Suchergebnisse

The concept of sustainable agriculture aims to address the drawbacks of conventional agriculture by employing a systems approach. A systems perspective is essential to un- derstanding sustainability, by giving the tools to explore the interconnections between the social and ecological system of the farming environment. In recent decades, a range of sustainable agriculture practices (such as soil and water conservation, intercropping and the use of organic inputs) have been promoted by many development actors in Burkina Faso in order to adapt to the increasing environmental and climatic variability. Farmers Organisations (FOs) are portrayed as key drivers in this process; due to their position as an intermediary organisation between rural farmers and institutions. Several studies have been done with regard to the role of Farmers Organisations (FOs) in agricultural and rural development, but little is known on how they position themselves in the sustainable agriculture paradigm. This research addresses this gap and explores the diversity of FOs involved in sustainable agriculture practices in Burkina Faso, in order to build a typology based on their position into this paradigm. It consisted of case studies of twenty FOs by using a triangulation of research methods: document analysis, observa- tion, surveys and in-depth interviews. The main indicator for the definition of sustainable practices of FOs' members is the integration of ecological principles into agricultural ma- nagement in order to reduce dependency on external inputs and/or increase the productive capacity of their farming system. The findings show that, FOs can have three main position regarding the sustainable agri- culture paradigm: minor position (sustainable practices concern a few farmers), average position (sustainable practices vary per types of crops grown) and major position (where sustainable practices are the dominant system for the majority of farmers). Further, the results indicate that the degree of involvement of FOs in the sustainable practices varies according to their origin. FOs with internal origins are much more involved in the sustaina- ble practices as compared to those with the external origins. This point to the need to look at the potential roles that these FOs could provide to their members in the promotion of sustainable practices.

Agroecology has been recognized as a paradigm that can offer multiple ecological and socio-economic benefits. In many developing countries, the promotion of agroecology is facilitated by intermediary organizations such as Farmers' Organizations (FOs). Detailed studies on how FOs support their farmers in the adoption of agroecology innovations are still scarce, and particularly there are limited studies on the roles of FOs in this realm in Africa. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a study on how FOs stimulate farmers' adoption of agroecological innovations in Burkina Faso. Three case studies of FOs were done to unravel the ways FOs support of farmers' adoption of agroecological innovations processes, using the lens of innovation intermediaries. The findings show that FOs fulfil both knowledge and innovation intermediation functions in the process of stimulating their farmers' adoption of agroecological innovations. By doing this, FOs act as a facilitator for the introduction and/or development of complementary agroecological innovations over longer periods of time. Future studies could look more deeply into how intermediation may contribute to broader transitions and how it connects with the political activities of FOs such as advocacy and lobbying.

Cameroon has been producing palm oil for centuries but industrial scale production started around 1907 under the German colonisation with the development of estates and mills around the Littoral region (Sanaga-Maritime). The country's production of palm oil can be grouped into traditional (artisanal) and industrial milling. The production is stratified in three groups: an agro-industrial sector, smallholders in contract with agro-industries and traditional independent smallholders also called artisanal sector. Smallholders with less than 5 ha of oil palm represent more than 75% of oil palm growers but provide only half of the production due to very low yields. Despite the presence of these three groups, the national production is not sufficient to cover the domestic consumption. The government considers the oil palm sector (both artisanal and industrial) as an important tool to alleviate poverty and to generate national revenues. This paper analyses the operation of smallholding oil palm value chain in the Department of Sanaga-Maritime. Data were collected trough field survey that involved distribution of pre-structured questionnaires to a sample of 60 actors purposively selected. The data collected through these questionnaires were analysed using Olympe software. The study reveals that, oil palm smallholding value chain is made up of three categories of farmers: family farms, rural and urban investors. The average margins of farmers are higher for the plantation of urban investors, followed by those of the rural investor and the family farms. Family farmers are the actors who process all their produce into red palm oil, whereas, the rural investor and urban elites do not process their produce. They rather sell their nuts, either to local artisanal millers or to the local agro industry. Two types of artisanal millers have been identified: manual vertical press users and combined motorized horizontal press users. In general, the motorized horizontal presses have a higher production capacity (tons/day) than the manuals presses. The study also reveals that the extraction rate slightly differs according to the type of press used.

Land grabbing usually refers to the controversial acquisition of a piece of land. As such it is a social concept. It deals with social and cultural use of and access to land, and with land tenure, including customary and legal rights. If we accept this definition, land grabbing cannot apply to a piece of land free of legitimate claim. However, projects associated with large-scale deforestation are often qualified as land grabs, without any reference to the social characteristics of the land and the project. The concept has been used since 2000 to target foreign investments in developing countries in agriculture, forestry, mining or infrastructure sectors. Can large-scale land acquisitions be analyzed within the land grab framework? Several indicators were selected and applied to a large sample of agro-industrial concessions in Cameroon, Gabon, DRC and RC. These indicators include historical occupation of land, customary rights, legal land tenure status, Free Prior and Informed Consent. There have been several periods of important investments in Central Africa which have affected land tenure, access and use in various manners. But agribusiness companies are not the only stakeholders competing for land and national elites should not be overlooked.

Un groupe de travail a été nommé par le Ministre de l'Agriculture et du Développement Rural (MINADER) pour définir une stratégie de développement durable de la filière palmier à huile au Cameroun. Les auteurs du présent rapport participent à ce groupe de travail. Le présent rapport est un document de travail qui vise à apporter des informations objectives et synthétiques sur l'état de la filière en 2013. Il repose sur un travail soutenu d'enquêtes sur le terrain, de réunions et d'ateliers participatifs avec les acteurs et experts de la filière conduits de 2012 à 2014 et sur une revue de la littérature.