Since the 1970s, cotton has been a driving force in the transformation of agricultural production systems and a key element in local economies in the savannah areas of West and Central Africa (WCA). However, the sustainability of cotton-based production systems is often debated because of their effects on soils and...

Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children globally and an important contributor to the burden of night blindness in pregnant women and severe illness and death in children under the age of five. Southern Africa is not spared.  In Zimbabwe, nearly one in five children under...

According to a new multi-agency report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), changing precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, and more extreme weather contributed to rising food insecurity, poverty, and displacement in Africa in 2020, compounding the socioeconomic and health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The State of the Climate...

Women smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe have appealed for government assistance, claiming that they are often ignored when authorities and other organizations visit their regions to provide agricultural assistance. Despite their significant contribution to the country's food security, female smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe who practice agroecology (AE) and grow 'women seeds,'...

This video describes an agroecology experiment in a Dakar suburb in Senegal. After taking the agroecology courses, some growers are trying new farming techniques to reduce the use of man-made chemicals and improve crop yields. 

An online advisory and problem-solving service is helping livestock farmers to overcome challenges and increase production in Benin and other parts of West Africa. The private service grew out of a blog written by Louis Agbokou, who works as livestock advisor at a government agricultural agency in Benin. During on- site...

Fishing has been the main source of livelihoods for many communities in northeast Nigeria, especially in Borno State which borders Lake Chad. However, long-running armed conflict in the region has caused one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. Fishing in Lake Chad has been banned on security grounds, depriving...

Based on demand from its Lusophone user community across the Global South, Access Agriculture has launched a Portuguese-language version of its video-sharing platform (www.accessagriculture.org/pt). The platform is already available in Bangla, English, French, Hindi and Spanish. 

Cette revue de la littérature fait partie d'une série de quatre revues sectorielles. Elles visent à éclairer l'élaboration de notes d'orientation pour l'intégration de la nutrition dans les secteurs de la production végétale, de la pêche et de l'aquaculture, de la foresterie et de l'élevage dans 12 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne....

The small island developing state of Cabo Verde, off the west African coast, faces recurrent droughts and other environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities. Recognizing the extent of needs, a national school feeding programme began in 1979 with the support of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). After more than 30...

Africa is not on track to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round and to end all forms of malnutrition. The number of hungry people on the continent has risen by...

Une meilleure intégration de la nutrition dans le secteur de l’élevage est un défi commun partagé par les décideurs et les gestionnaires de programmes au niveau régional, national et local du fait du manque d’outils méthodologiques éprouvés. Pour faire face à cet enjeu, l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et...

The use of fire and smoke to extract honey from hives or natural colonies offers some kind of protection from the beestings. However, this practice does not only harm the environment and the health of the colonies, it has also a negative impact on the honey quality. The use of...

Mr. Ernest Aubee, Head of the ECOWAS Commission's Agriculture Division stated that half of the world's population is undernourished, with 3.4 billion people suffering from hunger, malnutrition, and obesity. Agroecology, according to Aubee, is one of the strategies to secure food security, as well as the health of people and...

Cet  article publié au mois de juillet 2021 dans le journal européen scientifique (European Scientific Journal, ESJ), traite de la dégradation des sols et de l’environnement dans les régions du nord-ouest du Togo. A travers des enquêtes socio-économiques auprès des producteurs, l’auteur évalue les perceptions sur la dégradation des sols et...

The article explores the prevalent misunderstanding and belief that agroecology is about going backward. According to John Wilson, many cultures have a saying along the lines of 'we need to go back to go forward.' This is the goal of agroecology in Africa. It's about reconnecting and re-establishing one's roots....

Adaptation to climate stress is an unprecedented challenge facing cropping systems. Most adaptation assessments focus on how adaptation options affect yields of a single crop under different weather or climate conditions. Yet, cropping systems often comprise more than one crop, and holistic assessments should consider all crops grown in a...

The smoker for beekeeping described in this practices is a model that does not require any welding. It has been produced by "la Plateforme des Apiculteurs des Cataractes (PLAAC), in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The description includes detailed diagrams, pictures and tips that will allow any artisan or...

Farmer Field Schools (FFS), or ‘schools without walls’, were introduced by FAO and partners more than 30 years ago as an alternative to the prevailing top-down extension approach. The schools are a way to promote field-based experimentation, group organization and local decision-making through discovery-based learning. Farmer Field Schools have been a...

Africa is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round, and to end all forms of malnutrition. The most recent estimates show that 281.6 million people on the...