AISSA   www.aissa.org

Lome, Togo, March 12, 2004—On February 13, 2004, the Africa Division of IFDC and its partners launched the Network for Agricultural Intensification in sub-Saharan Africa (AISSA). The official launching ceremony, which was held at Hotel Sarakawa in Lomé, Togo, was attended by 100 participants including AISSA’s members and other invited guests from national and international research and development organizations and donor agencies.

AISSA succeeds a previous IFDC-organized network called WAFMEN—West African Fertilizer Monitoring and Evaluation Network—which was mainly composed of representatives of national agricultural research institutes. The AISSA Network emphasizes institutional development, empowerment and strengthening of organizations of farmers and local entrepreneurs rather than the more traditional focus on participatory technology development. Network members include representatives from research and extension agencies, including NGOs and development projects, farmer and trader organizations and credit structures.

The objectives of AISSA are to: 1) provide a platform for information and experience exchange; 2) develop and disseminate tools that facilitate the development of sustainable agricultural systems and competitive rural enterprises; 3) join forces to get agricultural intensification on the agenda of decision-makers; and 4) stimulate collaborative activities among members.

The launching of the AISSA network formalizes a partnership convened by IFDC since 1998 to facilitate agricultural intensification in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently AISSA is active in hundreds of villages in 7 countries in West Africa, through about 30 partner organizations. A central component of the AISSA approach is integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). ISFM aims to increase agricultural productivity and farmers’ revenues while protecting and enhancing the soil capital. This integrated approach prescribes a judicious combination of organic and mineral fertilizers. Increased agricultural productivity through ISFM complements efforts to develop regional markets for agricultural inputs and outputs. Within this framework, IFDC and its partners focus on developing private agribusinesses to ensure timely and quality inputs at affordable prices for small farmers and reliable markets to sell their products.

The importance of an effective and reliable input market is highlighted through the experience of the farmers of Tidonti, a village in northern Togo. “Our farmers adopted a variety of tomatoes, which proved to be very productive and profitable in this area in off-season cropping,” said Kombate Ouwaridja, General Secretary of CAP, a center for self-promotion of farmers. “During the past season, the farmers were expecting high yields as usual. But as the crops were developing, they realized that the seeds they had planted were not the variety they had ordered but another that was not suitable for off-season cropping. The harvest was a real disaster. In fact, the label of the desired variety was purposely affixed over that of the wrong variety. Thus, about 400 farmers were victimized by this fraudulent practice.”

This story also highlights the need for farmers to become organized so that they can know their rights and defend their interests. For this reason, promoting institutional development has become a core component of AISSA’s objectives.

In his opening speech, a representative of the Togolese Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kokouvi Amegadjen, said, “The dynamics created by IFDC’s actions arouses much hope among our farmers. AISSA follows the dynamics of integration that is becoming prevalent in the sub-region. The Togolese government praises this initiative, which will pool efforts, skills and resources so that our countries can move from subsistence agriculture to market-oriented agriculture. This activity can provide a basis for economic growth and rural development.”

AISSA is a common name for a woman in West Africa. There is indeed an intentional link. Through this name, the network’s members acknowledge the essential role of women in African agriculture and the emphasis that the AISSA network places on gender-related issues in agricultural intensification. .

The creation of a network is not an objective in itself. “Now that AISSA is born, it is our responsibility to ensure that she has a bright future. This requires dedicated efforts and sustained commitment. We must invest ourselves to ensure the vitality and viability of our network.” These were the concluding remarks made by Dr. Victor Clottey, a researcher at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute in Ghana and a member of AISSA.

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