The African Millennium Villages

Sanchez et al. 10.1073/pnas.0700423104.

Supporting Information

Files in this Data Supplement:

SI Figure 2
SI Appendix

Fig. 2. Location of the Millennium Village clusters in the major agroecological zones and farming systems of tropical Africa. The 12 clusters are named after their Millennium Research Village and include 66 expansion Millennium Villages, each with a population of ≈5,000 people each.

SI Appendix

Other Interventions. Because data are not yet fully available on other interventions, this section gives brief examples of interventions regarding water, land reclamation, and school feeding and the fact that they have positive synergies with other sectors. In Sauri, the water committee received training on groundwater hydrology, spring protection, rainwater harvesting and safe water systems for human use. The committee built or repaired 15 protected springs and constructed roof-based rainwater harvesting systems. Villagers planted indigenous trees around selected springs to protect them from erosion and livestock. A pit latrine was constructed at Bar Sauri primary school for girls to enable improved hygiene, privacy and safety in school, boosting attendance (1).

In Koraro, the community undertook a major landscape restoration activity, rehabilitating a 50-hectare area by diverting an intermittent river that was forming gullies in cultivated fields. Paid for by a food-for-work scheme, Koraro villagers built by hand 25 km of trenches, 45 km of hillside terraces and 645 plastic-lined small reservoirs. They also plugged gullies with 45 m³ of gabions (stones wrapped in heavy wire mesh) and 1,790 m³ of loose check dams, as well as planted 45,000 fruit and native trees (2). Runoff water and soil loss on barren hills was visibly reduced, natural vegetation began to regenerate and some wells were recharged. People downstream are living with reduced flood risk due to the gully treatment. Although basically an environmental intervention, the landscape reshaping also benefits agriculture and water management.

In Ruhiira, Uganda, a school feeding program was established in October 2006 by the parents, teachers and MVP staff in the four primary schools (34). Community members noted that school feeding was particularly important to reduce tardiness, absenteeism, poor participation in classrooms, and lack of morale for teachers and pupils in the afternoons. The community contributed 9.5 tons of beans, the bulk of which came from the payback for agricultural inputs earlier received. The project contributed an additional 7 tons of beans and 10 tons of soya-enriched maize flour to ensure there is sufficient and nutritious food for 1,733 school pupils for 66 days of a school term. In addition parents contributed on a daily basis fresh green leafy vegetables to enrich the beans sauce. The meals are prepared by cooks who are paid by the parents. Enrollment in the four primary schools increased by 32% since the school feeding program started. Approximately 40% of new pupils had either dropped out or never been to school at all.

After the initial achievements regarding food security, access to clinical services, and the beginning of the economic transformation, villagers in Sauri and Koraro have demonstrated new community-based initiatives and innovations on several fronts, including some beyond the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project. As one example, a town with 172 houses was spontaneously built in Koraro. New houses have been built in Sauri and the population of this village has increased to about 6500, a reverse migration from urban areas. Elections for an executive committee were held in Sauri and a woman master farmer became chair. A welfare committee was established and rebuilt houses for 42 "destitute" households whose homes were falling apart. Art displays and the newsletter Sauri Times have been launched. Villagers in the cluster plan to upgrade a vocational high school in the cluster to empower those primary school graduates unable to attend secondary schools with skills useful for off-farm work. One aim is to dissuade young people from migrating to cities, where they risk falling prey to AIDS or descent into petty thievery and prostitution.

Table 4. List of surveys for determining baseline conditions in the Millennium Research Villages

Table 5. Selected results of the Sauri baseline survey (4)

Supporting Methods

Site Selection. Five criteria were used for village selection: (i) be located in a country that is at peace, reasonably well governed and committed to meeting the MDGs; (ii) located in a hunger hotspot, defined as having more that 20% underweight children under the age of five (2), and typically an area of extreme poverty and infectious disease as well; (iii) representative of a major agro-ecological zone/farming system, (iv) an administrative unit with appointed or elected leaders, and (v) having a population of »5,000 people, often corresponding to administrative units. In 10 of the 12 sites expansion villages have been added to the research villages to form clusters of 3 to 11 villages encompassing ≈390,000 people.

Process. At each site, the process is initiated as follows. After meeting with the Head of State and senior government officials, MVP team and government officials held "town meetings" where the villagers described their situation, learned about the MDGs, and became familiar with the conceptual basis, including cost sharing by all partners, the villagers contributing in kind, and that there is a time limit for project funding.

Activities start with a comprehensive baseline assessment, participatory analysis, planning and developing community action plans that outline the responsibilities of the various partners. Village activities are carried out by committees, usually organized along sector lines where the decisions are made together with the MVP staff to assure that they are science-based.

Project Staff. In each site, the local MVP team is led by a Ph.D.-level science coordinator and typically includes professionals in community development, health, agriculture/environment, water/sanitation, energy/infrastructure, education, business enterprise development and a database manager. Often these professionals are seconded from local governments and considered as part of the government cost-sharing contribution. In the larger clusters there is also an operations manager. All are nationals of the country.

Funding for the 66 expansion villages was provided by the Open Society Institute and individual donations to the Millennium Promise Alliance. The authors gratefully acknowledge these contribution as well as those of African governments and the 390,000 villagers involved.

1. Mutuo P, Okoth H, Makomere C, Oule J, Oduong G, Ombai W, Wariero J, Akinyi B (2006) Annual Report for Sauri, Kenya Millennium Research Village July 2005--June 2006 (Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York).

2. Kiflemariam T, Gebretsadik A, Kebede G, Mehari G, Habtetsion T, Ye-ebiyo Y, Said A, Desta H (2006) Annual Report for Koraro, Ethiopia Millennium Research Village July 2005--June 2006. (Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York).

3. Siriri D (2006) The Ruhiira Millennium Research Village Project. Report to the Government of Japan in Uganda (UNDP, Kampala, Uganda).

4. United Nations (July 6, 2004) Secretary-General Calls for 'Uniquely African Green Revolution' in 21st Century, to End Continent's Plague of Hunger, in Addis Ababa Remarks, press release, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sgsm9405.doc.htm.

• Early Edition
• Archives
• Online Submission

• Feature Articles

  (Expanded research articles of exceptional breadth)

• Commentaries

  (Expert commentary on leading research)

• Letters

  (Online-only letters to the editor)

• Inaugural Articles

  (Articles by recently elected NAS members)

• PNAS Profiles

  (Biographical profiles of Academy members)

• Sustainability Science

  (Interactions of human and environmental systems)

• Collected Papers

  (Editorials, Perspectives, Reviews, Colloquia, etc.)

• Special Features

  (Solicited articles on exceptional research topics)

• Sackler Colloquia

  (Scientific reports held under NAS auspices)