Howard and Webster visiting the UK - Arrival

Just putting the finishing touches to the programme for our farmers’ visit. Just over two hours till they arrive at Edinburgh and we embark on a three-week tour, which will take in Scotland, Yorkshire, a brief trip to Stuttgart, and Wales. We’ve done this kind of thing before but never with such time to prepare or such response from such a wide range of groups.

But I’m running ahead of myself. Who is coming? We have two of the leaders of one of the largest farmers’ associations in Africa: Webster Kita and Howard Msukwa. Webster’s the Chair of KASFA (Kaporo Smallholders’ Farmers’ Association) based in the north of Malawi and Howard’s Vice-chair and sits on the Board of the national association.

Howard’s been here many times and has made many friends with his vision for the future of farming and his determination to bring about a revolution in African agriculture. There have certainly been changes since he was Chair eight years ago, the growth of KASFA from 2 500 to 7 000 members, improved seed, ox-carts, ploughs -we’ll hear about lots more ideas he has.

Webster, we are looking forward to getting to know. I visited his farmyard in March and was intrigued to see a dovecote made out of wickerwork, standing on stilts. Malawians are very fond of pigeons and often surprised to see how many well-fed specimens survive on our streets and squares. Webster, as well as having oversight over the most dynamic and effective African farmers’ organisations that we have met in our work, - or indeed that we have ever heard of, cocoa growers in Ghana excepted - is involved in looking at responses to climate change: digging shallow wells and irrigating when the rains fail or are delayed. Lots more of that too.

So why are they coming? Amazingly, it seems to us, we are celebrating 10 years of partnership between JTS (our fair trade importing business based in Paisley) and KASFA. It’s been an extraordinarily fruitful working relationship: centred around the sale of their rice (through the 90 kg rice challenge – more later) by all sorts of groups, schools, churches, fair trade groups, councils… but then widening out to include all sorts of relationships: designing threshing machines with a group in Dumfries, raising money for bursaries for school children, for ploughs, rotavators, solar pumps. The range of groups involved has been pretty remarkable too: the climax of the tour will be enjoying the hospitality of Dunfermline Athletic, whose youth coach recently went out to Karonga with a group of teachers.

People are beginning to realise the importance and value of such partnerships, though I think we are only just beginning to realise what potential they have and where they can lead us. As I write I am invited to speak to a conference on partnerships to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s visit to Glasgow. We’re going to Stuttgart to a conference on Partnerships for Development in Africa. The next few weeks will help to lay the basis for the next ten years of our partnership and we’re looking forward to being surprised where that may take us.

Let’s hope their flights went smoothly and they got some rest: we’re due to drop in on the Mamie Martin Fund’s AGM and hear about their work in Northern Malawi supporting girls’ through secondary and further education. There’s another partnership to be explored!

John Riches