[Français ci-dessous] In Nigeria, the fifth and last conference organized by the caravan team took place at the headquarters of IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) in Ibadan, with the participation of the ministry of agriculture, academics from IITA and universities, extensionists, farmers’ representatives and NGOs. We have also offered open classes in a high…
[Français ci-dessous] The fifth and last conference organized by the food systems caravan took place in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) conference hall in Ibadan, Nigeria. The conference had around 100 participants and counted with the presence of representatives from the: IITA; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Oyo State Ministry of…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan team visited the Dominican Centre for Human Resources Development in Ibadan, which is developing a 30 hectare eco-organic farm inspired by the Songhai project’s integrated agroecological model in Benin. A session about sustainable agriculture was organized in the centre, where members of the caravan team and invited guests gave short presentations…
[Français ci-dessous] Around 30 students from the Lead City International School in Jericho, Ibadan, participated in the open class organized by the caravan team, along with two of their teachers. The presentations focused on the need of changing our food systems and making them more sustainable through the application of agroecological principles and taking into…
[Français ci-dessous] Benin is a beautiful and laid back country and the hospitality of its people made it hard for us to leave! Our team was lucky to have the support of a great local team working at INRAB (Institut National de Recherche Agricole du Bénin). We were fascinated by the number of agroecology related…
The caravan team has met and interviewed Professor Jeanne Zoundjihekpon, leader of the ecological genetics laboratory at the Abomey-Calavi University and active member of Federation of Agroecology of Benin (FAEB). Professor Jeanne spoke of the importance of agro-biodiversity and the threats that the corporate promotion of GMO seeds represent for local food systems. Professor Jeanne…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan visited the remarkable Songhai project, in Porto-Novo, Benin. Also referred as the Songhai movement by its founder and director, Godfrey Nzamujo, the project has become one of the main references in West Africa in what comes to the development of endogenous agroecological approaches adapted to local food systems, through merging modern…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan passed in the communities of Aplahoe and Bohicon, in Benin, to visit farmers working with the project Insect as Feed for West Africa (IFWA). In the last five years, IFWA’s transdisciplinary team has developed, tested and disseminated sustainable techniques to produce insects to feed poultry and fish, such as the production…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan team gave an open class about agroecology and the contributions of research for development to make food systems more sustainable at the University of Abomey-Calavi, in Cotonou, Benin. The class counted with the presence of around 45 students from agronomy and food sciences but also other disciplines such as engineering. Four…
[Français ci-dessous] The fourth conference organized by the food systems caravan and our local partners INRAB and the IFWA project was held in Cotonou, Benin. The event counted with the participation of around 80 academic and non-academic actors, such as representatives from NGOs, the private sector and public institutions. The title of the conference was…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan visited the inspiring Obrobibini Peace Complex, nicely nested in the lush hills next to Busua, a coastal village in Ghana. The learning centre of the association is surrounded by a productive agroforestry system, designed according to the principles of dynamic/syntropic agroforestry and aims at setting an example for the region as…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan’s period in Ghana was very inspiring! We crossed different climatic zones, from the drier savannah in the north to the rainforests in the South West, and many different cultures with their own architecture, food and traditions. Before we continue to Benin, we would like to briefly summarize our Ghana stage! On…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan visited a group of farmers working with the organic resource management for soil fertility project (ORM4Soil), which is testing the effects of organic inputs on yields and soil fertility. A group of around 20 farmers from Kade, in the eastern region of Ghana, is using three local organic resources which were…
[Français ci-dessous] Some participants of the food systems caravan conference in Accra went on an excursion to the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant, a public-private partnership started in 2012. The participants were able to see how urban organic residues, mainly from households, are separated at the facility in order to produce compost. Plastic and metal…
[Français ci-dessous] The third whole day conference organized by the food systems caravan took place in the campus of the University of Ghana, in Accra, and had as a title “Transforming Food Systems in Ghana: The potential of Agroecology in times of climate and biodiversity crisis”. The conference counted with the presence of around 70…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan was warmly welcomed by the rural communities of Durbar and Kalbeo, near Bolgatanga, for a couple of sessions dedicated to traditional food which counted with a degustation of around 15 indigenous food dishes. The activities marked the World Food Day, which celebrates the founding date of FAO of the United Nations,…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan visited the Bolgatanga Girls Highschool and gave an open class in the big assembly of the school, for around 1000 students. The class was also attended by some teachers, and focused on the topic of sustainable food systems and its contextualization concerning global complex problems such as climate change, biodiversity crises…
[Français ci-dessous] We participated in a small conference at the Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies (MITDS), attended by 55 students and academics, about the contributions of research for the development of rural areas. Professor David Millar shared some insights from the r4d FoodSAF project, including a newly developed barometer for the assessment of…
See you Burkina! Welcome to Ghana [Français ci-dessous] The Burkina Faso stage of the caravan is over! We just crossed the border at Paga to Ghana, with the landscape remaining very similar, but English is now the official language. It was a remarkable period in Burkina Faso, with great team work, knowledge sharing, inspiring experiences…
[English below] La caravane a rencontré une vingtaine d’agriculteurs impliqués dans le projet Yamsys (systèmes d’ignames), près de Léo, pour partager quelques idées sur deux projets du R4D – ORM4Soil et IFWA – et pour se renseigner sur leurs expériences avec Yamsys. Les ignames sont une culture traditionnelle en Afrique de l’Ouest, importante pour la…
[Français ci-dessous] In the training center of Tiipaalga, we could see what happens after letting the local ecosystem regenerate after 10 years of fencing, to protect the spontaneous vegetation from the wandering goats and cattle of the nearby village. The association created a truly green oasis where diverse native species could grow, using different soil…
[English below] Les ignames sont une culture très importante pour la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique de l’Ouest, mais les méthodes traditionnelles de production impliquent généralement le défrichage et une diminution rapide de la fertilité des sols. Le projet Yamsys vise à accroître la durabilité des systèmes d’ignames au Burkina Faso et en Côte d’Ivoire grâce…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan spent the day in the field with the Tiipaalga and NewTree associations, to meet some of the farmers benefiting from their agro-ecological interventions, one hour north of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. We were also joined by students and representatives of Global Water Partnership, INERA and Echo. We visited villages where women…
[English below] Nous sommes actuellement au Burkina Faso et notre conférence sur l’agroécologie et la durabilité des systèmes alimentaires se déroule à Ougadougou. L’objectif de cette conférence est de promouvoir le dialogue sur l’agro-écologie et de promouvoir les liens entre la science et la pratique. Tout au long de la matinée, nous avons eu des…
[Français ci-dessous] Today the food systems caravan teamed up with the association ARAOERC in Banfora to create a small food forest with local students in a vacant public land owned by the town hall. Trees such as mango, avocado, cherimoya, cacao, fig tree, papaya, tamarind, cashew as well as other useful indigenous trees and bushes…
[English Below] La caravane a été très bien accueillie par les agriculteurs de Siniena, dont beaucoup utilisent les innovations du projet « Insect as feed for West Africa » (IFWA) pour nourrir leurs animaux de manière plus durable. Ces agriculteurs utilisent des techniques novatrices pour piéger les termites et produire des larves de mouches pour l’alimentation des volailles,…
[English below] Nous avons passé l’après-midi avec une quarantaine d’étudiants de l’Université Nazi Boni de Bobo-Dioulasso, principalement dans les domaines de l’agronomie, de la foresterie, de l’élevage, de la nutrition et de l’extension agricole. Les présentations de trois projets du r4d – ORM4soil, Yamsys et IFWA – ont fourni un terrain fertile pour une discussion…
[English below] Ce matin, nous avons tenu un séminaire scientifique à l’Université Nazi-Boni de Bobo-Dioulasso avec le carreau “Recherche et innovation pour des systèmes alimentaires durables”. Les thèmes de l’agroécologie, de l’agronomie, de l’innovation et du développement étaient bien représentés dans l’auditoire d’une trentaine de chercheurs de l’université Nazi-Boni et d’autres instituts de recherche locaux,…
[English below] L’étape malienne de la caravane est terminée ! C’était une semaine de course rapide et complète, avec une équipe formidable. Un grand merci à tous ! Il a trop souvent été difficile de se connecter à Internet et de rendre compte de nos progrès, mais les activités et les événements se développent très…
[English below] Les systèmes agroforestiers favorisent la croissance de différentes espèces, même lorsqu’elles ne vivent pas dans leur zone climatique préférée. Malgré que le théier (Camelia sinensis) préfère des conditions plus humides et plus fraîches que celles du sud du Mali, nous avons trouvé un système agroforestier surprenant avec du thé poussant à l’ombre de…
[Français ci-dessous] This morning we held a science seminar at the Research Institute of Rural Economy(IER/CRRA), in Sikasso, south Mali. Around 30 researchers from IER attended a presentation of Dr. Fernand Sankara, a researcher from the IFWA project based at the University of Nazi-Boni in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. The presentation was titled “sustainable use of…
[English below] Aujourd’hui, la caravane a rencontré les agriculteurs très engagés de Zoumana Diassa, non loin de Sikasso, dans le sud du Mali. Le projet ORM4Soil a co-développé des essais agroforestiers avec 15 agriculteurs du village pour tester l’impact de systèmes agroforestiers conçus intentionnellement utilisant l’arbre fixateur d’azote Gliricidia sepium. Les agriculteurs se sont dits très satisfaits…
Aujourd’hui, dans les champs près de Sikasso, au sud du Mali, nous avons rencontré des agriculteurs qui récoltaient du coton dans les champs. Le coton est la culture de rente la plus importante au Mali et l’une des plus importantes en Afrique de l’Ouest. Néanmoins, elle est très exigeante en termes de fertilité des sols…
[English below] “Les gens prennent de plus en plus conscience de l’importance du compost” dit Amadou Niane, propriétaire de la grande pépinière “Bassi Yirini” à Bamako : Une petite oasis verte entourée de deux routes principales au milieu de Bamako. L’installation vend des arbres indigènes multi-usage pour l’agroforesterie et les jardins familiaux, en plus de…
[Français ci-dessous] The caravan was hosted by the farmers of the village of Mafeya today, where we visited a few agroforestry trials set up by the ORM4Soil project. These agroforestry systems were co-designed by farmers and researchers and consist in the intercropping of Gliricidia sepium with maize and sorghum. The Gliricidia trees fix nitrogen and…
[Français ci-dessous] The first conference organized by the Food Systems Caravan just started! It is taking place at the French Institute and has around 100 participants, including academics, policy makers, representatives of farmers’ organisations, NGOs and the private sector. The conference is presided by Maiga Assitan Niere, representative of the ministry of scientific research and…
La caravane des systèmes alimentaires comence!Nous avons atterri directement à Bamako hier et Tiken Jah Fakoly nous a reçu. Il est un grand lion de la musique reggae, concerné par l’évolution sociale, polititique en Afrique de l’Ouest qui joue de la musique “pour réveiller les consciences”.
