PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ketline Adodo
DATE: November 20, 2001
IFDC-Africa
Strengthens Peasant and Farmers’ Organizations
Lome, Togo--"A
peasant organization must be endowed with a solid management
structure and a viable economic foundation," says M. Oumar
Sekou Tall, President of the Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d’Agriculture
du Mali (APCAM) and first African President of the Federation
Internationale des Producteurs Agricoles (FIPA). "It should
also be focused on a single product or a group of commodities and
firmly implanted in its area of intervention to be able to provide
efficient services to its members."
The Federation
President participated in a regional training program workshop
organized by IFDC-Africa in Lome, Togo, during October 23-25, 2001.
This program, which was organized within the framework of the
Dutch-financed project entitled Favorable Socioeconomic and Policy
Environments for Soil Fertility Improvement (FASEPE), brought
together more than forty representatives of peasant organizations
(PO) and chambers of agriculture (CA) from four West African
countries. They met to discuss ways to "strengthen the
capacities of leaders of peasant organizations in the area of input
supply and distribution systems and marketing of agricultural
produce."
In most developing
countries after Government withdrawal, peasant and rural
organizations must play an increasingly central role in agricultural
and rural development. This movement is rapidly expanding in
response to the need for a professional agriculture. Producers must
be able to act as enlightened entrepreneurs and to develop their
negotiating power. The level and intensity of participation confirm
the timeliness and appropriateness of this program offered by IFDC-Africa.
The main objective of the program was to identify problems, needs,
and expectations in terms of support and training to plan future
actions.
In his opening
address on behalf of the Director of IFDC-Africa, Dr. Arno Maatman
Head of the Input Accessibility Program, stressed the need for a
participatory approach to reach an integrated agricultural
intensification, which implies not only the development of
appropriate technologies but also solid policy and institutional
frameworks including a sustainable agricultural input distribution
system. After welcoming the participants, Dr. Kofi Debrah, Head of
the Policy and Market Development Program, emphasized the importance
of this initiative, which should lead to the strengthening of a
vital link in the agricultural production chain at national and
regional levels.
The program
included field visits to observe input supply and distribution
systems and sites where integrated soil fertility management was
being implemented, particularly in the vegetable-growing sector. An
important aspect was a visit to the fertilizer-blending plant at the
port of Lome. This afforded the participants the opportunity to make
business contacts for direct purchases of the inputs.
The themes
developed and issues discussed led to the identification of some
topics to consider, which should orient future training programs:
- Clarification of
the functions of the different types of peasant organizations
- Definition of
roles and responsibilities of POs in supplying inputs
- Mechanisms to
facilitate access to agricultural inputs
- Measures to
reduce middlemen’s margins and ways of redistributing returns
from economy of scale
- Regional
cooperation to lower input supply cost
Emphasis was placed
on the importance of information and communication to target markets
and the urgent need for POs and CAs to receive training and have
access to new information tools and technologies. "Training,
information and communication are key elements for efficiency of
peasant organizations: training to succeed in conducting activities;
information to position oneself; and communication to keep in touch
with other partners," explains Bassiaka Dao, another
participant from the Fédération des Professionnels Agricoles of
Burkina Faso.
Participants
formulated some recommendations including :
- Institutionalization
of an annual or biannual forum to assess new developments in the
private sector and PO/CA
- Collaboration
between IFDC-Africa and PO/CA to obtain necessary financing for
training programs
- IFDC-Africa’s
support in developing mechanisms to transfer knowledge acquired
by leaders of POs and CAs at the grassroots level.
Return
to What's New?
|
