New rural partner organisations

Kastom Gaden holds planning meeting in Honiara with ten new rural partner organisations

kga_logo_frontKastom Gaden Association held a planning workshop in Honiara at the end of August 2009.

This was the first time ten rural farmers organisations joined KGA in a planning process. These rural organisation will become the implementers and service providers of Kastom Gaden in their respective rural areas.

TerraCircle member Tony Jansen joined the meeting to assist with the planning of the meeting and to represent TerraCircle who are working in support of KGA in this new program-based approach implemented through rural farmer-based organisations.

An article was printed in the Solomon Star Newspaper.

TonyJ

- Currently based in Byron Bay, Australia - Core member of TerraCircle. KEY SKILLS - Sustainable agriculture and Indigenous food systems - Agro-biodiversity conservation, soil improvement, and small livestock - Climate change adaptation and resilience programming - Participatory program design, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and impact assessment - Market systems and value chain development with a gender lens - Facilitating participatory extension and Indigenous knowledge exchange - Organisational capacity strengthening and governance mentoring - Conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social cohesion approaches - Strong facilitation, interpersonal, and strategic leadership skills - Cross-cultural communication and partnership brokering. EXPERIENCE Current Roles: - Founder and Principal Consultant, One Point Five Degrees – providing technical support on climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, and strategy to international agencies and farmer networks, especially in the Pacific and Africa. - Technical Adviser to the Pacific Farmer Organisation network (11 countries) – providing capacity building, program design, M&E system development, and strategic guidance. - Monitoring & Evaluation Adviser, IFAD Farmer Organisation for Africa, Caribbean & Pacific – supporting Indigenous-led agriculture programs in the Pacific and Timor-Leste. Recent Consultancies: - Agriculture Specialist, IFAD GAFSP Program – value chain and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu - Program Design Specialist, FAO GEF-8 Concept Note – sustainable food systems and NRM in Timor-Leste - Advisor, Jagun Alliance – Indigenous-led bushfire resilience in Australia - Interim Director of International Programs, Penny Appeal (UK INGO) – oversight of multi-country programming and partnerships across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia - MEL Designer & Gender Analyst – Pelena Energy / Lenoke Women’s Association renewable energy project, Papua New Guinea. Previous Positions: - Country Director, United Purpose – West Africa (Gambia, Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau) (2012–2019). As Country Director for United Purpose, Tony led one of the organisation’s most dynamic regional portfolios, overseeing integrated programs in livelihoods, nutrition, disaster risk reduction, peacebuilding, governance, climate resilience, and ICT for development. Under his leadership, the West Africa program expanded from 6 to 37 Indigenous and community-based partner organisations. Tony introduced a devolved programming model that strengthened local ownership, improved strategic alignment, and deepened the organisation's impact. Key achievements included: - Supporting women’s organisations to become lead implementers, mainstreaming gender across all programs - Enabling over 1.7 million people to engage in rights-based governance initiatives, and 300,000 in livelihoods and natural resource management programs - Pioneering community-led nutrition interventions that reached over 22,000 rural women and mothers, using Indigenous knowledge and group empowerment approaches - Leading conflict-sensitive programming in post-conflict zones (e.g. Fogni region), fostering local peacebuilding, environmental restoration, and cross-border social cohesion - Spearheading institutional growth, increasing annual funding tenfold (from US$250k to over US$2.5m) and achieving US government funding accreditation through a comprehensive systems audit - Serving as Cluster Lead for West Africa and Brazil and member of the global senior leadership team, contributing to global strategy, risk management, and organisational learning - Technical Adviser & Program Manager, Kastom Gaden Association, Solomon Islands – co-founded and helped grow KGA into a nationally recognised Indigenous-led NGO - M&E Specialist – AusAID, GRM, FAO, Live & Learn – various food security and agriculture projects in Melanesia - Lead Author – IAASTD (FAO/World Bank/UNEP) global report on agriculture and development - Team Leader & Facilitator – multiple participatory rural assessments and evaluations across the Pacific. VOLUNTARY WORK - Advisory Board Member, Jokalante, Senegal – Indigenous communications social enterprise - Former board member, Development Services Exchange, Solomon Islands - Former board member, APACE – Appropriate Technology for Community & Environment, Australia - Grassroots awareness and solidarity work with the Australia Tibet Council - Volunteer teacher – SOS Tibetan Children’s Village, Ladakh, India. EDUCATION - Diploma of Permaculture (Community Development & Site Design), Permaculture Institute, Australia - Training of Trainers in Community Ethnobotany, People & Plants Initiative - International Course in Food Security, IIRR, Thailand - BA studies in Anthropology & Resource Management, Macquarie University - Study tours in India and Southeast Asia on sustainable agriculture - Numerous professional short courses in M&E, gender, facilitation, and climate resilience. LANGUAGES - English – native - Solomon Islands Pidgin – fluent - French – moderate - Spanish – working knowledge - Babatana (Choiseul) & Lau (Malaita) – basic conversational. CONFERENCES AND PUBLICATIONS - Lead Author, International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) - Co-author/editor of multiple case studies and tools on food security, biodiversity, and extension - Speaker/facilitator at international workshops (e.g. IIRR, FAO, UNDP) on shifting cultivation, climate adaptation, and Indigenous knowledge - Contributor to the Petanigaki Ti Siniga Ni Lauru – Babatana-language forest food manual - Publications on gendered biodiversity, market systems, and participatory extension. AWARDS - Sir Edward Dunlop Memorial Award for Young Australians – for work supporting Indigenous communities in Solomon Islands and Ecuador (1998) - Permaculture Institute Community Service Award – for contributions to grassroots sustainable agriculture training in Ecuador (1995)

September 13, 2009 by

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