a memorandum of understanding to work on developing technologies appropriate to the region. Financial constraints prevented full realisation of the above-mentioned agreements, but the chance still remains to pursue them.

 

In 1999, the Rural Development Department of Gezira University drew up a curriculum on NGOs’ roles in rural development, including their methods and approaches such as participatory needs assessment, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and PTD. The main example is the Kebkabiya Society with its case of plough development.

 

Recently, the agricultural research station at Gezira, Central Sudan, was contacted by the project and was given an oxen mouldboard plough for testing and fabrication. The link of Professor Mamoon Daw ElBait with Gezira University will involve this institution in the process as well. The project regards this step as progress towards involving research and teaching institutes in the process of technology development.

 

Institutionalising the PTD approach

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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Institutionalisation of the PTD approach has come about as a normal step in the development process. The structures set up by the ITDG project, particularly at the level of farmers and blacksmiths, has helped in facilitating this.

 

VEAs. The project developed participatory extension services because such services were not available in the area. The locally nominated VEAs now carry out their normal activities in advising farmers and making links between them and the extension head office in El Fashir. Some slightly richer farmers in Azagarfa, who have camels and larger landholdings, expressed a need for a camel plough. Their VEAs transmitted this request to ITDG staff members, who easily came into an agreement with blacksmiths for designing a slightly larger version of the plough to be tested for use by camels. From a very early stage, the trial proved successful. This early success was mostly due to the experience built up by the different stakeholders (farmers, extension agents, blacksmiths and ITDG engineer) in the PTD process. (Even the project camel used in the trial was experienced, as it has initially been operating a camel ganni or oil press!) The VDCs who were trained in participatory methods such as PRA became capable of assessing needs, monitoring their activities by recording their observations and participating in evaluation of the work. They are now successfully managing their organisations with no direct support from ITDG, only the annual audit of their seed- and tool-banks. KSCS is now a mature local NGO with advanced strategic and operational systems in addition to its own fundraising and financial systems.

 

Blacksmiths Associations. The blacksmiths’ response to the VEAs’ request for a larger plough demonstrated the efficiency of the built-in PTD approach. ITDG has encouraged them by providing all necessary support without creating dependency among them. They built their own premises with relatively little support from ITDG, which consisted of providing corrugated metal for the roof, while they moulded and fired their own bricks. ITDG also provided money for a revolving fund to help the blacksmiths acquire raw materials. They now operate the fund successfully, while ITDG does only the annual auditing of accounts. They keep their own records and monitor their business progress. The latest audit of the Kassara Society showed that their capital is now doubled.

 

Lobbying and Advocacy of the Plough and the Process

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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The government was involved since the very early stages in 1988/89, when ITDG and Oxfam approached the Darfur State MoA. It seconded the first national agricultural engineer, Mohammed Siddig Suliman, who still works for the project. Since then, the MoA has continued to show interest in the technology and the PTD approach, including dissemination.

 

After the evaluation of the first animal-traction project in 1993/94, ITDG organised two workshops in El Fashir and Khartoum, where the evaluation findings were shared with other interested NGOs and institutions. The very positive results encouraged many institutions, mainly governmental, to think along the same PTD lines. The MoA very recently established a Department of Technology Development led by a professor in agricultural engineering from the research field. Last year, the State Government supported 200 poor farmers by acquiring ploughs through the Zakat Fund, which is an Islamic Government Grant Fund directed towards supporting poor people. The draft strategy of the Federal MoA has incorporated an output of promoting ploughs in relevant geographical areas in the country.

 

Cost Effectiveness in Developing and Disseminating the New Plough

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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Since 1988, the work on the plough has always been integrated with the other development acitvities of the project and has not been treated separately. It is therefore difficult to define exactly how much money went into developing and disseminating the plough. The following are only approximate assumptions. The project has been working for 13 years. In the first two years, GBP 20,000 was used annually to support it. The total amount of money spent in the animal-traction work, including some overhead, is about GBP 300,000. The benefits derived from these costs can be summarised as follows:

 

If the 3000 ploughs would be regarded as the only output, the cost per plough is about GBP 100. Achieving the above-mentioned quantitative achievements by investing GBP 100 is very cost effective, without even considering its multiplier effect. The greatest achievement is involving the community in the PTD approach, which brings much positive impact, since the approach is institutionalised within the community structures. The impact on the environment and empowering of marginalised groups such as women and blacksmiths is also huge.

Sustaining the Technology and Institutionalising the PTD Approach

Results and Impact

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Lessons Learnt

An experience of so many years’ involvement in PTD has lead to numerous lessons being learnt through the process. The following are some of the most important ones:

 

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Conclusion

 

This case study shows that the PTD approach that was adopted was effective in the particular setting of Western Sudan. It reveals the crucial importance of involving stakeholders in such a process. It gives evidence that local rural artisans, such as the blacksmiths, can play a vital role in technology development. It demonstrates that bottom-up approaches are valid and effective in ensuring sustainable development.

 

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Questions for Debate

 

Long term sustainability of CBO’s

Both at farm level and among artisans and blacksmiths, ITDG has encouraged the gradual emerging of local CBOs, blacksmiths associations, and village development committees. This in contrast to approaches in which CBOs are rapidly and formally constructed on the basis of ready made models from elsewhere. To what extend are these CBOs indeed proving now to be sustainable? And do they still have technology development and dissemination on their agenda, beyond the initial issue of animal traction? How are funds generated to that end?

 

References

 

Reeves EB & Frankenberger T. 1990. Farming Systems Research in North Kordofan, Report No. 2.

 

Majzoub Fidiel M. 2000. Creative solutions to poverty. Paper presented in the BDN workshop organised by WHO, Khartoum, February 2000.

 

Majzoub Fidiel M. 2000. The transfer and adaptation of technology: the case of the donkey drawn plough. Paper presented in a workshop organised by Sudan Ministry of Industry, Khartoum, October 2000.

 

Croxton S. 1990. Animal traction in Kebkabiya: a review of ITDG involvement with the Kebkabiya Smallholders Project 1988-1990.

 

Malik Abu Sin A M & Osman Hdra T. 1994. ITDG support to Kebkabiya Smallholders Project, Evaluation Report.

 

Wedgewood H, Abdalla A & Gumma E. 1998. Linking indigenous knowledge support: an evaluation report.

 

ITDG Staff. 1997. LINKS annual review report.

 

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Annex: Glossary of Local Terms

 

Gardud           hard-surface sandy loam soil

Goz                 sandy soil or sand dune

Makhammas an area measurement unit equal to 1.73 feddans or 1.80 acres or 0.74 ha

Nagaa                        gardud, hard-surface sandy loam soil

Wadi               valley, shallow watercourse

Zaghawa        a large ethnic group occupying a vast area in North Darfur, Libya and Chad

 

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[1] The village tool-/seed-bank is a building owned by the community and managed by the VDC. It is furnished with different tools and seeds to be accessed by the community members through purchasing, renting or borrowing.