The Community Agroforestry Bank (CATS Bank)

Community Agroforestry Tree Seed Banks (CATS Banks): Building Agroforestry Scaling up Platform for Diversifying Livelihoods Opportunities in Malawi and Mozambique is a project funded by the Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium. It is being implemented by World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) with backstopping from Katholieke Universiteit Celestijnenlaan Leuven, Belgium. It is a 3 year project to rum from 2009 – 2012.

In order to institutionalize sustainable market-driven farmer-led supply and delivery systems of quality agroforestry tree germplasm to meet massive demand by smallholder farmers, a win-win CATS Bank approach (Figure 1) is being tested in Malawi (Kasungu and Mzimba districts) and Mozambique (Angonia and Tsangano districts). A CATS Bank Committee is set up at village and district levels. Membership comprises of extension staff, village chief, farmer group chair, and at least 20-30 farmers. Initially, this community-run CATS Banks approach is being tested in two districts in Malawi and two districts in Mozambique. In this approach, agroforestry tree seed financing facilities is being established in partnership with seed agri-dealers and extension in the selected sites, and funded by the project. Seed vouchers are being used as tradable inputs. Through the CATS banks facility, starter tree seed loans are given to farmer groups through a team of extension agents, agri-dealers and farmer association leaders. The seed financing facility is being reimbursed with seed interests based on seed vouchers loaned out. Farmers are able to sell and or re-use their seed profits.
This CATS Bank concept also involves privatizing seed systems as much as possible—by involving smallholder farmers in various stages of the value chain (seed collection, propagation nursery production, multiplication, management, harvesting, post-harvest handling, and retailing). Over time, seeds will become more available and affordable to farmers. Farmers will receive seeds based on the vouchers, and repay seed loans to agri-dealers, with seed interest in the subsequent years when they harvest their seeds. Neighbouring farmers will be encouraged to purchase small seed loans from neighbours and pay back accordingly. Training will be provided to agri-input dealers. The project will play a facilitation role and learn from the process.

Project Management
The project is coordinated from ICRAF regional office in Lilongwe, Malawi. The project implementation teams in Malawi (Lilongwe) and Mozambique (support in Angonia) are facilitated administratively from Lilongwe. Technically, the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the KU Leuven will support the scientific research component of the project, especially in the subsequent years, with possibility to support field work of self-funded MSc or PhD student attachments from KU Leuven in years 2 and 3. In the first year, the KU Leuven professor undertook a project review and monitoring mission to provide technical guidance and recommendation on the future of the project. The project is being managed and audited using the procedures at the World Agroforestry Centre.
Target Group and Beneficiaries
The primary target of this project is the smallholder farmers in pilot areas in Malawi and Mozambique. Local capacity will be developed, particularly with communities located within pilot sites. Through training, knowledge and practice, participating farmers and farmer organizations in both regions will serve as one-stop information centres for neighbouring farmers.
Project Goal
The long-term goal of the project is to improve overall the livelihoods of communities in Malawi and Mozambique through promotion of community-based tree seed banks and building a platform for scaling up integrated agroforestry portfolio of options. Its purpose is to build a platform for establishment of sustainable supply of germplasm based on the CATS Banks (Community Agro-forestry Tree Seed Banks) necessary as support to development organisations involved in large-scale promotion of demonstrated agroforestry innovations.
Project Objectives
The project’s primary objectives are to:

1. Apply a suite of agroforestry interventions for generating multiple streams of livelihood impact for smallholder farmers;
2. Apply the CATS Bank approach for building stronger platform for wider farmer testing, and out-scaling of proven agroforestry portfolios customized for use by development agencies in pilot sites;
3. Building capacity of communities in nursery production, tree establishment and management, and facilitating community groups on CATS Banks in the pilot sites.

Outputs
The project is proposed for three years, renewable every year. At the end of two years, the project will have achieved the following major outputs:

1. Scaling up platform built generating multiple streams of impact from a range of integrated agroforestry portfolios and multipurpose tree interventions developed and tested (scaling up).
2. A framework for sustainable supply and diffusion of tree germplasm developed, and pilot experiences documented and lessons learnt disseminated to policy makers and development agencies (Germplasm);
3. Capacity of farmers and development partners in CATS Banks model and tree management built for achieving large-scale agroforestry impacts on climate change, land restoration and livelihood security (Capacity).

Long-term benefits and potential impact (long-term)
The annual project cost per hectare of farmland is US$423 (includes farmer investment in labor, seed, field management, and other inputs) a discounted benefit of US$ 1,126 per year. Our economic analysis indicates that farmers can increase their annual income by an extra US$689 through managing several integrated agroforestry options per hectare of land once the systems reach production. By employing integrated agroforestry practices, we also anticipate that by the end of three years, at least 8,000 smallholder farmers will have invested in and be managing integrated agroforestry portfolios. We project that real benefits will actually be 10 times this number once the enterprises are triggered and matures in the subsequent years. The impacts of this project will be measured using ex ante indicators that will be developed for assessing the project’s long term impact.
Contribution to Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7
The proposed project contributes directly to MDG 1, target # 1: reducing extreme poverty and target # 2: reducing hunger; and MDG 7- ensuing environmental sustainability. It is designed to help rural farmers in Malawi and Mozambique achieve sustainable food security and meet other basic rural livelihood needs that are in harmony with the environment.
In the long-term, farmers practicing agroforestry using fertilizer trees, fodder trees and fruit trees will be food sufficient throughout the season, as well as have extra produce (e.g. maize, fruit, milk) for the market and income generation—thereby contributing to hunger and poverty reduction in the communities. The increase in food security for smallholder farmers will come from higher crop production due to improved soil fertility, availability of fruits from farm grown high quality native and exotic fruit trees; and better meat and milk production of livestock for better nutrition and income. In general, there is increased income for farmers from the sales of food crops, tree seeds and wood, and savings from not buying commercial fertilizers.
In terms of the environment, the benefits are three-fold: i) Nitrogen fertilizers naturally harnessed by trees from the atmosphere is equivalent to 65 kg Urea fertilizer per hectare. This amount will reduce the requirement of chemical fertilizers by 50-75%, thus reducing problems associated with synthetic fertilizers. Soil organic matter capital is built up, enhancing better soil moisture conservation and the soil biodiversity; ii) The organic C sequestered in tree biomass above and below ground contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing the amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere; iii) In addition, the project will impact on deforestation avoidance as practicing farmers will have wood on farm and have less need to exploit the forest for fuelwood.
Contact persons:
Prof. Festus Akinnifesi, Principal Scientist & Regional Coordinator, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), ICRAF Southern Africa Regional Programme. Email: f.akinnifesi@cgiar.org
and
Prof. Bart Muys, Professor of Forest Ecology and Management, Department of Land Management and Economics, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, Katholieke Universiteit, Belgium. Email: bartmuys@ees.kuleuven.be