Ten years after the Economic Community of West African States launched its policy on food and agriculture, coordination remains a serious challenge. Several regional initiatives compete with each other at the political and the project levels, in a complex and fragmented institutional context. This paper is one of a series published...

This edition of Nature & Faune journal will be a special Issue to mark the International Year of Soils. It is planned to be issued during the Conference of the African Soil Society taking place in Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso from 2nd to 10th December 2015. The special edition of...

Many of the pesticides used in desert locust control pose a risk to the environment and to human health, even if they are used judiciously. To minimize the impact of pesticides use on human health and the environment, member countries of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in...

The newsletter opens with several articles that address issues that are key to improving nutrition. In Chad, FAO is working with administrative and traditional authorities to implement an innovative approach aimed at increasing women’s access to fertile land, a winning formula for improving the livelihoods of rural households. Another initiative...

A través del programa de CSS entre Nigeria y China, que facilita la FAO, se han destinado a Nigeria a casi 700 expertos chinos desde 2003, en misiones de al menos dos años. Estos expertos han introducido nuevas tecnologías, intercambiado mejores prácticas y compartido conocimientos y experiencias con sus homólogos...

Cet ouvrage a pour objectif d’expliquer la nature et la force des liens entre la famille et l’exploitation agricole. L’ouvrage est construit autour d’une vingtaine d’études de cas menées dans divers pays de l’Asie, de l’Afrique, de l’Amérique latine et de l’Europe. Les auteurs précisent « ce qui fait famille »,...

The project will strengthen farm productivity in several ways. Cereal and horticultural crop yields will be substantially increased via the introduction of improved cropping techniques, high-quality seeds, animal-drawn ploughing and innovative irrigation techniques. Significant increases in crop yields will enable rural families to produce enough for household consumption and a...

Equitable Inventory Credit in Niger and Burkina Faso explains, step by step, what equitable inventory credit - or warrantage - is and how to adopt the good practices exemplified by the use of this rural finance method in Niger and Burkina Faso. The video summarizes the innovations and practices related...

This six-minute video shows how the FAO Dimitra Clubs in Niger have been crucial to ensure women’s access to land and water, while contributing to nutrition, food security and gender equality, thereby reducing rural poverty. The transformative approach of the Dimitra Clubs induces behavioral changes in various aspects of daily...

Dans les pays du Sahel où se pratique un élevage pastoral du type extensif, l’élevage joue un rôle essentiel dans la vie socio-économique et l’équilibre alimentaire des ménages. Cependant qu'un certain nombre d’études pointent du doigt cette activité, notamment sa contribution à la dégradation de l’environnement, d’autres études ont fait...

The Republic of Niger and the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed an agreement to finance the Family Farming Development Programme (FFDP) in Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder Regions. The funding comprises a US$24.25 million loan, a $24.25 million grant and an additional $13 million grant from IFAD’s...

Child labour is work that interferes with compulsory schooling or damages children’s health and personal development. Thanks to continuous efforts at the international and local level, recent global data,1 show that the number of children engaged in child labour worldwide has significantly declined from 215 to 168 million children (40 percent decline...

The topics covered in this Dossier concern 21 research units based in Languedoc-Roussillon Region, involving over 1 000 researchers whose activities are fully or partially focused on addressing—in collaboration with many partners—major family farming challenges in France and worldwide.The scientists have developed four multidisciplinary approaches to deal with family farming...

Eau Vive accompagne le développement des activités de maraîchages situées à proximité des mines de Makalondi, au Niger, qui depuis quelques années, fait face à un afflux de population venue exploiter des gisements d’or , donnant lieu à une urbanisation  anarchique et à un accès aux services de base inexistant....

Thanks to improved access to information and a powerful participatory communication approach, villagers in isolated communities across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Niger are making strides to improve gender equality and empower women. FAO Dimitra community listeners’ clubs are helping rural populations participate in the development of...

The Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM) is an initiative focused on making risk management an integral part of policy planning and implementation in the agricultural sector in developing countries. The overall objective of PARM is to contribute to sustainable agricultural growth, reduce food insecurity, and improve livelihoods of rural and...

This edition opens with a report of the last session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which has helped to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment feature prominently in the post- 2015 Development Agenda. This will take over from the Millennium Development Goals, whose 2015 deadline...

Article relatant les résultats d'études qui démontrent la capacité d’adaptation du mil aux variations du climat, dans les systèmes agricoles dominés par des exploitations familiales au sein desquelles des variétés cultivées présentent une forte diversité génétique.

This edition opens with a report of the last session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which has helped to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment feature prominently in the post-2015 Development Agenda. This will take over from the Millennium Development Goals, whose 2015 deadline is now close. Today, the post-2015 Development Agenda...

This issue highlights experiences of development approaches that are helping in the fight against poverty in rural areas. Reducing rural poverty is one of FAO’s strategic objectives for the coming years, to which the Dimitra project is making a special contribution. Innovative methodologies have been developed which seek to place...