Central Africa

Impact Stories

Climate Change and Conflict in Chad - Using P3DM to secure peace

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, with support from CTA, facilitates participatory three-dimensional modelling (P3DM) events to help settle disputes over land and resource ownership between the local and indigenous communities in the district of Baïbokoum, Chad.

Agri-Food Forum looks to the future

The 2015 Caribbean Pacific Agri-Food Forum, held in Barbados, focused on many of CTA’s priority interventions for the regions. There was a strong emphasis on impact. In Africa, CTA has been encouraging greater intra-regional trade, and we played a prominent role in two important conferences in Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda.

Strengthening resilience, greening the desert

An African alliance to combat desertification is improving food security, through tree planting and farmer-managed natural regeneration. Across Africa, the threats of desertification and land degradation are always present, especially in the Sahel and the southern edge of the Sahara. Poverty and hunger are a constant prospect. In response, farmers and communities in dryland areas are developing ways to sustainably manage.

Building better markets to increase farmers’ resilience

Dairy farmers in Eastern Africa are growing their income, thanks to a program that helps develop skills, strengthens links to markets, and improves access to financial services. Productivity and incomes have increased; monthly milk intake at the dairy enterprises increased from 529,000 litres to 8 million litres between 2008 and 2013. Milk aggregation at the dairy enterprises has empowered farmers to negotiate for better prices.

Blog articles

Boosting pineapple cultivation in Cameroon

Mukete Estates Limited, an agri-food company in Cameroon, produces a range of products from cocoa to rubber, and more recently, with the help of an agricultural support programme, pineapples.

AFDB approves $280m to support Nigerian youths in agriculture

The President of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says the $280 million approved by the bank would be used to encourage Nigerian youths to go into agro-business. Adesina, represented by Dr Chiji Ojukwu, a Director in AFDB, stated this on Tuesday in Ibadan at the African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) Forum organised by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

in Spore

Jean Marie Kameni / Cameroon: Sound investment brings good returns

As a young man growing up in rural Cameroon, Jean Marie Kameni knew that his future lay in launching some form of agribusiness. But his plans lacked one basic ingredient – the technical knowledge to ensure that his crops thrived.

Transforming smallholder farming through remote sensing

The STARS project explores ways to use remote sensing technology to improve agricultural practices of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with the aim to advance their livelihoods. "STARS" stands for Spurring a Transformation for Agriculture through Remote Sensing.

in ICTUpdate

The challenge of comparing crop imagery over space and time

Imagery collected by drones can help agricultural experts identify the causes of low crop productivity. But the technology must be adapted to determine different crop varieties from multispectral images. And problems of image calibration must be resolved.

News

European Development Days 2017: Inclusive trade in Africa

Supporting the realisation of Simplified Trade Regimes (STRs) is part of CTA’s activities in trade facilitation. To further this and other conversations, CTA is co-organising four events during this year’s European Development Days in Brussels. Promoting inclusive trade in Africa: Boosting cross border trade through simplified trade regimes [1] will take place on 7 June as part of the Sustainable Investment theme.

From farm to TV: watch the stories of 14 African women entrepreneurs

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, CTA is pleased to showcase the work of young women involved in agribusiness. The stories narrated in these videos have been identified and elaborated by our partner Agribusiness TV. Happy International Women Day to all women involved in agriculture in ACP countries!

Sowing innovation, harvesting prosperity: CTA's Strategic Plan 2016-2020

The world does not stand still, and neither does CTA. CTA's Strategic Plan 2016-2020 is a way-station on a road of continuous change that has seen CTA become a results-based organisation closely aligned with the priorities of the ACP countries it serves.

Final recommendations and procedure for the finalisation of the road map

The Regional Forum on Cassava in Central Africa – Challenges and opportunities for smallholders ended on Friday 9 December 2016. Here are the Forum’s final recommendations as well as the description of the finalisation procedure for a road map.

Building climate-resilient cereal and livestock farming in southern Africa

Climate change poses a critical challenge to cereal and livestock farmers in southern Africa. More frequent failure of the annual wet season to deliver adequate rain endangers the food security, nutrition and incomes of up to 6 million people in rural households. Drought this year has already led four southern African countries to declare national emergencies.

Communiqués

10,000 smallholders to benefit in new Central African cassava project

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), together with the Regional Platform for Central African Producers Organisations (PROPAC) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has launched this week in Kinshasa a new project to unlock the economic potential in cassava value chains in both DRC and Cameroon.

Cashing in on cassava - a strategic crop for Central Africa

Of all the crops grown in Central Africa, cassava has the strongest potential to increase food security, generate greater benefits for farmers from value addition and foster regional trade. A Regional Forum on Cassava in Central Africa - Challenges and opportunities for smallholders will examine how to develop a regional value chain that can tap into these opportunities, creating jobs and income for a large number of people.

Opening Statement by Michael Hailu, Director of CTA

Opening statement delivered by Michael Hailu, Director of CTA, at the Blending4Ag conference, on Monday 7 November. The Blending4Ag conference is taking place in Brussels and is focusing on the strategic use of international and national development finance and philanthropic funds to mobilise private capital flows into agricultural value chains in developing countries.

Opinion articles

Will young people be attracted to the agricultural sector if access to finance is made possible?

Will young people be attracted to the agricultural sector if access to finance is made possible? Will they be willing to involve themselves in agriculture? According to Mike Njau, the answer is yes.

Interviews

Farmers need to organise

For Theo de Jager, president of the Pan-African Farmers’ Organization, mechanising agriculture in Africa calls for farmers, especially women, to join together and organise in cooperatives, to be able to access modern equipment.

in ICTUpdate

Farms could become the offices of the future

Interview with Michael Oluwagbemi, co-founder and executive partner at LoftyInc Allied Partners and operator of the Wennovation Hub based in Lagos, Nigeria.

A voice for women farmers

A farmer herself, Elisabeth Atangana is passionate about the need for effective associations to give a voice to producers and the importance of acknowledging women’s contribution to agriculture. She has been instrumental in shaping the farmers’ movement in her native Cameroon, as well as at regional and continental levels.

Reviews

CTA Handbook: An ICT Agripreneurship Guide

This Handbook provides a step-by-step roadmap designed to equip aspiring ICT entrepreneurs, with the information and knowledge they need to start an ICT-based business in the agricultural sector, outlining key opportunities and challenges that will be encountered along the way. Using real-life examples, it provides strategies and pathways for averting common mistakes faced by early-stage entrepreneurs.

New directions for targeted outcomes

While reflecting on its 30-year history during its anniversary year in 2014, CTA was also busy making plans for the future. CTA's goal is to contribute to enhanced agricultural and rural development policies and inclusive value chains that promote food and nutrition security, prosperity and sustainable management of natural resources across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).

Technical and scientific articles

A smart farming approach to agriculture

Precision agriculture promises better returns to investment and improved livelihoods for farmers around the world. One of the biggest changes in agriculture in our lifetimes, it is spreading to developing countries, where smart farming technologies, including data collected from satellites and drones, are set to fine tune the way farmers grow their crops.

in ICTUpdate

Gender and open data: Is there an app for that?

Wouldn’t it be handy if you could just switch on that app and see the agricultural (or any other) sector through a gender lens? And what if everyone else also working in the agricultural sector just magically started to use it? Would it make us do things differently, collect different data, push for the release and visualisation of other types of datasets, or would we make sure the data were more equally accessed and used?

Background articles

Making the most of cassava

in Spore

Pepper certification secures farmer incomes in Cameroon

A geographical indication label for a unique variety of pepper in Cameroon is improving the incomes of local farmers and ensuring the long-term future of the product. Recognition of the pepper’s quality and economic importance means it is one of only three African commodities with such a label.

Boosting cross-border trade through simplified trade regimes

One of the many challenges that Africa faces in expanding its own regional trade is the application of poor trade facilitation measures, including uncoordinated border management practices. These, unfortunately, contribute to Africa’s low intra-trade levels and cross-border trade.

About CTA

Regions

Follow us