Background
The landlocked Central African Republic is one of the world’s least developed countries. Instability has been a problem since independence from France in 1960, especially with recent banditry in the northern regions bordering Sudan’s Darfur region and Chad. Many villagers have migrated to urban areas due to insecurity in the rural areas.
Agriculture is still the means of living for more than half the population, though thousands continue to live displaced from their villages. Furthermore, many small farmers struggle with a lack of inputs and livestock.
Impact of high food prices
The price of rice, the majority imported, rose by more than 70 percent from January to June 2008, and locally produced food, such as cassava, rose even more alarmingly. Cassava chips had more than doubled during the same period. Wheat flour is also heavily imported from abroad.
As food and fuel prices soared, the country’s already precarious food security situation worsened.
Progress towards peace and development
Although the security situation remains fragile, efforts to consolidate peace and begin the process of development have been moving forward. The government has developed a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme to help former soldiers and people trapped in conflict zones to re-integrate into society, notably through work in the agricultural sector.
FAO Response
European Union Food Facility
With nearly € 10 million in funds from the European Union, FAO is supporting efforts by the Central African Republic’s government to boost agricultural production and improve the food security of around 18 000 families affected by the food price crisis. The two-year project, which began in May 2009, is part of the EU Food Facility.
A lack of inputs has crippled agricultural productivity in the country. FAO will use part of the funds to push forward with seed multiplication activities, building on an FAO emergency programme already under way.
The project will also support farmers’ groups in developing lowland fields for rice, maize, sorghum, niebé (cow peas), sesame and groundnut crops during the rainy season as well as off-season crops.
To help reduce losses, FAO will give attention to building up storage facilities – for inputs and harvested food – and to setting up input shops where farmers can access fertilizers and seeds produced by the farmers’ groups.
A pilot project will teach farmers, via a network of 500 farm schools, environmentally-sound agricultural techniques and practices, including soil and water conservation.
In consultation with the government, FAO is finalizing a plan to help ex-combatant farmers reintegrate into the agricultural sector. One option may be the creation of three apprenticing centres that would provide agricultural skills, including an introduction to poultry farming and small livestock breeding, with the overall aim of generating income opportunities.
Technical capacity building is another important component of the project.
Other FAO activities
Under its Initiative on Soaring Food Prices, FAO launched a Technical Cooperation Programme project worth US$ 500 000 to provide more than 25 000 agricultural tools for the March/April 2009 planting season, and a supply of cassava cuttings and seeds to 8 600 households.
