En Afrique de l’Ouest, face à la croissance rapide des villes et à une demande accrue de la part des consommateurs urbains et ruraux, les systèmes alimentaires fondés sur l’agriculture familiale renforcent déjà dans nombre d’endroits la capacité d’un pays ou d’une région à nourrir ses populations par la production...

Agrobiodiversity is the subset of biodiversity found within agricultural ecosystems. It feeds us with nutrients vital to our health. It fuels and furnishes our homes. It underpins cultural traditions. It sustains farm productivity in the face of climate change. But agrobiodiversity is rapidly being lost.  Just three crops account for half...

Twelve participants from Madagascar, including four newly recruited Entrepreneurs for Rural Access (ERAs) team members, took part in a 3-day programme designed to enhance their skills in providing agricultural extension and rural advisory services using digital tools. The programme was organised as part of the GIZ-funded Knowledge Centre for Organic...

The Entrepreneur for Rural Access (ERAs) in South Africa gathered together with Vinjeru Mlenga, Entrepreneur Coach for Southern Africa, on 29 February 2024 in Polokwane, Limpopo province, South Africa, to discuss strategies and plans for ERAs’ business growth relating to screening of farmer-training videos using the smart projector.

In the twentieth century, gardeners innocently spread the water hyacinth to Asia, Africa and elsewhere. Water hyacinth has striking blue flowers and was used to adorn ornamental fountains. But it escaped and was soon clogging lakes, ponds and municipal water supplies.

La sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle (SAN) est une problématique centrale dans les zones rurales des pays du Sud où vit la majorité des personnes sous-alimentées dans le monde. L’égalité des sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes font partie des objectifs de développement durable pour 2030, les femmes ayant été reconnues comme des...

Degraded soil can be repaired, and replenished with nutrients, until it produces abundant harvests at lower costs, while removing carbon from the atmosphere, and putting it back into the ground. This is the optimistic message of David Montgomery’s book, Growing a Revolution.

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) today unveiled a comprehensive report critically examining the African Development Bank’s ambitious Dakar II initiative, part of the broader Feed Africa program. This initiative, titled ‘Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience’, aims to revolutionize African agriculture with a focus on turning the...

Banana plants have superficial roots. Proper spacing, planting, and mulching will yield better and more fruit. You can also intercrop your banana and plantain plants with food crops, medicinal plants and other trees to provide additional sources of income and create a suitable micro-environment.

Five years after the catastrophic Cyclone Idai hit Chimanimani District in Zimbabwe, claiming over 500 lives and causing extensive destruction, the community's journey towards recovery and resilience offers a beacon of hope. This article by John Willson delves into the heart of Chimanimani's efforts, showcasing how the district is confronting...

The African Union is in the process of finalizing a draft protocol on intellectual property rights under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), sparking concerns among civil society organizations about the potential impacts on seed systems and the rights of smallholder farmers. While the AfCFTA, enacted in May 2019,...

FAO developed this manual, in collaboration with Solidaridad West Africa, to support trainers in preparing and delivering the training on empowering rural women to engage in responsible agricultural investments (RAI). The design of this training programme is based upon a specific methodology that meets the learning needs of rural women...

Laure Tall, directrice de recherche à l’Initiative prospective agricole rurale (IPAR), a suggéré, mercredi, à Dakar, la mise en place de politiques intégrées et systémiques pour relever les multiples défis liés au développement de l’agroécologie au Sénégal et en Afrique.  

The World Wide Fund for Nature defines a food system as “the complete set of people, institutions, activities, processes, and infrastructure involved in producing and consuming food for a given population.” (WWF, 2017). The food system has a bearing on human capital development, provision of jobs, industrial growth, structural transformation...

Comment accompagner l’engagement des territoires dans une trajectoire de développement agroécologique conciliant résilience hydrique, sécurité alimentaire et qualité nutritionnelle ? Coordonné par le Cirad et INRAE, le projet MAHDIA vise à articuler les enjeux agricoles, alimentaires, environnementaux et de santé des régions de Meknès au Maroc, Kairouan en Tunisie et...

African forest are increasingly in decline as a result of land-use conversion due to human activities. However, a consistent and detailed characterization and mapping of land-use change that results in forest loss is not available at the spatial-temporal resolution and thematic levels suitable for decision-making at the local and regional...

Brussels, Belgium — Access Agriculture is proud to announce the launch of its upgraded, new-look video platform (www.accessagriculture.org) with improved functionality and navigation that allows visitors a more engaging way to explore its incredible array of over 4,000 quality farmer-to-farmer training videos across 100 languages.

Grâce aux données satellites et aux méthodes d’apprentissage machine, les chercheurs ont identifié et localisé 15 formes d’utilisation des terres – de la culture de divers végétaux utiles tels que le caféier, le cacaoyer et l’hévéa, aux pâturages et à l’exploitation minière. C’est ce que démontre une étude publiée dans...

This blog post is part of a special series on the global and regional food security implications of high food and fertilizer prices originally stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and now exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war. 

This document sheds light on the ongoing efforts in Eastern and Southern Africa to develop National Agroecology Strategies (NASs), aiming to transform agri-food systems through the promotion of agroecological production practices, and the development of markets, value chains, and consumer demand. The brief offers an unique insight into policy advancements...