You're welcome, Nate, and thank you for elaborating on the thinking behind the event, and for your kind remarks in my direction.

On the latter, I should hasten to clarify that NAMA functions as a team rather than a hierarchy. So, while I have taken the lead on some matters (such as moderating this list), Joni and Jonathon (NAMA co-founders) each also lead in other respects. And in the wider circle, others play key roles.

The story of international development is a bit complicated. There has been significant learning in this field in terms of approaches and methods. Having worked in this field I know that people working in it have sincere intent and often deep experience and knowledge of the places they work (there are "host country nationals" also among them). Structurally, however, "the hand of the giver is always above the hand of the receiver" (Amadou Hampâté Bâ), and agencies contracting to design and administer aid projects are evaluated in ways that prioritize setting and meeting goals. In some cases the people doing the planning of development programs so dominate the process that they pre-empt the voice of the intended beneficiaries.

Anyway, this is a much bigger topic than we can or should treat here, but the idea of listening is always a good starting point ("Listening to Africa" was actually the title of a 1990 book on grassroots development, as well as the name of a current World Bank program).

I hope to join you all on Monday, and in any event, hope the event goes well,

Don

DO, EL, MI, US
NAMA


On Tue, May 14, 2024 at 10:37 AM Sorghum United <sorghumunited@gmail.com> wrote:
Don:

Thank you for your comments. After extensive travel in these regions, I too feel that I have an understanding of the paradigms involved. However, my primary observation upon visiting these communities is that those of us who do have a grasp on situational needs and obvious solutions often fail to listen to the local stakeholders. (As my, and many, wives would explain, “I don’t want you to fix my problem! I want you to just listen to it!”)

In places like West Kenya, Tanzania, Honduras, India, Cambodia, and others, I’ve witnessed the negative disruption caused by outsiders GIVING solutions without fully engaging specific communities first. What tends to happen is that when new technological systems are implemented and the implementors have long gone, photos and nice newsletter articles in hand, systems eventually break down. They work until they don’t. The communities, not having their own sense of true ownership, plans for funding maintenance, plans for proper training of maintainers, etc., and whom have become reliant upon the new system, end up having to revert to old systems in which they are no longer proficient. A case in point was described to me in Kenya by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture when he told me, “Kenyan agriculture has devolved.”

The goal of this conversation, the first of many I hope, is to bring together those of us like you and I with those stakeholders on the ground. Not to provide solutions, but to share experiences. Ultimately to empower regional problem-solving in all aspects of local food systems. In short, to listen more than we talk and to encourage more than we enable. 

My friend, I hope you can join us for the beginning of this series. Your expertise is beyond value. NAMA is blessed by your leadership and Sorghum United is blessed by your partnership. 

Cheers,

Nate Blum
Chief Executive Officer
Sorghum United
+1 402 802 1850



On Tue, May 14, 2024 at 9:07 AM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> wrote:
Thank you, Nate, for letting us know about this interesting event on small-scale mechanization.

With a background in international ag and rural development, I like to think I understand the context of small-scale and smallholder agriculture, and the potential for small-scale mechanization in the regional areas of focus in this event. At the same time I wonder if the topics may also have relevance - at least in terms of new perspectives - for small-scale or "artisanal" farming in other parts of the world where large-scale and industrial commodity production dominate. And indeed this set of topics may have broader relevance as we consider the place of millets (and other "specialty" crops) in the future of food and agriculture in North America. (The future of food resting as it does largely on "many" rather than simply on "more.")

In any event, this sounds like a great learning opportunity!

Don

DO, EL, MI, US
NAMA


On Mon, May 13, 2024 at 2:08 PM Sorghum United <sorghumunited@gmail.com> wrote:

Join us ONE WEEK FROM TODAY for an 'International Conversation on Small-Scale Mechanization in Cultivation, Irrigation, and Value-Addition for Sorghum and Millets'. This online dialogue is FREE to attend. 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to share your opinions, experiences, and challenges in this first step toward finding solutions to some of global agriculture's biggest challenges. 


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Nate Blum
Chief Executive Officer
Sorghum United
+1 402 802 1850