Equatoguinean schoolchildren led back to the roots of agriculture
23 March 2016, Malabo - In the early years of the twentieth century, agricultural production played a very important role in the Equatoguinean economy. In 1932 cocoa export was already over 11,000 tons a year and a similar trend was true for coffee, yucca and palm oil.
In 2015, cocoa production reached its lowest level over the last 100 years, recording only 390 tons. There are several factors leading to this trend and in fact, this applies also for many other basic food crops. Subsistence agriculture became the most common practice for rural farmers to feed their families. The vast majority of the Equatoguinean population relies on food products imported from all over the worlds: chicken from Brazil, beef from Uruguay, fish from China or oranges from Morocco. The oil and gas based economy has triggered this new lifestyle.
Recognizing the volatile oil based economy, the government of Equatorial Guinea included in its development plan “Agenda 2020” the increased role of agriculture production, as one of the diversification pillars of the economy.
Based on this policy, the sub-regional project "Food security strengthened in urban and peri-urban areas in Central Africa" funded by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF), is providing support to family farming in the Bioko Island and in the town of Bata, located on the Continental Region of the country.
Beneficiaries of the project are small scale local farmers cultivating their plots in villages belonging to the Fifth District of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Among these, FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests decided to choose two primary schools. One is in Malabo and the other one is about 20 km South of Malabo. The school in Malabo, named Pilar Boypoyó, harbours around 500 children, learning all the subjects common to a primary school education. Through the project, an important topic, namely sustainable agriculture through school gardening was added as an activity. Schoolchildren are taught how to prepare the field, grow vegetables and fruit trees and take care of them. They also learn how important it is to consume healthy agriculture products, as part of nutrition security.
The project activities in primary schools intend to trigger an interest for agriculture already at a young age, where children learn sustainable agriculture practices and build their knowledge towards a diversified economy.
Contact:
FAO-Eq-Guinea (FAOGQ) <[email protected]>