We are women and men, farmers, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) activists, agronomists, agro-ecologists, agro-ecology trainers, Food Sovereignty activists, Civil Society actors from 7 different countries in West Africa. We come from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Togo. Over and above the current extraordinary social and economic...

The first report of the REGIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ROPPA (OFF/ROPPA) FAMILY FARMS deals with four questions that delivers successively (i) a farmer reading of the behavior of the West African family farms during the last two farming seasons; (ii) a status of the proximity support and extension from which these...

In Mali, agriculture is the main source of employment. Over 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture that is mostly carried out by small farmers with income of less than US$1 per day. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important cereal grain used as food and animal fodder...

In Mali, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing the “Caisses de Résilience” approach with a strong focus on nutrition to support 3 000 vulnerable households in 64 villages in the Mopti region (district of Bandiagara). The three-year programme, launched in February 2015, aims to...

La Politique nationale de sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle du Mali (PolNSAN), en cours d’élaboration sous la tutelle du Commissariat à la sécurité alimentaire (CSA), se penchera sur les quatre dimensions de la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle dont les facteurs limitant l’accessibilité aux produits alimentaires et notamment le rôle des marchés...

Increasing access to modern electricity services in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the main development challenges facing the world over the next two decades. The rural economies are overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture; in fact, agriculture and agribusiness comprise nearly half of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). These enterprises require electricity...

Ce film montre un mode de collaboration entre deux communes, ayant permis de réaliser des investissement qu'une seule ne pouvait pas assumer. La route construite grâce à l'intercommunalité permet de contribuer au désenclavement de la zone, en favorisant les échanges de marchandises, y compris agricoles, et en permettant une facilité...

In Mali, agriculture is the main source of employment. Over 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture that is mostly carried out by small farmers with income of less than US$1 per day. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important cereal grain used as food and animal fodder...

This working paper examines the development of regional socioeconomic scenarios for West Africa’s development, agriculture, food security and climate impacts. We present four globally consistent regional scenarios framed and outlined by regional experts who crafted narratives and determined key drivers of change. Stakeholders identified the type of actors driving change...

  Farmers in Koutiala, a district in Southern Mali grow cereals to feed their families and keep cows for milk and as a form of savings. There, all the arable land is currently under cultivation. During the four months of the rainy season, farmers prioritise the cultivation of cereals over fodder...

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,...

Based on experience and lessons learned in 2014-15, Africa’s Regional Initiative 2 (RI2) (originally entitled “Integrated Management of Agricultural Landscapes in Africa”) has been revamped for implementation in 2016-17 to sharpen its focus and to make it more programmatic. It takes a food systems approach with two integrated components, namely...

Integrated soil fertility management is based on maximising the use of organic fertilizers and minimizing the loss of nutrients.

Increasing plant populations by reducing the planting distance is a key step to achieving a uniform crop stand and a high yield. On the other hand, when plants are too close to each other this can hamper good crop development. The plants will be thin and will be susceptible to...

Populations in Africa are increasingly exposed to the negative impact of natural and human-induced disasters such as drought, floods, disease epidemics and conflicts which threaten the agriculture production systems and livelihoods of vulnerable communities. The initiative on “Building Resilience in Africa’s Drylands” was developed to enhance the capacity of these...

Compost is more powerful than manure. What is less known is that the micro-organisms in compost attack striga seeds in the soil. Compost also decreases the amount of striga that will sprout, and reduces its negative effect on cereal crops. Let us look at how farmers in northeast Mali make...

In September 2015, countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This will shape their development programmes in a transformational way for the next 15 years. At the last FAO Regional Conference for Africa, held in Abidjan in April 2016, many delegates asked the organization to assist countries in their...

2015 was a landmark year for the future of the planet and therefore for the future of every woman, man, girl and boy, in all four corners of the world. Two important events - the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 and COP21 on development and climate change, led to...

The brief aims at summarizing the efforts of FAO to maximize the impacts of social protection interventions in the Sahel and West Africa by strengthening the linkages with resilience, food security, nutrition and economic growth; ensuring the effective reach of most vulnerable households and making national social protection programmes risk-informed...

For the past half century agricultural innovation has denied a voice to the many groups who work outside the profession of science – farmers, food providers, women and the urban poor. The value of their expertise gained through practical experience must be recognised in the production and validation of knowledge....