Encouraging Agriculture in the Nord and Nord-Est Departments

Beneficiary farmers received the quality seeds they needed to develop their plots (corn, pigeon peas, cassava and potato cuttings, yam seedlings, ginger rhizomes).

The support they received throughout the project also included a soil preparation service (ploughing), a subsidy for sowing and training sessions on the main crops on offer, to enhance their technical skills. These workshops covered both new and improved production techniques (e.g. ridge cropping for cassava and ginger) and pest control (e.g. control of potato and maize pests).

In addition, to ensure that they had adequate, quality basic tools and could continue to work beyond the end of the project, kits comprising four tools (hoe, machete, pickaxe and shovel) were given to them in the form of a success bonus. Lastly, extension workers were trained to pass on information to farmers, both in environmental terms (introduction of more environmentally-friendly techniques) and commercial terms (advice on how to better penetrate local markets and increase income).

To achieve these objectives, CECI worked closely with local populations, taking the time to understand current agricultural practices in the target communities. The aim was, on the one hand, to build on existing best practices and, on the other, to avoid creating dependency on external support. The notion of sustainability was put forward throughout the project, both in terms of local ownership of the actions carried out and the implementation of the notion of gender equality in practices.