Stepping Stones

My take on things: Excellence is the best revenge. Whatever obstacle you face today, don't moan about it. Make it a stepping stone. Improve yourself and be the very best you can be. At some point, they'll open the door and roll out the red carpet. Then you can choose: to walk in through that door...or to stroll on by.

Is Your Blessing Bigger than Mine?

"My blessing is bigger than yours".

That statement has no place in the Body of Christ. Here are my thoughts:

1. It stems from the place of ignorance: How do you know how big anyone's blessing is? How does any reasonable person quantify "blessings"?

 2. It stems from a place of pride: Even if it's true that your blessing is "bigger" than mine, is it in the Christian spirit to say that to me?

3. It engenders the wrong spirit and attitude: greed and competition. If you say yours is bigger than mine, I will also say mine is bigger than yours.

4. It comes from a place of foolishness: Nobody ever boasts about something they got for free. If it's a blessing, it's a gift. A gift says more about the Giver than the receiver. Whereof then do you boast?

5. It is antithetical to everything the concept of a "Body" represents: Will the eye say to the feet: " I have cool sunglasses, and you don't"?

Will one wrist say to another: "I have a watch and you don't, so, my blessing is bigger than yours"?

6. If indeed God has blessed you more than He has me, you are then required to do more than me. After all, to whom much is given, much is expected. Think about that.

Remember the story of the talents? May it not come back and bite you in the rear-end, when you have to give an account of what you did with all these blessings of which you've been boasting.

The right spirit is that exhibited by the Early Church in the Acts of the Apostles.

Let us encourage one another towards the true work of the Kingdom, and discontinue this fixation with Mammon.

Das all.

Don't Refer to Your Husband as One of Your Children!

People say: Your husband will always be your biggest and oldest child that requires the most adult supervision"

I say:
Not so! Call a man a child, he will act like one. When women refer to their husbands as children, it diminishes the role of a husband. It also invariably has a psychological effect on the man in that he fails to behave in the way a husband should. He abdicates his role and responsibility as a grown man with a wife and counts on you for the things he got from his mother, and that is why he needs your supervision.

If you call your husband a child, you miss the very essence of who a husband is supposed to be in your life. If your husband is your child, it affects the way you talk to him, think of him, and deal with him. If your husband is your child, who then is your husband? Who then is your friend, provider, protector, cheerleader, confidant, and lover? All of which your husband should be.

The roles are different, and every woman deserves a real man... providing, protecting, praying, and applauding. Our children are to be raised, corrected, and molded. 

Ladies! stop it! Even if he starts off acting like a child, you must gently help him recognize that that is not his role in your life. 

Let's not teach this error to our daughters. They will not know how to differentiate between grown boys and real men.

Calling your husband a child emasculates him and short changes you.
It's a lose-lose situation.

Das all.

CEOs, not Pastors

The reason many "pastors" today as far from their congregation, the reason why they are so "high and mighty", so unapproachable, is because they are really not pastors. 

Truth be told, they are CEOs of their companies, disguised as churches. Their Jesus Limited Liability Companies, raking in the funds through Human Resources who are non-paid. They rule over their kingdoms accountable to no one, deliver nutrition-free sermonettes every now and then from the pulpit, and carefully craft a succession plan that leaves their massive wealth and acquisitions as inheritance for their children. 

They lull their congregants to sleep by "decreeing" all kinds of "blessings", as if THEY got their wealth by decree. And the "employees" say "Aaaaamen" and work harder for their Jesus PLC. 

True pastors are shepherds, caring tenderly for their flock.

Today, the wolves are not coming for the sheep from outside. Rather, they have done away with the Shepherd have hypnotized the sheep, and are now in charge of the coral. 

And the sheep are too happy to be fleeced, saying a loud "Aaamen" every time the CEO "decrees" some "blessings" into their lives. They don't stop to think, that the CEO did not get his/her blessings by decree or by abracadabra. If the decrees work so well, "pastor" will not preach anymore, he will just stay home everyday decreeing all kinds of things for himself. 

It's a good racket. 1. The people work for them for free. 2. The people bring them their hard-earned money. In exchange, the people get a few pronouncements, I decree this, I decree that. That's usually enough to keep the congregation happy. 

Maranatha!

Political Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure.
We often think about peer pressure in the negative and usually as it concerns teenagers and young people. Well, there's positive peer pressure too, and it exists amongst adults and in the business arena also.

As I think about the forthcoming elections in Nigeria, I am counting on peer pressure, positive peer pressure to be a factor in the performance of the APC team at the Centre.

I have looked at PDP, and really cannot tell who PDP is except a parade of people whose effect on one another is to pressure one another into buying jets and living high.

I have hope, that the Fasolas of APC and other performing governors and citizens, if working at the Centre, will constitute positive peer pressure to encourage and challenge one another to actually work for the people. So, you see, it's not just about Buhari and Osinbajo. It's about the atmosphere, the mindset, and the work ethic.

We need a new kind of competition, a bench marking against the best, not the worst, against the savers, not the spendthrift. We need a new normal.

Show me your friends...

One of my nieces asked the other day, "What is Change?" This in relation to the ongoing election campaign in Nigeria. Here's my response to her.

Change is when an administration does not spend 6 years only to point to one thing here, one thing there, as its accomplishments, at a time when the world is moving at break neck speed in every direction. 

Change is when a government's policies touch people everyday. 

Change is when I go to Lagos and say...I didn't know Lagos could change this much. 

Change is when teachers are provided professional development that they need. 

Change is a government that ensures all its citizens enjoy good health care, education, shelter, and boundless opportunities. 

Change is when everyone is accountable for their actions. 

Change is when looters are brought to justice. 

Change is when a team of brilliant people are selected to do the work they're qualified for, and not political operatives that speak without applying much thought. 

Change is when Nigerians do not have go abroad for adequate health care. 

Change is when we are not hustling to obtain other nations' citizenship. 

Change is when I don't have to read or hear horribly grammar from graduates of Nigerian universities. 

Change is when our leaders recognize that something is wrong without expecting to be patted on the back because they stayed in Nigeria or their children schooled in Nigeria.

Change is a government that is not satisfied with the status quo. 

Change is when our officials and their wives are no longer the laughing stock of the entire world. 

Change is when our president cares more about Nigeria than Paris.

Change is a team that has a desire to wipe the shame of corruption off our faces.

Change is when university graduates don't have to languish for years without finding employment or the wherewithal to start their own business. 

Change is when we will be proud once again to say we graduated from a Nigerian university. 

Change is when the electorate demands that candidates declare a manifesto. 

Change is when we can all say, with confidence: "Proudly Nigerian."

When God is in the Land

I have just read the account of someone's revelation, the conclusion of which was that God told him the President Jonathan is His man and that God is with Him. Not wanting to be dismissive of what might be a true revelation, also knowing that I had to align every revelation with scripture, I thought about men of God in the Bible who were in political office: Joseph, Daniel, King David.

God was with them and a veritable sign of that was that the people prospered under them and The mighty hand of God was shown in His involvement with these people. In the case of Joseph, God used him to prevent what would have been the disastrous results of a famine. David was used militarily to bring peace to the people. Daniel's life and his encounter with the lions left the people in awe.

I do not see a correlation here with the case of Nigeria. The people continue to suffer. Death has invaded the land. Our citizens began to consume our female children and God has not shown Himself to our leader, like He did in time of old?

Instead of showing our leader how to secure and create provision for the future of Nigeria as He did with Joseph, the opposite has happened here.

Instead of investing in building the foundations (Nehemiah style) that have been destroyed: education, health care, roads, shelter, electricity, we continue to enrich other nations by our patronage and our contracts. It seems to be that our treasury is just for a few people.

On the other hand, I also thought about kings that God had used for His own purpose. Kings who were non- Jews. We should all spend time in the Book of Ezra and see what conclusions we draw.

I have decided to set that 'revelation' aside only because I could not align it with scripture.

The other interpretation of the revelation is that the reason things are getting worse is because God is angry with Nigeria. Could it be that He is with the president but that the nation itself is under judgment?

Hmmmn. I have to research that.

That's my vantage point of view.

Designing the Future and Development of Agriculture in Africa: If it Doesn't Work for Women, It doesn't Work

There is a lot of rhetoric and activity driven by the different agricultural interests in Africa. We seem to have taken a piecemeal approach to our development. Some of us are advocates for gender equality, others advocates of technology, others still, advocates of climate issues. It is of great importance that agriculture professionals and activists begin to recognize that agriculture in Africa is one single organism, one in which every piece is significant, and must be addressed as it relates to the others. There are pressing issues today if we must achieve sustainable agriculture in Africa: gender equality, robust extension services, the ageing of agriculture, to name a few. This write-up will discuss a position that proposes a system that incorporates the different interests and aspects into one continuous whole.

Gender Equality

Women have been referred to as the “pillars of African Agriculture.” There are sources that indicate that women represent as much as 90% of farmers in Africa.   Yet, there is ample evidence that they continue to be marginalized.

The obstacles faced by women are cultural, legal, educational, and economic. Cultural factors include customs that prevent women from owning or inheriting property, customs that prevent a woman from directly interfacing with a man who is not her spouse, or a relative. When a woman is prevented from ever owning property, it represents a permanent bar on that woman’s ability to elevate herself and her family economically, or to ever become an owner of her own farm. Even when a woman is able to own her own farm, if her culture prevents her from interfacing with men who are not related to her, she will immediately be at a disadvantage in receiving extension services, since majority of extension workers, as few as they are, are of the male species.

Legal barriers exist where African communities are under different laws that regulate how long women can work, which type of work they may perform, and in whose company they could do it. In addition, in communities where customary inheritance laws negatively impact the women, many of the courts and legislatures have not caught up with intervening. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that a woman who is uneducated, and still struggling to feed will have the knowledge or the wherewithal to stand up and fight, even when there are national laws that favor her. There is a higher level of illiteracy among women farmers in Africa, and this is a crucial factor in their access to, comprehension and utilization of agricultural information and services.

All the factors discussed above contribute to women farmers’ economic difficulties and constraints. Most of these constraints are systemic. They will need to be addressed systemically.  One of the ways to begin to dismantle the constraints include information. It includes information that bypasses the traditional obstacles, going directly to the women farmers.

Extension Services

If women are the pillars of African agriculture, then extension services constitute the lifeline of African agriculture. Agricultural extension is a vital and indispensable mechanism by which information and advice can be delivered to the farmer. In much of Africa, this very important component is grossly lacking. The rudimentary history of extension services in Africa predates 1914, where in the then Gold Coast, instruction on agriculture was given in government-assisted schools and some agricultural stations.  Today, agricultural extension is not filling the gap that it should. There is a dearth of quality resources, and a severe shortage of agricultural extension officers. It has been estimated that in Africa, there is one extension worker for 4,000 farmers, compared to one for 200 hundred farmers in developed countries. In an FAO study in 2005, an evaluation of extension resources in some areas of agriculture in different parts of Africa described the training and support provided to extension agents as “low quality.”  The best of the educational materials were produced by international bodies.

Therefore, regardless of the research breakthroughs, new resources and technology, timely troubleshooting cannot be available to the average farmer in Africa without the conduit of the agricultural extension services and personnel.

The implication of this to the cause of women farmers in Africa is that they are on their own, especially when the systemic, cultural, educational, and economic constraints are present. The average woman in agriculture is therefore isolated, without meaningful recourse.

Even if there were more agricultural extension workers, there would not be enough of them to travel the wide expanse of the African terrain. There are challenges that go beyond the scope of agriculture, such as travelling, language, local customs, and funding. Judging by the need to reach the women where they are, literally and figuratively, it is highly important to seek solutions that circumvent some of these constraints. The solutions must address the issue of quality of resources, travelling, language barriers, local customs, and funding. Today’s solution to the information barrier is technology.

Technology in African Agriculture

The attempt to utilize technology is not new in African agriculture. The materials provided by international organizations have often required some form of technological audio visual device such as slides, films, and projectors. These have been of limited use in rural Africa, and they never did belong to the farmer, nor did the average woman have direct and ongoing access to such materials and information. The supply of the materials and information lasted only as long as the funding lasted, with no avenue to further disseminate or update them. This points to the need for Africans to begin to develop what will work for Africans.

Another issue with materials that are made outside of the user’s location is that they are often planned and designed in the laboratory, under ideal conditions. Therefore, they have reduced benefit when attempts are made to implement them by the end user. They often cannot be used for “here and now” situations that require direct answers to specific questions. In the absence of knowledgeable and sufficient extension workers, there is a need to utilize low tech resources in a manner that they would yield maximum results. These resources must also be designed with a focus on the most isolated woman farmer. Today, that technology is the telephone.

Out of Africa

It is not arguable that the cellular phone is the most ubiquitous piece of technology in Africa today. It will be foolhardy to develop an agricultural extension program that does not utilize the phone. Even when a woman does not have a personal cell phone, there is a high chance that she knows another woman who does. The quickest way to reach her with information, usually in real time, is the telephone.

A robust and extensive use of telephone technology in agriculture in Africa is a thing of the future, but it is a journey that we must embark on. With the rapid rate of change today, the future of agriculture in Africa rests on extension services, and the future of extension services rest on technology. We must begin to design and plan for Africa by Africans. There are beginnings of such a movement already.

It is important to mention innovations such as the M-PESA in Kenya, the application of the e-wallet in Nigeria. However, there are other innovations that are developed by Africans, or with the African market in mind. Such is the case of Su Kahumbu, who observed that cattle owners in her community were losing money by selling below market rate, buying the wrong kind of feed, or failing to breed their cows at the right time by missing the window of when the cow was in heat. She designed an application through which the farmer could receive advice, information about market rates, and other pertinent information, all of which came directly to the farmer’s phone by text, without any intermediary. More information can be found at http://www.icow.co.ke/

Another resource that is designed for Africa, and that can be modified for wide usage in the continent, is an animation video series produced by the University of Illinois about using neem seeds as a natural insecticide. The animation video is rendered in a Nigerian accent, in English, and it uses materials and artifacts, that are common to the African environment. The video can be translated into any African language.  It can be found using this link: http://susdeviki.illinois.edu/SearchResultView.aspx?id=36&vid=1

One cannot ignore the problem that many of the women farmers do not have personal phones, or that when they do have phones, the phones can do no more than receive calls and texts. This must not become a show-stopping barrier. The resources must be prepared and available. As the value of the services become apparent smart phones will become the phone of choice. In addition, non-governmental agencies might be able to fill that need for many of the women farmers who cannot afford smart phones. Our challenge is to create and provide materials, curricula that reach the farmer where she needs it. It must be just a few keystrokes away.

The use of technology will not render obsolete the agricultural extension worker. It will only assist them to reach more people, streamline their work on one hand, and expand it on the other. Technology by itself will be a tool in the hands of the trained, knowledgeable, and innovative extension worker. That extension worker is to be developed and trained for the work of this century and beyond. One is forced to ask the question: where are the personnel who understand technology and agriculture? While the farmer understands farming, she does not understand technology. The young people understand technology, but do they understand farming? Do they even want to understand farming? That leads to the issue of the ageing of agriculture.

The Ageing of Agriculture

Where are the farmers of tomorrow? Can we adequately utilize technology in agriculture without young people? We will never be able to reap the full benefits of the potential of technology in agriculture if we do not have the personnel who straddle both worlds. Much has been written about today’s African youth’s lack of interest in farming. Whatever the reason is, the reality is that there will always be a need for farmers, and this is the time to begin to establish educational programs and policies that make agriculture a viable option for a livelihood. It is not likely that we will achieve this in a short period of time, but we must begin.

To start, we must engage young people in the world of agriculture so that their technological expertise will be used towards addressing specific problems that arise out of expressed needs of farmers. A concerted effort to familiarize Africa’s youth with agriculture from the earliest years, and throughout schooling years is needed. These programs must cast a visionary eye to the future and take a long-term approach.

The Way Forward

The indisputable goal is the establishment of extension services powered by technology dedicated to information and undergirded by favorable national policies (e-TIPS). Tomorrow’s extension services will include a database and repository of information, tailored to each community, translatable into local languages and able to be transmitted to those who need it by telephone. The way forward must include a few critical ingredients: planning, commitment, and cooperation.

It is not uncommon for African governments to establish programs that are abandoned almost as soon as they are established. Therefore, it is time to keep agricultural issues on the front burner all the time. National governments must be committed to agriculture as the main stay of their welfare and economy. This commitment must include an effort to educate the citizenry regarding the place of agriculture in the prosperity of a nation.

In addition to the commitment, there must be adequate planning. The best minds in the different fields, including educators, technology and agricultural professionals, administrators, and researchers must be engaged in creating a product, a curriculum, a program that is responsive to the needs of the people it seeks to serve. If we don’t engage in thorough planning, we hold in jeopardy, our future freedom and that of future generations of Africans. A nation is not truly independent until it can feed itself.

Silos, international silos, should be a thing of the past. African countries and communities must work as one to share information, successes, setbacks, and resources. Therefore, the new formula must include international cooperation across the continent. The programs planned must be broad enough to be applicable in different countries, but be adaptable enough to be usable by and available to the average woman.  A mobile phone application was developed to be used by the nomadic Himba people of Namibia. A demonstration of the application can be found here: http://tve.org/reframing-rio/films/life-apps/life-apps namibia/index.html#.UsZLgvM4_5Y.facebook.

When technology in agriculture is tailored to the local community, it will make a difference.

Finally, it is imperative that all program be planned with the women in agriculture in mind because, no matter how brilliant our ideas are, if it doesn’t work for women, it doesn’t work. And judging by the sheer number of women farmers in Africa, whatever we do for them, we do for all of Africa.

Resources

http://allafrica.com/stories/201312190379.html

FAO Fisheries Department, Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service. Aquaculture extension in sub-Saharan Africa. FAO Fisheries Circular. No. 1002. Rome, FAO.

Hallward-Driemeier, Mary, and Tazeen Hasan. 2012. Empowering Women: Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa. Africa Development Forum series. Washington, DC: World Bank. DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-9533-2. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

Doss, C.R. 1999. Twenty-Five Years of Research on Women Farmers in Africa: Lessons and Implications for Agricultural Research Institutions; with an Annotated Bibliography. CIMMYT Economics Program Paper No. 99-02. Mexico D.F.: CIMMYT

Lucas, C. P. (1913). A historical geography of the British colonies: Vol. Ill, West Africa (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Tadele, G. and Gella, A. A. (2012), ‘A Last Resort and Often Not an Option at All’: Farming and Young People in Ethiopia. IDS Bulletin, 43: 33–43. doi: 10.1111/j.1759-5436.2012.00377.x

Dead Wives are no Different From Disposable Plates

Just the other day, I was having a discussion with a friend of mine, David. We got talking about a mutual friend who had lost his wife a little over a year ago. I asked Mobi how our friend was doing and he told me that he was fine and was now in a new relationship. I made a comment about how easy it is for these men to move on, to which David replied, "He has tried o. After all, one year has passed."

Needless to say, the discussion went on with David trying to convince me that "it is not easy for brothers", and I of course maintained my position that the rate at which some men move on smacks of their wives being no better than paper plates. I know of a man who had printed cards for his new wedding three months after his wife was buried. There are those who are remarried in 6 months. There are those, like David, who think anything beyond one year is long suffering.

Of course, the dead is dead, and life must go on, but how easy will it be to bear, to realize that one year is all a wife is allotted, after all the years of sacrifice she might have given to the marriage?

It's not easy being female!


Well, David and I never did agree. What do you say?

Designing the Future and Development of Agriculture in Africa

Designing the Future and Development of Agriculture in Africa

Until it works for women, it doesn’t work™

There is a lot of rhetoric and activity driven by the different agricultural interests in Africa. We seem to have taken a piecemeal approach to our development. Some of us are advocates for gender equality, others advocates of technology, others still, advocates of climate issues. It is of great importance that agriculture professionals and activists begin to recognize that agriculture in Africa is one single organism, one in which every piece is significant, and must be addressed as it relates to the others. There are pressing issues today if we must achieve sustainable agriculture in Africa: gender equality, robust extension services, the ageing of agriculture, to name a few. This write-up will discuss a position that proposes a system that incorporates the different interests and aspects into one continuous whole.

Gender Equality

Women have been referred to as the “pillars of African Agriculture.” There are sources that indicate that women represent as much as 90% of farmers in Africa.   Yet, there is ample evidence that they continue to be marginalized.

The obstacles faced by women are cultural, legal, educational, and economic. Cultural factors include customs that prevent women from owning or inheriting property, customs that prevent a woman from directly interfacing with a man who is not her spouse, or a relative. When a woman is prevented from ever owning property, it represents a permanent bar on that woman’s ability to elevate herself and her family economically, or to ever become an owner of her own farm. Even when a woman is able to own her own farm, if her culture prevents her from interfacing with men who are not related to her, she will immediately be at a disadvantage in receiving extension services, since majority of extension workers, as few as they are, are of the male species.

Legal barriers exist where African communities are under different laws that regulate how long women can work, which type of work they may perform, and in whose company they could do it. In addition, in communities where customary inheritance laws negatively impact the women, many of the courts and legislatures have not caught up with intervening. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that a woman who is uneducated, and still struggling to feed will have the knowledge or the wherewithal to stand up and fight, even when there are national laws that favor her. There is a higher level of illiteracy among women farmers in Africa, and this is a crucial factor in their access to, comprehension and utilization of agricultural information and services.

All the factors discussed above contribute to women farmers’ economic difficulties and constraints. Most of these constraints are systemic. They will need to be addressed systemically.  One of the ways to begin to dismantle the constraints include information. It includes information that bypasses the traditional obstacles, going directly to the women farmers.

Extension Services

If women are the pillars of African agriculture, then extension services constitute the lifeline of African agriculture. Agricultural extension is a vital and indispensable mechanism by which information and advice can be delivered to the farmer. In much of Africa, this very important component is grossly lacking. The rudimentary history of extension services in Africa predates 1914, where in the then Gold Coast, instruction on agriculture was given in government-assisted schools and some agricultural stations.  Today, agricultural extension is not filling the gap that it should. There is a dearth of quality resources, and a severe shortage of agricultural extension officers. It has been estimated that in Africa, there is one extension worker for 4,000 farmers, compared to one for 200 hundred farmers in developed countries. In an FAO study in 2005, an evaluation of extension resources in some areas of agriculture in different parts of Africa described the training and support provided to extension agents as “low quality.”  The best of the educational materials were produced by international bodies.

Therefore, regardless of the research breakthroughs, new resources and technology, timely troubleshooting cannot be available to the average farmer in Africa without the conduit of the agricultural extension services and personnel.

The implication of this to the cause of women farmers in Africa is that they are on their own, especially when the systemic, cultural, educational, and economic constraints are present. The average woman in agriculture is therefore isolated, without meaningful recourse.

Even if there were more agricultural extension workers, there would not be enough of them to travel the wide expanse of the African terrain. There are challenges that go beyond the scope of agriculture, such as travelling, language, local customs, and funding. Judging by the need to reach the women where they are, literally and figuratively, it is highly important to seek solutions that circumvent some of these constraints. The solutions must address the issue of quality of resources, travelling, language barriers, local customs, and funding. Today’s solution to the information barrier is technology.

Technology in African Agriculture

The attempt to utilize technology is not new in African agriculture. The materials provided by international organizations have often required some form of technological audio visual device such as slides, films, and projectors. These have been of limited use in rural Africa, and they never did belong to the farmer, nor did the average woman have direct and ongoing access to such materials and information. The supply of the materials and information lasted only as long as the funding lasted, with no avenue to further disseminate or update them. This points to the need for Africans to begin to develop what will work for Africans.

Another issue with materials that are made outside of the user’s location is that they are often planned and designed in the laboratory, under ideal conditions. Therefore, they have reduced benefit when attempts are made to implement them by the end user. They often cannot be used for “here and now” situations that require direct answers to specific questions. In the absence of knowledgeable and sufficient extension workers, there is a need to utilize low tech resources in a manner that they would yield maximum results. These resources must also be designed with a focus on the most isolated woman farmer. Today, that technology is the telephone.

Out of Africa

It is not arguable that the cellular phone is the most ubiquitous piece of technology in Africa today. It will be foolhardy to develop an agricultural extension program that does not utilize the phone. Even when a woman does not have a personal cell phone, there is a high chance that she knows another woman who does. The quickest way to reach her with information, usually in real time, is the telephone.

A robust and extensive use of telephone technology in agriculture in Africa is a thing of the future, but it is a journey that we must embark on. With the rapid rate of change today, the future of agriculture in Africa rests on extension services, and the future of extension services rest on technology. We must begin to design and plan for Africa by Africans. There are beginnings of such a movement already.

It is important to mention innovations such as the M-PESA in Kenya, the application of the e-wallet in Nigeria. However, there are other innovations that are developed by Africans, or with the African market in mind. Such is the case of Su Kahumbu, who observed that cattle owners in her community were losing money by selling below market rate, buying the wrong kind of feed, or failing to breed their cows at the right time by missing the window of when the cow was in heat. She designed an application through which the farmer could receive advice, information about market rates, and other pertinent information, all of which came directly to the farmer’s phone by text, without any intermediary. More information can be found at http://www.icow.co.ke/

Another resource that is designed for Africa, and that can be modified for wide usage in the continent, is an animation video series produced by the University of Illinois about using neem seeds as a natural insecticide. The animation video is rendered in a Nigerian accent, in English, and it uses materials and artifacts, that are common to the African environment. The video can be translated into any African language.  It can be found using this link: http://susdeviki.illinois.edu/SearchResultView.aspx?id=36&vid=1

One cannot ignore the problem that many of the women farmers do not have personal phones, or that when they do have phones, the phones can do no more than receive calls and texts. This must not become a show-stopping barrier. The resources must be prepared and available. As the value of the services become apparent smart phones will become the phone of choice. In addition, non-governmental agencies might be able to fill that need for many of the women farmers who cannot afford smart phones. Our challenge is to create and provide materials, curricula that reach the farmer where she needs it. It must be just a few keystrokes away.

The use of technology will not render obsolete the agricultural extension worker. It will only assist them to reach more people, streamline their work on one hand, and expand it on the other. Technology by itself will be a tool in the hands of the trained, knowledgeable, and innovative extension worker. That extension worker is to be developed and trained for the work of this century and beyond. One is forced to ask the question: where are the personnel who understand technology and agriculture? While the farmer understands farming, she does not understand technology. The young people understand technology, but do they understand farming? Do they even want to understand farming? That leads to the issue of the ageing of agriculture.

The Ageing of Agriculture

Where are the farmers of tomorrow? Can we adequately utilize technology in agriculture without young people? We will never be able to reap the full benefits of the potential of technology in agriculture if we do not have the personnel who straddle both worlds. Much has been written about today’s African youth’s lack of interest in farming. Whatever the reason is, the reality is that there will always be a need for farmers, and this is the time to begin to establish educational programs and policies that make agriculture a viable option for a livelihood. It is not likely that we will achieve this in a short period of time, but we must begin.

To start, we must engage young people in the world of agriculture so that their technological expertise will be used towards addressing specific problems that arise out of expressed needs of farmers. A concerted effort to familiarize Africa’s youth with agriculture from the earliest years, and throughout schooling years is needed. These programs must cast a visionary eye to the future and take a long-term approach.

The Way Forward

The indisputable goal is the establishment of extension services powered by technology dedicated to information and undergirded by favorable national policies (e-TIPS). Tomorrow’s extension services will include a database and repository of information, tailored to each community, translatable into local languages and able to be transmitted to those who need it by telephone. The way forward must include a few critical ingredients: planning, commitment, and cooperation.

It is not uncommon for African governments to establish programs that are abandoned almost as soon as they are established. Therefore, it is time to keep agricultural issues on the front burner all the time. National governments must be committed to agriculture as the main stay of their welfare and economy. This commitment must include an effort to educate the citizenry regarding the place of agriculture in the prosperity of a nation.

In addition to the commitment, there must be adequate planning. The best minds in the different fields, including educators, technology and agricultural professionals, administrators, and researchers must be engaged in creating a product, a curriculum, a program that is responsive to the needs of the people it seeks to serve. If we don’t engage in thorough planning, we hold in jeopardy, our future freedom and that of future generations of Africans. A nation is not truly independent until it can feed itself.

Silos, international silos, should be a thing of the past. African countries and communities must work as one to share information, successes, setbacks, and resources. Therefore, the new formula must include international cooperation across the continent. The programs planned must be broad enough to be applicable in different countries, but be adaptable enough to be usable by and available to the average woman.  A mobile phone application was developed to be used by the nomadic Himba people of Namibia. A demonstration of the application can be found here: http://tve.org/reframing-rio/films/life-apps/life-apps namibia/index.html#.UsZLgvM4_5Y.facebook.

When technology in agriculture is tailored to the local community, it will make a difference.

Finally, it is imperative that all program be planned with the women in agriculture in mind because, no matter how brilliant our ideas are, if it doesn’t work for women, it doesn’t work. And judging by the sheer number of women farmers in Africa, whatever we do for them, we do for all of Africa.

Resources

http://allafrica.com/stories/201312190379.html

FAO Fisheries Department, Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service. Aquaculture extension in sub-Saharan Africa. FAO Fisheries Circular. No. 1002. Rome, FAO.

Hallward-Driemeier, Mary, and Tazeen Hasan. 2012. Empowering Women: Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa. Africa Development Forum series. Washington, DC: World Bank. DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-9533-2. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

Doss, C.R. 1999. Twenty-Five Years of Research on Women Farmers in Africa: Lessons and Implications for Agricultural Research Institutions; with an Annotated Bibliography. CIMMYT Economics Program Paper No. 99-02. Mexico D.F.: CIMMYT

Lucas, C. P. (1913). A historical geography of the British colonies: Vol. Ill, West Africa (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Tadele, G. and Gella, A. A. (2012), ‘A Last Resort and Often Not an Option at All’: Farming and Young People in Ethiopia. IDS Bulletin, 43: 33–43. doi: 10.1111/j.1759-5436.2012.00377.x

In African agriculture, information is power

In African agriculture, information is power

The Trials and Triumphs of Being Born Female: Inheriting the Family Title

Should gender matter? In many cases, an uncontrollable (certainly not by the one who was born) circumstance of birth has such long standing consequences. When we bring our babies home from the hospital, should the course of their lives be already determined because of the child's gender? Apparently, this is a phenomenon that affects royalty and commoners alike.

According to a news report in the Daily Telegraph, "It is a layer of aristocracy unique to Britain, and for more than 400 years the title of baronet has been passed dutifully from father to son.

But now, for the first time, women may be able to inherit the title in England under a proposed change to the centuries-old system.

Four baronets have succeeded in adding an amendment to a Bill making its way through the House of Lords that would let them pass their titles to their daughters.

The legislation had originally been introduced to allow dukes, earls, viscounts and other hereditary peers to pass their titles along a female line of succession. However, it left out baronets, prompting a campaign by the four families.

The Bill is known as the “Downton law” after the anomaly of female succession at the heart of ITV’s Downton Abbey, in which the character of Lady Mary, the eldest daughter of the drama’s fictional earl, was unable to inherit the family seat because it had to pass to a male heir."

In this case, fiction has influenced reality....for the better.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10540898/Ladies-who-could-soon-be-a-leaping.html

The End of Public Civility

There's a popular judge on TV. I've watched her for years, for her straight forward, no-nonsense way. However, she's been grating on me lately. Is it necessary to be so aggressive with people?

As a lawyer, I feel that part of the purpose of court shows would be to educate the people about the law...a little bit. It is not necessary to get into a situation where the judge seems to be fighting with one or both litigants.

One of my children would not watch her. The child thinks this judge is plain rude!

Has she gotten worse or did I just outgrow her shenanigans?

Then there's the story of the "Housewives". I am still trying to find out why school teachers spend their time teaching children how to conduct themselves, only for them to grow up and behave improperly on TV, and be paid for it. Are these people really like this, or are these people acting?
                            

And then there's Omarosa! She's back on Celebrity Apprentice. The girl's gotta pay her bills, right?

Truth be told, nobody wants to watch boring TV. The greater the drama, the more people watch. The more people watch, the more money is made.

The success of these people is really only a reflection of who we are as a society.

They are who we have become. I don't like it.

What Do You Do When One of Your Decisions was Wrong?

Decision-Making

Even the most carefully crafted plans sometimes go wrong.  It is bad enough when these decisions are personal; but worse when they are corporate, or organizational. This is because there are more people involved, and the consequences are public and usually costly. There is great potential for embarrassment  and sometimes more serious consequences. Yet, one cannot ignore such a decision even when it has been proven to be erroneous. That is where strategic flexibility comes in.

According to Shimizu and Hitt (2004), strategic flexibility is the ability to “identify major changes in the external environment, quickly commit resources to new courses of action in response to those changes, and recognize and act promptly when it is time to halt or reverse existing resource commitments.”

 I have devised a four step strategy with the acronym: RACE.

Recognize: This step requires that you recognize the mistake and cease making decisions or taking actions that advance the organization in that direction. There may be the temptation to hide this mistake, but this step also requires that you admit this error to parties that need to know.

Assess: You must assess the new situation, including the facts, changes, both internal and external, and get a status report. Failure to stop and take stock could cost more time and expenses later when it becomes obvious that you have missed critical issues during the process.

Chart: Using all the information gathered in the previous step,  plan to chart a new course. This will take into account all previous plans, new contingencies that led to the present situation, making sure to include ongoing monitoring processes that will ensure prompt response to changes in the external environment.
 
Execute: After an experience where a decision has gone wrong, there may be a tendency to be reluctant to take bold steps in new decision making. However, it is necessary to move forward because the work of the organization must continue. Therefore, armed with the confidence that you have done all due diligence, you must boldly execute the new plan.

Strategic Flexibility: Organizational Preparedness to Reverse Ineffective Strategic Decisions
Katsuhiko Shimizu and Michael A. Hitt
The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005)
Vol. 18, No. 4, Decision-Making and Firm Success (Nov., 2004), pp. 44-59

We are Slowly Losing Ourselves:Marriage

Before the colonialists came, our marriages were a blend of two families. The man's family came in full force. The wife's family cooked and cooked. They wined, they drank, and they got to know one another. Their events became our events, and we were bound together.

Then we got educated. We became Christians, and we Yorubas started calling our traditional marriage the engagement. The colonialists called it marriage by native law and custom. We did worse. We called it "engagement".

Yet we seemed to maintain the crucial parts of the ceremony. We sang, we danced, we ate, we met one another. Our families became one. I personally handled a few of those events for a few family members. It was an intimate experience.

Then, something happened. I don't know how. Maybe we became scared of one another. I don't know.  All I know is that we seem to have yielded the essence of our marriage events over to strangers.  They call them alaga iduro and alaga ijoko. These are usually perfect strangers who seem to have only one purpose: to make as much money as possible for themselves from the participants at the event. The two families, sitting at opposite ends, like people at war, the alagas sing unnecessary songs, create uninteresting distractions, and pass around their bowls for money. The money that used to go to the "wives" in the families now goes to these strangers.  

The reason that the families use a spokesperson is a throw back to our original culture, where the suitor could not go directly to the girl's family, but had to go through a trusted person  known as the "alarina". 

Much as we should keep this aspect of our culture, we must be careful not to debase the event to where there is little or no interaction between the families. 

I have nothing against people who have to use strangers, but the essence of the event must not be lost.  Our culture is what makes us who we are. It is what makes our loved ones do what they can to see to the success of our marriages. It is what creates friendships that last a lifetime.  

If we throw our culture away and try to be "educated" and become like other people, no matter how much we try to be them, we are still imitators, fakes.

Let us value and preserve what is ours, or we lose ourselves, forever.

Do Christians REALLY believe that the BIBLE is the Word of God?

I know many Christians say they believe the Bible. They believe what the Bible says about itself. They claim that they believe it IS the word of God.

What I have found out though, is that most have never read it completely. Most do not read it everyday. Most do not try to remember it, unless it says something they really like.

Pastors and teachers, who claim to have been called by this same GOD, are usually no different. Most have never read the whole Bible. A while lot do not read it everyday, and many make excuses for why they are not obeying it.

Here is the question: If it really is the Word and Will of the Supreme Being, why do those who claim to be Christians fail to treat it as such? Many will read their favorite authors three times before they read their Bible.

If there was a place where God Himself showed up everyday like clockwork, would you know make every effort to show up too? Wouldn't you want to know all there is to know about Him? Would you let other people tell you about Him and what he said? I seriously doubt it!

Well, there is, and He does.  It's in the Good Book. Read it, meditate on it, live it.

Church Leadership: 20th century style

Leadership.  Everybody wants to be a leader.  This is not a bad thing at all.  Church members want to be leaders, church leaders want to lead more people and larger empires. The more buzz words we can throw around, the better. So, we buy the books, watch the videos, and  attend the seminars. We compare our leadership programs with one another.  We want more, more, and more. 

The problem with this scenario is that these are people who are leading or seeking to lead a flock of Jesus Christ. We have the Bible. We claim that it is the Word of the Supreme Being. All knowing. All Powerful. The Only Wise God. yet we go in search of the wisdom of men! That is a contradiction in lifestyle. 

We are not running companies. Even if we were, there are enough Biblical principles to help with that. We must return to God's Word for every need in our lives and our churches. If the Word of God is insufficient, we should stop serving Him. 

When Jesus left the earth, He gave us the Holy Spirit, to teach and remind us of all things. The Bible says He has given us all that pertains to life and Godliness. Do we truly believe these things? Do we serve Him with our mouths, but all the time struggle really hard to be like the world? 

Do we realize that He says. love not the world nor the things that are in the world?

The church is the church of Jesus Christ. He leads, we follow.  Matt. 28:18, Matt. 23:10, Eph. 4:15,  John 10:11,14,16. He is the Shepherd. We are the sheep. When a sheep stops following the shepherd, it gets lost. It goes astray. 

The world is different from the Church. In fact, they are diametrically opposed to each other. Yet it is difficult to tell the difference today. The world is not trying to be like the Church. Rather, it is the Church that is trying very hard to close the gap. We have Church leaders who take their cues from other "bigger" church leaders. church members who worship at the feet of their leaders. The words of Jesus, the One who died for the Church, are left within the covers of the Book. Is the Bible the Word of the Almighty or is it not? If it is, we must begin to look to it for guidance. if we think it is not, we must get out of the pulpit.

There are enough leaders in the Bible to learn from:

Moses: Education, humility, delegation.

Joseph: Foresight, Frugality/savings

Daniel: Forthrightness, Conviction

David: Welfare, Boldness, 

Solomon: Wisdom, project management

I am sure smarter people than me can come up with more.

Do you want to know what Jesus, the Christ, The Creator, in whom lies all the knowledge, the Alpha, the Omega, the Good Shepherd, the Living Word, The Wonderful Counselor,has to say about leadership? It is SIMPLE:

"Whoever wants 2 become great among u must be ur servant, & whoever wants 2 be 1st must be ur slave— just as d Son of Man did not come to be served, but 2 serve, & to give his life as a ransom for many."

And He said, by the holy Spirit in I Peter 5: 2-4:

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

The problem is that many of us want our accolades here. We want the praise and honor here. We want the rewards here.  Brethren, to be a minister is to be a servant. As many of us as teach God's Word must recognize that it is a PRIVILEGE to be used by the Almighty. It is not an opportunity to lord it over people and use them, and fleece them. 

You want to be a leader? Serve.  Serve with joy, gladness, and be happy that He has found a place for you in His Kingdom. Stop "beating/fleecing the sheep."

And if you go to a church where the pastor does not have a servant's heart, prayerfully seek another.

Return to the Word.