The vandalism of hives and theft of honey in Nigeria is a perennial problem that has led to the loss of investments and gains by beekeepers and discouraged consumers as well. Beekeepers find it difficult to securely situate their apiaries as they describe it as simply 'no-go' areas for placing...

The increase in demand for dairy products in Burkina Faso is encouraging livestock producers to develop milk production. Three types of dairy systems (pastoralists, agropastoralists and market-oriented dairy farms) have been characterised based on a sample of 60 producers operating in the West and centre of the country. Pastoralists’ dairy...

The hive "Ruche Fonge" is an intermediate hive model which combines features of the Kenyan topbar hive and the Dadant movable frame hive. This hive model was developed and successfully tested by the "Groupe d'initiative locale camerounais "Apiculture lumière du Cameroun"" (GIC LUMICAM) and is now being promoted in Cameroun...

This document explains how to make the topbar hive "La grande", a topbar hive model developed by the beekeeper of "la Plateforme des Apiculteurs des Cataractes (PLAAC)" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and widely adopted by beekeepers in DRC and the rest of the world. You will find...

This case study, Effectiveness and duplicability of the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture (YIYA) initiative, is an output deriving from the assessment of the YIYA Initiative in Uganda. In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Uganda, with the Ministry of Agriculture,...

The Kenyan topbar hive is having great success in African and is gaining popularity in other continents. This hive model allows the transition from a traditional beekeeping with fixed comb hives, to a more sophisticated, but still easy to practice beekeeping. In fact, the advantage of this hive model is...

This case study, “Solutions to youth agripreneurship challenges”, is an output deriving from the assessment of the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture (YIYA) Initiative in Uganda. In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) as...

Peer-to-peer learning can be very effective in sharing knowledge and experience, and encouraging the adoption of new practices and technologies among farmers including youth. FAO training approaches, like the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS), encourage youth facilitators to share their knowledge in the respective communities, mobilizing and sensitizing...

Rwanda's climate and rich and varied melliferous flora are favourable for the development of beekeeping.  This document explains how to make a traditional hive model composed of elongated cyclinder made with the stems of Pennisetum (Urubingo), bamboo or papyrus. This hive model is very suitable to promote among smallholder producers...

In light of the 10 elements of agroecology and the 13 agroecological principles adopted by the High-Level Group of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), the importance of rethinking the production of knowledge and its sharing, and include agroecological transition processes in participatory approaches, is today largely a consensus. On paper, these principles seem fairly...

Like many African countries, Rwanda’s population is young. A third of Rwandans are aged between 15 and 34, and youth employment is a critical policy issue that directly affects national food security. Indeed, youth engagement in agribusiness in developing countries is a crucial asset to achieving sustainable food security. Recognising...

In South-West Uganda, manure is highly valued for sustaining yields of East African Highland Banana, but it is in short supply. As a result, banana growers import manure from rangelands up to 50 km away. We aimed to explore the potential of this regional banana-livestock integration to meet crop nutrient requirements...

This monthly e-newsletter gives a bird’s eye view of all the exciting updates from Access Agriculture, a world-leading organisation for quality agricultural training videos in international and local languages, working across the Global South.

The beekeepers suit is an essential element of the protective gear. It protects the body from bee stings when working with bees. There exist different models of bee suits, and in this practice, we describe how to make a protective jacket. This practice was developed by the Beekeeping Network North-South...

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...