Today, one of the major global challenges we face is that of feeding the world. Would it be possible to solve this challenge? If yes, via what pathways? Nowadays, two paradigms come up when discussing solutions to the global food challenge. On the one hand, technical, scientific and large-scale ‘one...

La flambée des prix des intrants agricoles devient insupportable pour beaucoup d’agriculteurs du Burkina Faso. Pour survivre, des producteurs ont trouvé des alternatives en misant sur la fabrication des engrais organiques. Bokashi, composte aérobic, ce sont des fertilisants locaux que Saïdou Ouédraogo, agriculteur et éleveur, fabrique pour fertiliser ses sols....

Researchers from the universities of Maryland and Texas in the United States of America questioned the rapid expansion of cultivated land in Africa in a recent study utilizing satellite data from NASA's Landsat program. Africa has increased its agricultural area by more than a third during the last two decades...

How to engage farmers that have limited formal education is at the foundation of environmentally sound and equitable agricultural development.  This study describes the process of development of an innovative curriculum, which integrates agroecology, nutrition, climate change, gender, and other dimensions of social equity across 2 weeks of training explicitly for...

Selon une récente étude, la surface des terres cultivées est passée de 1,14 milliard d’hectares sur la période 2000-2003 à 1,24 milliard d’hectares sur la période 2016-2019. Soit une augmentation de 102 millions d’hectares, dont 52% sont enregistrés en Afrique. La hausse a été particulièrement rapide dans un petit groupe...

Despite the fact that the latest IPCC report recognized "African indigenous knowledge systems" as smart adaptation strategies against worsening climate change, this article argues that smallholder farmers who have benefited from planting their indigenous seeds are under threat from the government's law, which has placed restrictions on the informal seed...

Un petit matin de septembre 2022 : Hamado Sawadogo et son équipe d’agronomes ont quitté la ville de Ouagadougou aux aurores. Ils filent vers le nord-ouest rejoindre un groupe de paysans de la commune d’Arbollé. Le pick-up abandonne le goudron puis progresse en zigzag sur une piste de latérite, contournant les flaques...

Digital and automation solutions can solve labour bottlenecks, increase agricultural productivity, resilience and efficiency, and improve environmental sustainability. However, access is limited in low- and lower-middle-income countries, especially for small-scale producers. Based on ten case studies in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, this study investigates the suitability...

The key to implementing farmer field schools (FFS) is to trigger an experimentation process based on collaboration between a group of farmers and a facilitator. The purpose of this document is to provide project managers, technicians and designers with practical information on how to use the FFS approach and adapt...

L’efficacité de l'approche agroécologique dépend des moyens financiers qu'on lui accorde. Or, le budget consacré à l’agriculture et à l’alimentation est, aujourd’hui, 284 fois plus important dans l’Union européenne qu’en Afrique subsaharienne. La priorité est donc de construire des systèmes financiers nationaux favorables au développement de l’agriculture.

La Fondation pour l’agriculture et la ruralité dans le monde (Farm) et la Fondation Avril se sont penchées sur le rôle joué par les politiques publiques en faveur du développement des filières agricoles en Afrique. Une étude qui s’inscrit dans un contexte d’insécurité alimentaire pour le continent africain fragilisé par les aléas climatiques, la...

Welcome to the readers and users of this Barefoot Guide. We invite you on a journey through the farms, gardens, local markets and kitchens of Africa to learn about the unique, delicious and healthy foods and cultures that belong to this beautiful continent of ours. Many of you may be...

This guide is based on information from the Food Plants International (FPI) database developed by Tasmanian agricultural scientist Bruce French.  The source material and guidance for the preparation of the book has been made possible through the support of Food Plants International, the Rotary Clubs of District 9830, particularly the...

In 2020, the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) was used in Mali to assess the status of the agroecological transition of local farms and to identify its correlation with farms' quantitative performance across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. This study aims to present the evidence on the multidimensional performance...

Although Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions are low, its contribution to climate change mitigation is critical to global climate action. This report evaluates Africa’s climate policy through the lens of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities,’ an asymmetrical allocation of responsibility for climate action, determined by differences in countries’ contributions to historical emissions...

Le miel est un aliment pur et naturel que les abeilles conservent dans la ruche, dans les alvéoles. Pour extraire le miel des rayons de cire dans de bonnes conditions d’hygiène, il existe différentes méthodes : l’extraction par égouttage (par gravité) ou par pressage pour les apiculteurs utilisant des ruches à...

Levedy Céleste Lossangoye developed a passion for fish farming at an early age. She grew up surrounded by fish ponds on her family’s fish farm in Andem in the Central African country of Gabon. Located around 60 kilometres from Libreville, the country’s capital, her family’s farm has 21 ponds across...

Le remaniement de la ruche-panier originale utilisée par les apiculteurs traditionnels du district de Koinadugu en Sierra Leone a permis aux apiculteurs de récolter les rayons de miel de manière durable sans détruire l’entièreté du nid. Les rendements en miel et en cire ont été considérablement améliorés. La nouvelle ruche-panier...

Agroecology has been recognized as a paradigm that can offer multiple ecological and socio-economic benefits. In many developing countries, the promotion of agroecology is facilitated by intermediary organizations such as Farmers’ Organizations (FOs). Detailed studies on how FOs support their farmers in the adoption of agroecology innovations are still scarce,...

Amid increasing global hunger and poverty, devastating climate change impacts, the Covid-19 pandemic and the widespread effects of the war in Ukraine, small-scale producers can play a lead role in reducing hunger and poverty at country and regional levels. On 16 November 2022, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)...