Au cours des dernières années, la baisse des précipitations et la dégradation accrue des sols ont porté pour de nombreux habitants de Tinkirana - et ailleurs au Niger – à de mauvaises récoltes et de graves pénuries alimentaires. Les terres agricoles d’Idrissa étaient fortement dégradées. En 2015, il n’a récolté que...

Small holder farmer, Mrs Ssekide, joined the Balyejjusa farmer field school and convinced of the benefits persuaded her husband to join too. She tells her story of how successful working as a team has proven to be. In Uganda, almost 80% of households rely upon agriculture for their livelihood, and...

Smallholder farmers have a vital role to play in global food security and nutrition, and in supporting a range of development and climate change goals. Strengthening the resilience and commercial viability of these farmers, particularly women and youth, can increase their capacity to contribute to these global goals.

The Regional Initiative seeks to strengthen the programmes, mechanisms, capacity and delivery of actions needed to operationalize commitments to end hunger by 2025, and to support mapping exercises that identify gaps and determine requisite interventions to enhance policy dialogue on food security and nutrition, both at regional and country levels....

The Gambia is one of Africa’s poorest nations, ranking 175th out of 188 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s 2015 Human Development Index. Income poverty and household food insecurity are widespread, with nearly half the population living below the absolute poverty line. Poverty is higher in rural areas compared...

What sort of climate information do farmers need? And how can we provide them with forecasts that will be truly useful? This is a complex question, involving a range of fields and requiring various types of data in order to make forecasts on the time and spatial scales on which...

Madagascar occupe actuellement le 5ème rang mondial des pays les plus exposés aux risques dus au changement climatique et le 1er pays exposé en Afrique. Durant 30 ans depuis 1980, des aléas naturels notamment des sécheresses, tremblements de terre, épidémies, inondations, cyclones et températures extrêmes, ont causé des dommages économiques...

The farmer field school (FFS) approach was developed by FAO and partners nearly 25 years ago in Southeast Asia as an alternative to the prevailing top-down extension method of the Green Revolution, which failed to work in situations where more complex and counter-intuitive problems existed, such as pesticide-induced pest outbreaks. ...

Tanzania has adopted a new national land policy which, among others, lowers the ceiling under which foreign investors can lease land from the current 99 to 33 years. The new policy comes barely months after the East African nation embarked on a campaign to seize “idle” land and deter “rogue...

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today met Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera for talks that focused on rebuilding the country's agriculture sector and making it an engine for peace and sustainable development. In particular, they discussed ways in which to tap into the Central African Republic's considerable agricultural...

Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) has seen unprecedented economic growth since the turn of the millennium, and in recent years poverty rates have steadily declined; yet, while this recent growth has improved rural livelihoods in many of the region’s countries, especially the larger ones, numerous countries continue to face...

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) provide farmers with an opportunity to experiment new technologies which help them to make informed decisions that eventually lead to increased production and income. This study aimed at assessing the role of FFS in adoption and adaptation of recommended rice production practices in Mvomero district in...

Effects of Climate Change in Uganda.

Impact, Adaptation and Development in African Mountain Areas

Zaï as they are known in Burkina Faso, or tassa in Niger, are wide deep planting pits. They act as a microcatchment and can be used to rehabilitate soils when used with manure. They have been very successful in West Africa during the last 25 years.

This is the annual report of the Cassava Community Action Research Project (Cassava CARP) for the period October 2015 – September 2016. The Cassava CARP is aimed at enhancing sustainable production, processing and marketing of cassava and cassava products among the cassava farming communities. Its focus is on quality cassava...

Plantwise is a global programme, led by CABI, to increase food security and improve rural livelihoods by reducing crop losses. Working in close partnership with relevant actors, Plantwise strengthens national plant health systems from within, enabling countries to provide farmers with the knowledge they need to lose less and feed...

Demi-lunes (half-moons) are in the shaped of a semi-circle with the tips of the bunds on the contour. They come in a variety of sizes, which help with water harvesting in semi-arid areas. They help to improve soil fertility when manure or compost is added.

The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) is an innovative Africa-led fund to support Africa for African development initiatives. Its main goal is to strengthen food security across the continent by assisting countries and their regional organizations to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, eliminate rural poverty and manage natural resources in a...

Sub-Saharan Africa is generally characterized by low production and productivity in the agriculture sector, despite rapidly growing human population which calls for closing the production gap in crops, livestock, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries. At the same time, ecosystems are under pressure, a situation which is further challenged by climate change,...