Training farmers in agro-ecological practices

Dear Difteur-ses,

In 2024, the Réseau Burkinabè des Initiatives Agroécologiques set up a demonstration site for agroecological techniques in Burkina Faso. The site has been set up for the benefit of the Société Coopérative Simplifiée "Les Soldats Pompiers et Amis de la Nature, du Naturel et de l'Environnement", as part of the "Agroecology for Food Sovereignty and Adaptation to Climate Change in West Africa" project.

One year after the support and in order to maintain the link between RBIA and SCOOP SPANNE, a visit to the site was carried out by RBIA and Terre & Humanisme on March 6, in order to appreciate the level of evolution of the activities.

Over an area of 4,065 m², several activities are carried out in connection with the objectives targeted by the SCOOP, namely, to promote agroecology through the production of biointrants, and the processing and marketing of local products from the site. During this first year of activity on the site, SCOOP has been able to produce leafy and fruiting vegetables (chillies), tree seedlings in the nursery, moringa and baobab in the nutritious garden... and markets directly on site. Women from the surrounding area come to harvest moringa and baobab leaves directly from the trees, weigh the harvest and pay the SCOOP.

It is also planned to set up premises for the exhibition and sale of local food and cultural products: local delicacies, non-timber forest products from the site, traditional clothing, traditional medicine products.

A big thank you to you!

Dear difteurs,

Terre & Humanisme has supported the Association Interzone pour le Développement en Milieu Rural (AIDMR) in investing in a polyvalent ginning machine to develop an income-generating activity, while facilitating the post-harvest activities of peasant farmers. The activity involves offering cereal (particularly corn) shelling services to farmers during the harvest period.

This investment took place early 2024 as part of the PASAAO 3 project aimed at greater empowerment of Terre & Humanisme's historical partners in Burkina Faso. The very first use of the machine was in the province of Ziro, Centre-Ouest Region, where AIDMR's second agroecological farm is located, over the period from November to December 2024.

This resulted in 283 100kg bags of shelled grain: 80 bags of maize and 203 bags of sorghum benefiting 25 producers. The farmers benefit from this service in return for a payment in kind: for a 100kg bag of shelled grain, the payment in kind is around 3 yoruba dishes of grain.

A big thank you to you, dear difteurs, for your invaluable support and donations ✨

Dear difteurs,

Farmers' training involves, in particular, peer-to-peer exchanges of practice. Thanks to your difts, an exchange and experience-sharing visit was organized between the NGO ORGIIS Ghana and our local partners in Burkina Faso in September 2024.

During this mission, facilitated by Terre & Humanisme's technical and financial coordinator in Burkina Faso, the delegation was able to exchange with the Conseil National de l'Agriculture Biologique (CnaBio), visit the Béo-Nèré agroecological farm, the production site of women supported by the Association Lutte Contre la Pauvreté (ALCP), and explore some weekly markets for organic produce in Ouagadougou.

The aim of this exchange trip was to discover the territorial approach adopted by players in Burkina Faso in promoting agroecology. The strong point noted during the mission was the synergy of action between the various players in the agroecology and organic farming value chain including producers, the certification structure, commercial partners, the ministry in charge of agriculture, etc.

The delegation left satisfied with the experience, and the NGO ORGIIS Ghana hopes to continue and consolidate relations with actors in Burkina Faso to promote agroecology.

Terre et Humanisme and its local partners in Togo are raising farmers' awareness of agroecological alternatives, while promoting events such as the Weeks of Alternatives to Pesticides.
A training session was run by the host structures in partnership with the Plant Protection Directorate (DPV) for 100 agricultural producers covering the legal framework for pesticide management and the negative impacts of synthetic chemical pesticide use on ecosystem services.The aim of the training session was to raise awareness among farmers of the various agroecological alternatives to the use of chemical inputs, and to encourage them to adopt biopesticides.

In order to welcome more biodiversity to our place of transmission to peasant agroecology, the Noria farm, our teams, trainees and volonTerres have begun work to create a pond.