ALIN set to participate at the PELUM-Kenya AGM

By Bob Aston

The Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) is set to be among the organizations that will be represented during the 2015 Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Sustainable Agriculture Community Development Programme (SACDEP-Kenya) Training and Conference Facility in Thika on May 28-29, 2015.

PELUM Association is a network of Civil Society Organizations / non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with Small-scale farmers in East, Central and Southern Africa. The Association membership has grown from 25 pioneer members (in 1995) to over 250 members in 2014.  PELUM Kenya is the Kenyan country chapter of the PELUM Association and has a membership of 44 member organizations.

PELUM Kenya programmes include: Research and Information Management; Capacity Enhancement; Management and Development; and Campaign Advocacy and Lobbying.

ALIN joined PELUM Kenya in 2007 and has been involved in improving communities’ access to knowledge and skills for many years with a strong focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, sustainable land management (SLM), natural resources management (NRM) and other livelihood issues.

Farmers harvesting in one of the sites where ALIN is promoting Climate Smart Agriculture

The organization has also been involved in knowledge sharing for more than 22 years now, using various platforms that include the use of video documentations, exchange visits, open learning days and articles aimed at farmers and pastoralists. The organization has also been using three publications, namely Baobab, which features small scale sustainable agriculture, Joto Afrika, a climate change briefing highlighting case studies on adaptation and Laikipia Mali Asili, a newsletter on SLM in Laikipia County.

PELUM Kenya promotes people-driven development towards sustainable land use management. The organization facilitates learning networking and advocacy on sustainable natural resource management for improved livelihoods.

PELUM envisions self-organized communities in Kenya that are able to make choices towards improved quality of life that is socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. The association endeavors’ to build the capacity of the member organizations and partners in Kenya to empower the local communities through participatory methodologies in ecological land use management and sustainable development.

The organization has also been promoting sharing of information of development experiences, innovations and best practices, strengthening linkages and collaboration through action learning among partners and members as well as increasing the visibility of the small-scale farmers.