Fall armyworm is an invasive pest that arrived in Africa in 2016, leading to extensive use of toxic chemical pesticides as an emergency response. African smallholders’ fields already have natural enemies effectively controlling fall armyworm. IPM strategies integrates agroecological approaches such as crop diversification and targeted pesticide use. Governments should prioritize biological control...

In December 2019, Cyclone Pawan hit Ali Mahamud Rubaax’s village of Dharkeynley in Beletweyne, central Somalia. The storm’s rain caused the river levels to reach their maximum, breaking their banks and overflowing into the village and surrounding areas leaving most of the town under water. About 182 000 people from this district...

“Sometimes we are faced with droughts and other times we have floods,” says Anita António Candeeiro, leader of a women’s group of smallholder farmers in Chemba, Mozambique. Aside from losing food and income sources, these disasters also often wipe out fields, making it necessary for farmers to start from scratch,...

La nature de la matière organique dans les différentes fractions granulométriques est un meilleur indicateur du niveau de dégradation du sol. La présente étude a pour objectif d’évaluer les influences des différents modes d’utilisation des terres sur la répartition du carbone organique dans les différentes fractions du sol dans le...

Ce guide est un aide-mémoire pour les facilitateurs déjà formés à l’approche champ école qui reflète les innovations et évolutions actuelles des champs écoles au Niger. Élaboré en 2014, il a été réactualisé en 2021. Centré exclusivement sur la production végétale, il intègre désormais des aspects liés à la production animale...

This paper provides an early assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and of subsequent response measures on milk production, collection, processing, marketing and consumption in Africa. We focus on the period surrounding the first wave of the outbreak (from February to June 2020), during which the number of...

Nearly 33 million households on the African continent are involved in smallholder farming. Smallholder farmers have long supplied Africans with safe and healthy foods, making Africa's diets among the healthiest on the planet.1 The situation, however, is changing. Multinational corporations are aggressively trying to take over food systems in Africa (and...

In Africa, agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounts for more than 20 percent of the total GDP. The farmers’ income is mainly from the farming industry, and it accounts for more than 80 percent of total household income. However, despite Africa’s plentiful agricultural resources, the continent still faces serious food...

Family farmers are needed for the transformation of agrifood systems. The facts speak for themselves: they produce over 80% of the food in the world and occupy up to 80% farmland, mostly operate at small-scale level, since 95% of existing farm units are less than 5 hectares big and more than...

Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) Approach is an extension and advisory approach, aiming to help farmers to access and benefit from markets by changing their mindset from “Grow and Sell” to “Grow to Sell”.   It was developed through the technical cooperation project in Kenya and managed to double the...

Nambiro Fatuma is a single mother of 4 kids that fully depend on her. She, on the other hand, depends on her income that comes from a family farm owned by her father. “I produce bananas, maize, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, mangoes and avocados…” she says. “I once thought about...

Irrigation has been a key component of agricultural intensification and transformation in Asia and has the potential to take on the same role in Sub-Saharan Africa. Irrigation has contributed to increased food production, lower food prices, higher rural employment, and overall agricultural and economic growth. At the same time, irrigation—through...

Farmers in Kenya’s arid Tharaka Nithi county are growing fresh vegetables thanks to the use of an organic fertilizer known as bokashi. Made from a mix of farmyard waste, bokashi adds both nutrients and microorganisms to the soil, unlike chemical fertilizers that add only nutrients that are quickly consumed or washed...

L’objectif du présent rapport est d’évaluer la mise en œuvre actuelle de la restauration des forêts et des paysages (RFP) en Afrique. Il expose le contexte de la RFP sur le continent africain, met en lumière les principales initiatives de la RFP et en donne un aperçu en Afrique au...

All over the world, the lockdown approach, which was used as the primary strategy to mitigate the Covid-19 crisis, affected various productive sectors and resulted in increased poverty (UNO Info, 2020). The agricultural sector was recognized as a priority sector and was less affected by Covid-19 related travel restrictions for...

According to a new study, rising temperatures and decreased rainfall in eight Southern and East African countries are likely to reduce the production of vital food crops in the region by 2050. The International Fund for Agricultural Development has issued the scientists' report, which covers Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda,...

À Madagascar, le Tsiperifery, une espèce de poivrier sauvage endémique de l’île, est actuellement soumis à une surexploitation. Un programme participatif de domestication de cette plante a été lancé pour assurer la durabilité de son exploitation. Des techniques de culture sont co-construites par des chercheurs et des paysans sur trois sites...

Due to its geographical position (proximity to the Atlantic Ocean), the richness of its ecosystems (predominantly mangrove rivers) and the importance of socio-economic activities (fishing, rice growing, tourism, etc.), West Africa remains one of the most important regions in the world. It is among the regions most affected by environmental...

In the management of a topbar hive (TBH), an essential step is the application of starter strips on the top bars, from which the bees will build their combs. These starter strips guide the bees to build their combs nicely down from the top bars. This will allow the beekeeper...

La crise liée au SARS-CoV2 (syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère–coronavirus 2) a donné lieu à une profusion de documents et webinaires sur la sécurité alimentaire au niveau international, ce qui tend à brouiller la compréhension des dynamiques à l’œuvre sur le terrain. Cet article se propose de faire le point sur...