Benin Youth Fair

Young people from around the world are meeting in Benin to share ideas on getting the youth to stay in rural farming areas.
Zukiswa Zimela compiled this report before the opening of the workshop.
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Realise your dreams says youth leader

Tinus de Jager speaks to the head of the NGO CINC, Barbara Macon, about her success in bringing together innovators from western Africa and finding money to develop products. Macon says the key is to keep pushing to reach your goals.

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Youth fair helps entrepreneurs to network

The Global Youth Innovation Network, GYIN, recently brought 60 entrepreneurs to Benin to find ways to combat poverty. Sponsors of the event and the participants say the four-day helped the youth to build networks that will help them get closer to reaching this goal. Sam Olukoya reports from Cotonou.

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Africa’s farmers still face serious challenges

Stakeholders in agriculture from Western and Central Africa are meeting in Gabon for the 6th International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) regional forum. As Zukiswa Zimela reports, they are talking about the challenges facing smallholder farmers.

Le Gabon Renforce SA politique Agricole pour une Meilleure Autonomie

Le ministre Gabonais de l’Agriculture, Raymond Ndong Sima, nous donne un aperçu des réformes en matière de politique agricole au Gabon.

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Sao Tomé project shows great promise

Farming cocoa, coffee and pepper in Sao Tomé show promise, with interest from Europe lifting farmers’ profits. Ulrich Vital AHOTONDJI interviews Andrea Serpagli, the coordinator of the FIDA project.

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Oil discoveries hold back agriculture

Zuki Zimela reports from Libreville, Gabon: Farmers organisation say oil discoveries in Africa are holding back agricultural development.

Land is the issue in West Africa

Tinus de Jager interviews Steven Schonberger, IFAD’s Regional Economist for West and Central Africa, on the problems and success in establishing good farming practices in the region.

Invest oil money in infrastructure: IFAD

Concerns about oil money not reaching the poorest of the poor in West Africa still abound, but NGOs say issues can still be addressed. Steven Schonberger, the West and Central Africa regional economist for IFAD, told Tinus de Jager that oil money put into infrastructure could boost the agriculture in the region.

Cell phones are working for West African farmers

While many farmers in West Africa are still struggling to get information on crops and farming techniques, it seems as if more readily available information … on commodity prices and the weather … are reaching even subsistence farmers in the region.

Cameroon farmers fight infertile soil

Farmers blame infertile soil for the low food crop yields in many part of Cameroon. Aaron Yancho Kaah reports from the North-western region the country.

Farmers can grow food and bio fuels in West Africa

Tinus de Jager speaks to Hugo Verkuijl, DG of MaliBiocarburant, who produces biofuels “in a way that supplements farmers’ incomes, contributes to poverty alleviation and respects the environment”. The question is whether farmers can grow both food and fuel in Western Africa.

Traditional farmers adapt to climate change

Experts say small-scale farmers are in a better position to adapt to climate change. IPS’s Tinus de Jager interviews Andrea Serpagli, from the International Fund for Agricultural Development, on their successful programme in Sao Tome.

Partnerships make Sao Tome cocoa grow

Small farmers in Sao Tome are reaping the benefits of entering niche markets. Andrea Serpagli, a spokesperson for the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Sao Tome, told Tinus de Jager that the success of the farmers sprout from partnerships and knowledge gained from other similar projects.

Mushroom farmers bloom in Cameroon

In the NW region of Cameroon, mushrooms are a cherished delicacy, eaten by almost every household. Yet in the markets mushroom is scarce and farmer say successful cultivation is highly profitable.

Cameroon farmers plant trees for bees

Honey producers in Cameroon are looking to restore bee habitats by planting trees in areas where deforestation have left the countryside bare.

Youth grow flowers to get money

Farming flowers in slums is becoming an option for jobless youths in cities across Cameroon. Flowers and ornamental trees are planted to decorate compounds ,roadsides, lanes and tourism sites. Aaron Kaah reports.

Snails boost food, medicine production

Starting plantation farming in Cameroon in the 1980’s, and the spraying of pesticides, almost drove certain snail species to extinction. But farmers in the coastal regions of Cameroon are now cultivating the animals for food, traditional medicine and income.