Rotating corn crops and vegetable crops in Tayé, Moundou

In Chad, as well as in other Central African countries targeted by the project “Improving urban food security in Central Africa through a better availability of locally produced food (GCP/SFC/001/MUL)”, funded by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF), the populations supported by FAO in collaboration with the national Ministry of Agriculture are experiencing a significant increase in their production. Since 2015, horticultural crops producers in the cities of N’Djamena and Moundou, the pilot sitesfor the project, have recorded a higher level of production. Thus, various horticultural products produced locally are already available and visible on the market.

Producing more by producing better

In the city of Moundou, south of Chad, the beneficiaries from the Union des Groupements Arbo-Maraichers (UGAM) of Koutou doubled their vegetables production during the first growing season. With the support received, their production, which was estimated at 2,125 tonnes before the beginning of the project, has doubled. “Before the start of the project, UGAM produced on average 2,125 tonnes of fruit and vegetables. With the support of the project, our union has now doubled its production, with 4,325 tonnes of vegetables produced by the end of May 2016”, said UGAM President.

This increase in production has thus allowed these beneficiaries to increase their income. Before the beginning of the horticulture project, the individual monthly income from the sale of the products for the members of the group was about 68,250 FCFA (USD114). With the technical and material support from the project, that income has increased to 113,800 FCFA (USD 190).

Diversifying the production

Previously, most of the beneficiaries were practicing cereal-based one-crop system (rice or corn). With the various supports received since the launch of the project, however, they have learned to diversify their production through the rotation of vegetable, root and tuber, and cereal (rice or corn) crops. Thus, in Moundou, irrigation channels made for vegetable production are used for corn production on the site in Taye (See picture). Vegetable production plots are used for cereal crops during the rainy season both at Moundou and N’Djamena. With these crop rotations, the production is continuous and ensures the availability of a variety of products on the markets and a diversification of sources of income for these beneficiaries.

Testimony of a beneficiary of the project in Atrone, N’Djamena

“I appreciate what FAO has done for me through this project. My motor pump was stolen and I was thinking about how to raise money to buy another one. It was a dry season and I needed a pump to save my vegetable beds from the heat. In the evening of that very day, the focal point of the horticulture project came to inform us that the project will provide us with motor pumps. Sure enough, the next day we received motor pumps! Immediately, we connected one of the motor pumps and irrigated my beds. I can never forget that in my life”, said a beneficiary of the project in Atrone, N’Djamena.

In Central Africa, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo and Sao Tome and Principe are the beneficiary countries of this urban and peri-urban horticulture project.

Contact:

Kacou Amondji, Hyacine (FAOSFC)