Agricultural development

LOCATIONS

Contact: Thomas Michel
Agricultural Development Programme Manager
E-mail: thomas.michel@iecd.org

Agricultural development programme

Context

8.5 billion*. That is the number of people the world will need to feed by 2050. The agricultural sector is the biggest provider of jobs and has a crucial role to play in meeting the challenge of population growth while also tackling the challenges of climate change. Promoting a transition in favour of small-scale farming, its adaptation to climate change, food and nutritional security, and the restoration of ecosystems is what the Agricultural Development programme is all about.

* Source: UN

The vision of the programme

The IECD supports the players in the agricultural value chain and provides them with the technical and entrepreneurial skills they need to better understand their businesses. Solutions are co-constructed with them to enable them to adapt their approaches and move towards an accessible and profitable agro-ecological transition.

Identify and design support levers at the sector level

In Cameroon, the APOHN project supports the structuring of the market gardening sector and helps the farmers. In 2023, the social enterprise “Potagers de Bafou” managed to maintain its purchases from a network of 80 suppliers.

In Ivory Coast, the TAMCI project supports farmers in their transition toward agroecological practices that are environmentally friendly and income-generating. In 2023, the project trained 70 farmers in agroecology.

A four-pillars approach

Understand
Conducting a sector analysis to identify producers’ strategies and develop operation methods to help them seize new opportunities.
Test
Carrying out testing procedures in stations or with experimental producers to design and validate innovative practices’ technical and economic feasibility.
Support
Several levels of training adapted to each audience and complemented by individualized monitoring to support the adoption of new practices and meet market requirements.
Valorize
Supporting the relay producers in their marketing through social enterprises.