A partnership between the USAID-funded Agribusiness and Trade Promotion (ATP) project and CropLife Africa Middle East was set up last year to help farmers in the West African region to strengthen their agricultural input–output chains, in turn improving the livelihoods of the rural populations.

The programme involves sharing knowledge of sustainable farming practices, building business links to ensure farmers have access to agricultural inputs, and raising awareness of the need for ensuring that only quality agricultural products are supplied to the market.

In 2010, the project has started running five-day Integrated Pest Management (IPM) ‘training-of-trainer’ workshops, which are intended to create a greater awareness among farmers of the impact of poor soil fertility and pests, including storage pests. The workshops cover pest and disease control measures, promoting the correct usage of crop protection products. Participants at the workshops are then encouraged to go back and share their knowledge on IPM with other farmers to help boost their production. Such interventions aim at ensuring food security by supplying the food chain with healthy, affordable and varied diets and by transforming subsistence agriculture into small-scale enterprises.

Since April 2008, the ATP project has worked in West Africa to increase the value and volume of intra-regional agricultural trade in order to stimulate the region’s own marketplace. The ATP project was established under the framework of the US President’s Initiative to End Hunger in Africa and currently covers six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo.

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In remote areas of many developing countries, lack of access to telecommunications means that farmers either struggle to keep up-to-date market and agronomic information, or they are forced to spend time and money in travelling to access this information, taking away from the already scarce time they have to work on the farm.

Wireless Reach is a scheme that aims to bridge communications gaps such as these, by bringing wireless technology to developing communities around the world.  The project, run by international telecommunications company Qualcomm, not only connects rural communities to the outside world but also offers a source of livelihood for those involved.

One of Wireless Reach’s latest projects has been to partner with the Grameen Foundation to determine the feasibility of introducing wireless phones in Indonesia.

The idea is simple and has already been successful in several other countries. A micro-loan is offered to a local person whose community has no telephone connection.  This person then uses the loan to acquire a village phone kit and service plan, taking on the role of Village Phone Operator (VPO).  The rest of the community can then purchase minutes from the VPO: they benefit from access to affordable telecoms service, whilst the VPO is able to manage a sustainable ICT business.

Thanks to initiatives like this, more farmers are accessing information about weather, crops and pest control from their own remote villages, so that they can make better-informed farming decisions. Furthermore, being kept up to date with market information allows farmers to receive accurate pricing information and market their crops to buyers.

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