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Documenting the Clonal Garden Project

Isangati Agricultural development Organisation, IADO

The Isangati Agricultural Development Organisation is a local, not for profit non-governmental organisation located in the Mbeya district, in south-west Tanzania. It was legally registered as a trust fund in January 2001, after being a project under VECO since 1992. The organisation has acquired a compliance certificate under the NGO Act No. 24 of 2002 with the name of Isangati Agricultural Development Organization, IADO. Its office is located in the Santilya ward, Isangati division.

IADO works in the Isangati and Usongwe divisions of the Mbeya district. These are part of the Rungwe volcano complex located in the Rift valley between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa. Both divisions have two agroecological zones: the highlands (1800 to 2000 m) and the low lands (1600 to 1800 m). In this area, IADO is committed to support the efforts of small and medium scale farmers of the Mbeya district to increase their agricultural production and income through
- promoting resource-efficient agriculture
- accessing reliable markets, and
- accessing financial services.
In implementing this mission, IADO ensures the participation of the target group and the collaboration of other stakeholders, taking into account good governance, gender aspects, HIV/AIDS and the environment.

An exercise in documentation
Between the 4th and the 8th of September, 2006, IADO took part in the documentation workshop organised by VECO Tanzania and ILEIA. This meeting took place in Same, bringing together representatives of different projects and organisations in order to exchange ideas on documentation and try the methodology proposed by ILEIA. We all met at the Roman Catholic Centre in Same. The interest of IADO was to document their experience in cloning coffee plants with specific characterisitcs, as part of their Clonal Graden Project. The workshop was thus attended by Richard Mwabulambo as IADO's representative, together with two farmers: Latson Singalanga and Langson Mwamboneke.

How did the process go?
Back in Isangati, Richard presented what they did in Same to the whole team, and they all discussed how to proceed. It was then decided that IADO's Agriculture Department should be responsible for completing the documentation process and presenting the final article, thus also involving Hudson Gabriel Levi and Silvano Mwakinyali. After going through what was done during the workshop, they saw the need of looking for more information. The main advantage was that the process had already started, so it was easier to see what needed still to be done. The disadvantage was that the available information was limited, focusing mostly on technical information (such as the growth of the coffee plants) and not on the opinions of farmers, or on the perceptions of those involved during the experience. The team then realised that they did not have sufficient photos, nor had they recorded, for example, how taking part of the coffee cloning experience had helped farmers economically.

According to the team, “we are always trying to respond to our donors, looking at our goals and at the number of this or that. After the workshop, most of our staff started understanding… Now we are trying to go deeper, and we have included documentation in our plans.” As a result. all staff members are requested to present a small abstract about what they want to write. The process which began in Same was completed, but what was done there was not improved. The tables were not looked at again: “We had no reference; this is something new”; “there was no real discussion, the time allocated was not enough”. They also mentioned IADO’s difficulties for “sitting down and analysing”; and the fact that the results were not shared with farmers nor with other people.

The final draft was sent to VECO after a couple of months, and after adding their comments they sent it to ILEIA. This was edited as one of the articles for issue 23.2. Eventually, they received an edited version, which was accepted. “We sometimes fail to have the attitude of giving feedback. We say thank you, not more…”. IADO's documentation process was completed when an article was published in the LEISA Magazine, in June 2007.

Analysis

More information?
Please write to IADO,
P.O. Box 1687, Mbeya, Tanzania
+255 25 2503033
E-mail: isangatiado@yahoo.com