The Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) held a training workshop on livestock technologies aimed at empowering over 20 million farmers across 10 countries. The workshop emphasized a participatory approach that combines farmer knowledge with expert advice to develop effective policy proposals, ensuring accountability, specificity, and informed actions. Key steps included consultations to identify issues, participatory research for data gathering, smart proposal writing, and lobbying strategies to influence policy effectively.

1. Training on policy
Goretti Gachagua
Eastern Africa Farmers Federation
FAO-ILRI Regional Training Workshop on Proven Livestock
Technologies, ILRI, Addis Ababa, 3-5 December 2018

2. ABOUT US
EAFF Vision
A Prosperous and Cohesive Farming
Community in Eastern Africa
Currently (> 20 million farmers)
10 countries; 22 apex organizations
Our scope is the Eastern Africa –
Membership scope in EAC; COMESA
& IGAD….
-Producer co-operatives;
- Commodity Associations;
-Women organizations;
-Lobby & advocacy based ;
• Launched in 2001 - operations from
2005
• Members are producers of crops;
livestock; fisheries & Agroforestry

3. Tools – FACT trajectory
• Farmer Advocacy Consultative Tool: It is a tool that helps
farmer organizations to ensure that any policy proposal
that the organization prepares takes root in the reality,
needs and concerns of members
• It is the combination of farmers knowledge and concerns
with experts advice is what generates accountable, well
informed, and technically well prepared proposals.
• The FACT approach is based on four pillars
A) Consultations
B) Participatory research (data gathering and analysis by
experts)
C) Writing SMART proposals
D) Lobby mapping and stakeholder analysis

4. Step 1: Consultations to membership
• Pillar 1: Identify problems and hot issues for
membership that need to be addressed
• Pillar 2: Gathering basic information: for preparing
and sustaining proposals and position statements
(one way of doing this is through participatory
research)
• Pillar 3: Getting feedback: on the work of the
organization and the processes of preparing
proposals and position statements

5. What is actually done in practice
1. Defining the consultation: WWW.HOW
a) What is the subject of the consultation
b) Who will or needs to be consulted
c) When will it be done?
d) How will it be done?
2. Consultation work: CROP
A) Consulting members
B) Registering results
C) Ordering results
D) Processing results

6. What outcomes should be obtained
• A consultation process makes it possible for a
proposal or a position statement to be prepared in a
way that it is AIR i.e.
- Accountable
- well Informed
- and tackles a Relevant issue

7. Step2: Participatory research (consultations specifically for the
purpose of gathering data and specific information )
• The organization creates links between farmers knowledge
and that of experts in order to prepare sustainable proposals
and find appropriate solutions for problems
• The organization gathers information and data from its
members, which reflects their reality
• This data is used in conjunction with the experts knowledge
and analyzed using the required scientific legal or professional
criteria
The above makes it possible to find and propose a good solution
to problems and issues: A solution that is based on responding
to the relevant facts and reality and which you can show that
you know

8. What is done in practice
• The organization links up with experts (advisors, academics,
etc) and with farmers
• The experts give advice on what information to gather and
how
• Experts analyze the information and data gathered and look
for other sources of information
• The research consultations (linked to solutions for a certain
issue) are shared with the organizations members for
feedback.
• The end result is a body of information and data that reflects
the rural reality and has been validated by experts and
farmers. This is powerful material for preparing proposals.

9. Outcomes to be obtained
• Participatory research (in addition to being AIR) gives
you a foundation from which you Know what you are
talking about (in a proposal of position statement)
and are well prepared, so that you Show that you
Know
Accountable Know
Informed + and Show
Relevant that you Know

10. Step 3: Writing SMART proposals using
FACT criteria
• Preparation of proposals and position statements based
on results of consultation and participatory research.
• Preparing proposals with experts advice and making use
of feedback mechanism with members
• Preparing proposals and position documents that are
direct and clear and which decision makers find difficult
to “by-pass” (using “smart” criteria as understood in
FACT)
This way you are be able to show with solid arguments and
a good quality document, that you are “uploading” real
problems and proposing a feasible, concrete and efficient
way of “downloading” a good solution

11. What is actually done in practice
• Outcomes of consultations and participatory research
are systematized with the advice of experts
• These outputs are supplemented by information
contributed by experts (such as statistics, regulations,
and laws).
• A proposal document is prepared using data supplied by
the farmers and reflecting the opinions and concerns of
the members of the farmers' organization. The proposal
suggests a feasible and “appealing” solution using the
SMART criteria as defined by FACT
• The proposal is checked by getting feedback from
members or from a sample of the members.

12. Outcomes to be obtained
• Furthermore, the proposal is concrete and feasible
and leaves no room for decision makers to reply in
vague or ambiguous terms
AIR + KSK+ SMART
Accountable Know Specific
Informed + and Show + Measurable
Relevant that you Know Achievable
Realistic
Time bound

13. Step 4: lobby mapping and stakeholder
analysis for lobby and advocacy
• The organization gives focus to the message and
identifies the targets for lobbying, advocacy or
negotiation through a process of
▫ Lobby mapping , and/or
▫ Multi-stakeholder analysis

14. What is done in practice
• Identification of maximum possible number of actors
who are directly or indirectly affected by or
associated with the decision that the position
statement or proposal is asking for (lobby mapping)
• Analyze the most relevant stakeholders: their level of
interest in the topic and their level of power in the
decision making process.
From there you decide on who to approach and how
and when to do so.

15. Outcomes to be obtained
• Adding to the above, the organization investigates,
analyses and defines where, to whom and how to
present, advocate, lobby or netoate a propsoal.
AIR + KSK+ SMART + RPRP
Accountable Know Specific Right
Informed + and Show + Measurable + People
Relevant that you Know Achievable in the
Realistic Right
Time bound Place

16. Policies influenced at EAFF using the
FACT methodology
• The introduction of the Agricultural law in DRC
• The ratification of the coffee policy into coffee law in
Uganda (fronted by UNFFE and NUCAFE)
• The East Africa Cooperatives Bill – almost being
accented into law
• We use the approach also to question the budget
allocation to agriculture through studies and
consultation with members.

17. CONTACTS: info@eaffu.org; www.eaffu.org
rhapta road – westlands; Nairobi;
Tel: +254 20 445 1691
.