Between May and July this year, we successfully ran a 6-week Data Leaders Fellowship Program tailored for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs). The program was aimed at equipping them with skills to understand the use of data and evidence to demand accountability. This initiative aligns with the United Nations Global Goals, Goal 17 which emphasizes on the importance of data in strengthening the global partnership for sustainable development, highlighting the need to improve the availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable data for decision making purposes. The programme, which is delivered online, tackles topics such as Data Governance Models, Open Data, Stakeholder Engagement, the Role of Technology in Data Governance, Open Government, and Data Privacy.
Through this fellowship programme, it has been our hope that participating CSOs will build the capacity to use the right tools and techniques at the subnational level to promote data and digital rights. Our ultimate goal is for them to acquire the knowledge necessary to comprehensively harness data and evidence in their efforts to advocate for accountability.
How Data Can Save Kenya’s Sugar Industry
We are so excited to have had the chance to witness one of the data fellows driving this knowledge to impact their area of influence in the sugar industry. On 18th July, we had the opportunity to experience first hand the impact of the 6 weeks training. Our partner Sugar Campaign for Change (SUCAM) had brought together their stakeholders drawn from cooperatives societies, millers, individual farmers, and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives from the County Government of Kisumu.
SUCAM organised a workshop which sought to drive the importance of understanding data and how it can support decision making in the agricultural sector. During this workshop, SUCAM led their partners through discussions around public participation, data governance and privacy, and the data provided in the Sugar Year Book. The group was able to bring to light the place of data in the sugar industry, acknowledging that while a wealth of information is collected, there is a lack of safeguards to protect this sensitive data from unauthorized access and misuse.
A Group of Leaders in session during the CBO Data Leaders Fellowship.
Citing an example where information that had been collected to provide farm inputs did not avail the required equipment, they drove forward the agenda to drum further support for robust data security strategy. A look at the Sugar Yearbook; the most complete, authoritative, and up to date source of world sugar statistics available that includes a comprehensive coverage of the world’s sugar production, consumption, trade and stocks reveals the failure to engage sugar farmers in the decision making processes in issues that are of concern to them such as cane production and productivity. This brings to light the critical role data plays in the decision making process.
With the correct and well documented information, farmers will be in a better position to engage duty bearers and policy makers in what concerns them. In addressing the information gap, the SUCAM team is planning on generating their own data to counter some of the narratives that are often propelled in the sugar industry.
It is a well-known fact that Kenya annually faces a sugar shortage leading to the closure of sugar milling factories due to inadequate mature cane for processing. With citizen-generated data shedding light on the real issues, SUCAM hopes to convince the millers to persuade the local farmers to only import enough sugar to cover the short period required to allow for maturity of local sugar cane. By adopting this approach, it ensures that farmers do not incur losses when their cane reaches maturity and becomes ready for processing. The data collected will give the farmers a voice and a place in decision making, leading to development of citizen driven policies.
SUCAM’s Michael Arum during the CBO Data Leaders Fellowship: https://flic.kr/p/2oN7XNi
Our hope for the future
As the curtain draws on the Cohort One of the Data Leaders Fellowship for CBOs and CSOs, we are not only looking forward to the sugar industry harnessing the power of data in decision making processes for a sustainable future, but also shining the spotlight on the data fellows as they turn ideas into action and engage their stakeholders to effect change in their communities.
The Data Leaders Fellowship Programme for CSOs demonstrates our commitment to amplifying the citizen’s influence in shaping their society’s future. The success of this engagement is a clear indication that the investment in this programme was not in vain. We are excited to see what the rest of our CBO partners have planned and will be updating you in due course.
