UN-backed investment to help farmers in Togo

A United Nations-European Union initiative to help Togo cope with high food prices and bad weather by providing seeds, fertilizers and other input for 20,000 rural farmers has produced returns that are almost double the cost.

Under the scheme, the European Union (EU) channelled €2.5 million through FAO in 2009 to help more than 20,000 Togolese farmers most affected by floods and sharp increases in food prices in 2007 and 2008 to restart production.

Two years on, FAO estimates at €4.7 million the total value of what they have produced – 9,634 tons of maize, 675 tons of rice, 85 tons of sorghum, 3,522 tons of tomatoes, 350 tons of onions and 85 tons of green chillis.

Rural Togolese were already suffering from malnutrition, exacerbated by demographic pressure and the collapse of cotton cultivation, a major cash crop. In 2006, almost 50 per cent of the population was underfed, according to figures from the UN World Food Programme.

Under the UN-EU initiative 15,000 farmers received seeds and fertilizer to grow staple crops such as maize, rice and sorghum, while 5,500 more received inputs for market gardening.

UN

Africa's ambitious return to growing ancient rice varieties

One by one, Ali Kassim pulls out the weeds that have grown in his rice paddy. It's surprisingly rare in Africa, but he is cultivating African rice - once close to extinction after it was pushed aside centuries ago for a higher-yield imported Asian variety.

Researchers hope to see more and more farmers like Kassim, who is 32 and among about 100 people in Togo's central Atakpamey region to take part in an experimental programme led by the Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice), based in neighbouring Benin.

In the small west African country, experts are seeking to change the farming habits of a whole continent by reintroducing African rice, or Oryza glaberrima, in the hope of scaling down food crises.

Cultivated for about 3,500 years and then close to extinction, African rice was abandoned by most farmers in favour of the Asian variety, Oryza sativa, which has a higher yield and has been imported for about 450 years.

But the local rice is more nutritious and researchers are currently working on ways of producing a strain with a higher yield that could enable an increase in production across the continent, which imports most of its rice.

"The principal objective is to achieve self-suffiency in Africa in rice. We are therefore giving priority to the yield, so that the new African rice can be more competitive against its Asian kin," said Moussa Sie, head of the research programme.

With production largely outdone by growing demand, Africa imports 40 percent of the rice it consumes, at the cost of 3.6 billion dollars (2.8 billion euros) in 2008, according to the Africa Rice Centre report for that year.

Africa's dependency poses risks such as during the global food crisis of 2008, when a hike in the prices of basic commodities caused food shortages and riots all over the world.

"The basic ingredients exist for another episode like the one in 2008," warned Papa Abdoulaye Seck, director general of AfricaRice, in an interview last April. "Global rice stocks are low, and El Nino threatens rice production in countries like Thailand and the Philippines. Moreover, despite significant increases in domestic cereal production in many countries during 2008 and 2009, Africa continues to depend heavily on food aid and global cereal markets for its leading food staples, rice and maize," he added.

Nevertheless, according to AfricaRice, this cereal is now the main source of food in west Africa, where its consumption has grown annually by 4.5 percent from 1961 to 2006.

The new African rice, which researchers are now testing in experimental paddies, is a mixture of the two, with a majority of African genes, according to Moussa Sie.

"The main complaints that were made against African rice were laying, which is a tendency of the plants to lie down when the grains were ripe, and shedding, when ripe grains fall off at maturity," explains Marie Noelle Ndjiondjop, a geneticist at AfricaRice. "The idea of these experimental fields is to try out different cultures in order to assess the successes and limits of our research in the field," she added.

According to Moussa Sie, "only spreading the cultivation of the new African rice can provide an appropriate response to the famine which is raging in our region."

Niger is currently hit very hard by a food crisis, with millions of people struck by drought, who have lost their harvests and their cattle, according to agencies of the United Nations.

The Africa Rice Centre pays farmers for taking part in its programme and gives them seed.

For rice-grower Ali Kassim, the first results already seem satisfactory.

"What we see is that this gives a great deal," he said. "The rice that comes out after the harvest, when it's sent to the mill to be husked, it doesn't break.

"That's the reason why we think this is a revolution for our agriculture," he said.

AFP

Togo aggressively moves against bird flu

Some 17,000 birds died or have been culled since the outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus on 9 September on three poultry farms in Agbata, located 10km east of Lome, according to Togo's livestock director, Komla Batawui.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization adviser to the government, Jacques Conforti, says the risk has been contained. “We focused on free-range poultry, and did not cull poultry in coops in the areas surrounding Agbata. This [the culling] should reduce the risk of the virus spreading to zero.”

Conforti says the disinfection has moved along quickly in the past three weeks, “We do not want to lose any time. We try to disinfect a zone in less than 24 hours before moving to the next at-risk area.” He says officials meet with farmers who point out any sick birds, cull the birds, and pay the farmers for the value of the bird, eggs or bird feed that is destroyed. Officials have paid close to US$9,000 so far to farmers to compensate them for their losses since the latest outbreak.

Togo’s Minister of Agriculture, Kossi Messan Ewovor, said this money helps the farmers step forward with their suspicions about sick birds that may carry the deadly H5N1 virus. “This is to assure the poultry farmers they have nothing to lose, and everything to gain in culling sick birds because they help keep their regions and the entire country safe.”

Alphonse Tognizoun, a poultry farmer in Agbata, said he lost more than 1,000 birds as well as some poultry feed. “I got US$4 per bird and half the value of the food for my birds that was also destroyed, or about 33 US cents per kilo. I didn’t lose eggs, but others who did were paid 6 US cents per egg.”

Following the country’s first outbreak of the virus in August 2007, the World Bank had pushed for farmer payments to encourage quick and accurate reporting, but had also cautioned officials about the difficulty of creating a fair and transparent payment programme to prevent fraudulent poultry claims.

Olga Jonas, the World Bank adviser who coordinates donor avian flu funding, had said payment schemes can be difficult to carry out because it can be hard to prove ownership for small producers in remote areas who live in the bush, far from their chicken coops.

But Togo’s livestock director, Batawui, said there was no room for bird fraud, “If we are not the ones who cull and incinerate the birds ourselves, the farmers must bring us their dead poultry. We register it and give them a receipt with their payment. No cheaters this way.”

Following the last avian flu outbreak, Togolese officials requested international donor assistance; the US$500,000 requested has just now arrived from European Union, African Union, African Development Bank, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and World Bank. Half of this money will go toward interventions at the farm-level, such as disinfecting farms, culling, and incinerating birds, while the other half is to be spent on training and equipment to help officials respond to and contain the spread.

The World Health Organization estimates the H5N1 virus has killed or led to the destruction of 150 million birds and the deaths of about 200 people worldwide since 2003.

IRIN

Togo confirms bird flu virus in poultry deaths

Togo's government has confirmed the H5N1 bird flu virus is responsible for the 10 September outbreak that killed 3,500 birds and led to the culling of an additional 1,500 others on three farms in Agbata, about 10km east of the capital.

Since its reappearance in 2003, the highly contagious virus has led to the death of millions of poultry, as well as about 200 people who were infected with the virus by sick birds, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Poultry farmer Antoine Megbeto said he is not worried because officials have killed any remaining birds that might have been infected. Immediately following the outbreak, the country's livestock director, Komla Batasse Batawui, said officials had culled the surviving birds on all three farms with sick birds.

"We are not scared," said Megbeto, "We received training starting one year ago [after the country's first H5N1 outbreak] on how to prevent the virus from spreading. Which is why as soon as I discovered the gruesome and sudden poultry deaths on my farm, I quickly alerted authorities."

But another farmer, Alphonse, is less at ease, "I am scared for my family's health. A team of doctors come around every morning to reassure us everything is well. But my family and I are nevertheless scared to eat poultry, even if they tell us that it is safe as long as it is well-cooked."

The government has promised compensation to farmers who lost birds; the farmers say no one

Shortly after the country's first H5N1 outbreak in June 2007, the government, like many of its West African neighbours, banned poultry imports from countries with confirmed cases of bird flu. But despite the ban being in place for about one year, there is still an underground market of illegal poultry imports from countries on Togo's banned list, according to local consumers.

The first bird flu cases in Togo were discovered on a farm that had received a shipment of birds from Ghana, months before Ghana's government announced a bird flu outbreak and an export ban in May 2007.

Poultry vendor and importer, Fiacre Lodonou, said his profits have slowly sunk over the past year because of the more stringent rules that have cut off his cheapest supply of poultry. "We only started business 15 years ago. Now, because of this [H5N1] virus, my sales have plummeted by more than 70 percent. I cannot even afford to order new birds now." The businessman says he fears the flu will not kill only birds, but also his business.

IRIN

Togo quarantines village in suspected bird flu case

Togo has imposed a quarantine on a southern village after a suspected outbreak of bird flu killed nearly 4,000 poultry in the small West African state, the government said on September 10.

The government's website said the sudden death of the birds at Gbata near Avepozo in the coastal Lacs prefecture indicated a possible outbreak of bird flu. Samples from the dead chickens were being sent to laboratories in Ghana and Italy to test for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the disease, the website added.

Togo, one of a string of West African countries to be hit by outbreaks of bird flu over the past two years, reported several cases last year of H5N1 avian influenza among poultry.

Togo's Agriculture and Livestock Ministry had reinforced an existing ban on the import of poultry and also tightened controls on ports, markets and frontiers with neighbours Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso, the website said.

The H5N1 strain, which has swept through bird populations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, only rarely affects people but has killed 243 out of 385 people infected globally so far, according to the World Health Organisation.

People can catch the virus from close contact with infected birds or by eating their meat if not properly prepared, but scientists fear the virus could mutate and jump between humans, threatening a much more deadly flu pandemic.

Outbreaks in Africa have raised alarm bells because epidemiologists fear the continent's widespread poverty, lack of proper veterinary and medical facilities and huge informal farming sector could allow outbreaks to go unnoticed longer, increasing the risk of the virus mutating.

Reuters

Market information by ICT trend comes to Togo

A 'Center for Commercial and Agricultural Information' (PICA) for the collection and the publication of price lists via the Internet has been launched in Togo. It will enable farmers and traders to more easily interact over prices and the availability of products.

The center is equipped with computer and Internet facilities. The information is featured on a web page with a strong integration of data and mobile technology. The center will allow producers and trader to consult in real time over prices in the ECOWAS region.

Farmers will also consult over business opportunities in the area -the availability of products and stocks, making it easier to conclude commercial transactions with partners from West Africa and beyond. The platform is also equipped with a system that makes it possible to send SMS messages.

The center will also equip farmers with packages to receive free information on mobile phones on the prices of 400 agricultural commodities in the West African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo.

Dété Yachina, the webmaster of www.tradenet.biz explained that in people will know at home or in their fields how much a product costs and where to get it if not available in one's country.

The project is supported by the regional network of information systems of market and agricultural trade in West Africa (MISTOWA). Its aims are to increase regional agricultural trade and food security by improving and linking the existing regional efforts to generate, disseminate, and make commercial use of market information.

allafrica.com

Togo confirms new cases of bird flu

Togo has discovered outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on two poultry farms near its border with Ghana and closed markets in the area to stop it spreading, said Agriculture Minister Yves Mado Nagou.

Togo, which declared its first outbreak of the most deadly strain of avian influenza in June, found new cases in the past fortnight on farms at Adetikope, 20km from the capital Lome, and Aflao, an outlying western suburb of Lome near the Ghana border, Nagou said.

Nagou said poultry on both farms had been culled, the farms placed under quarantine and all poultry markets in the country's southern coastal region - its most heavily populated - ordered to close.

Authorities hoped to re-open markets as soon as this week, he said.

Outbreaks in Africa have raised alarm bells because epidemiologists fear the continent's widespread poverty, lack of proper veterinary and medical facilities and huge informal farming sector could allow outbreaks to go unnoticed longer, increasing the risk of the virus mutating.

Several West African countries have had H5N1 outbreaks since early 2006, including Nigeria, which reported sub-Saharan Africa's first confirmed human death from the disease early this year.

IOL

Bird flu hits Togo

Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at a poultry farm in Togo, agriculture minister Yves Nagou said on June 22.

Samples from the semi-industrial farm at Sigbehoue, about 45 km east of the capital Lome, were sent for tests in neighbouring Ghana after the sudden mass death of poultry at the site.

Alertnet

Togo investigates suspected bird flu outbreak

Authorities in Togo are investigating a suspected outbreak of avian flu after the sudden mass death of poultry on a farm, the government said. An agriculture ministry statement cited by state media said test samples had been sent to a regional laboratory to determine whether the outbreak involved the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which was reported in neighbouring Ghana in May.

The investigation was focusing on a semi-industrial farm at Sigbehoue, about 45 km east of the capital Lome, where about 2,000 chickens out of a total stock of 3,000 had died in two days, the official government Website said. It quoted agriculture ministry officials as saying the remaining birds had been destroyed and the farm sealed off. If confirmed, the Sigbehoue outbreak would be the first bird flu case detected in Togo.

In May, Togo halted poultry imports from Ghana, which confirmed it had at least two outbreaks of H5N1 in farm birds.

Several countries in West Africa have detected outbreaks of the disease and the worst hit, Nigeria, reported sub-Saharan Africa's only confirmed human death from H5N1 early this year.

Reuters

Togo bans Ghanaian poultry over bird flu fears

Togo has banned poultry from neighbouring Ghana after a case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu was detected there, the agriculture ministry said. in early May, Ghana became the eighth African country to report a case of the H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry.

Some 1,700 birds were culled after the discovery.

Togo authorities asked residents to notify veterinarians of any "sudden and massive poultry or wild bird deaths" and to avoid handling dead birds. The country put a national bird flu plan into action in February 2006, including a national alert system, the formation of medical teams and
improved surveillance.

In Africa, Ghana, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria have all reported cases of H5N1 in poultry.

The World Health Organisation has warned that while humans have so far only caught the H5N1 strain of bird flu through contact with infected birds or their droppings, it could claim millions of lives if it mutates into a form that can be spread among humans.

Vibe Ghana

International demand for West African shea booms

Shea butter’s skin-soothing properties have made it a star in the global cosmetic market, where it shows up in everything from lip balm to diaper wipes to shaving cream. Recent bans on trans (chemically modified) fats in U.S. cities and leading fast-food restaurant chains have opened up new potential for shea, a natural vegetable fat found only in West and Central Africa. And as the demand for chocolate grows in prospering countries, shea is assuming greater importance as a cheaper, partial substitute for cocoa butter.

The price of cocoa butter has stayed high in recent years, making it more economical to mix in a percentage of shea butter or a comparable vegetable fat. And now the chocolate market itself is expanding as consumers in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe are better able to afford it.

Recent publicity about harmful effects of trans fats to the heart is fueling interest in shea as a potential substitute in more than just chocolate. Chicago and New York City no longer allow trans fats in their restaurants, and fast-food chains McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken Taco Bell and Starbucks have reduced or banned trans fats from their products. Shea could fill the gap, buyers say, another reason it is suddenly getting so much attention. But cautioned another international buyer, “Right now I don’t see the benefit because it is too expensive. But if that changed, it could be workable for mainstream consumption.”

Though most shea is exported as kernels, efforts are underway to process more into butter near the source to guard quality and save money on transport : It takes about three tonnes of nuts to make one tonne of butter.

In late 2006 Reuters news service reported a $20 million joint venture in Ghana between agricultural processing giant Archer Daniels Midland and Wilmar Holdings of Singapore. This year that collaboration, Ghana Specialty Fats, will begin processing up to 25,000 tonnes of shea nuts a year into butter. In Togo, Nioto (Nouvelle Industrie de Oléagineux du Togo) processes unrefined butter in partnership with IOI Loders Croklaan of the Netherlands, currently the largest buyer of shea butter in Africa.

The $4 billion natural cosmetic market continues to grow at an estimated 9% a year, with shea an increasingly vital ingredient. Bath & Body Works, L’Occitane and the Body Shop, owned by cosmetic giant L’Oreal, all have shea butter “product lines” of lotions, balms and scrubs. This market prizes premium-quality butter, including organic and handcrafted, which are said to better preserve shea’s moisturizing and regenerative qualities.

“The industry is booming," said Vanessa Adams, export business development director of West Africa Trade Hub. "Some large buyers still buy tens of thousands of tonnes of shea kernels. But more key international players are buying processed shea butter directly from Africa, and some are starting to process here. This is where we wanted to be.”

Researchers,growers bank on sustainable cocoa in Central and West Africa

Enabling African cocoa growers to sustainably continue producing and exporting their cocoa is the target of a project being conducted in Central and West Africa by the France-based Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD.) The creation of a regional network of researchers working hand-in-hand with growers is the keystone of the operation.

Global demand for cocoa is rising. Ghana and Ivory Coast account for almost 60% of world output. But maintaining African production levels may prove difficult in future, since cocoa is currently grown extensively rather than intensively. As a result, yields fall as the plantations age, compounded by lack of fertilizers and increasing parasite pressure. Once the soils in an area are degraded, farmers move on to the last remaining forest areas.

As accessible forest resources run out, cocoa production in West and Central Africa is likely to fall. Yet with 4.5 million hectares of cocoa, the sector provides a living for huge numbers of rural inhabitants in Africa; as many as six million people in Ghana alone. It is also a major source of foreign currency: in Ivory Coast, cocoa accounts for 30% of the country's total exports. Unless a viable agronomic alternative can rapidly be transferred to smallholders, the economic and social situation in these cocoa-growing zones may eventually become critical.

In response to this challenge, CIRAD researchers and their partners opted to set up an African research network. It comprises 35 researchers from 32 research and development organizations in the leading five cocoa-producing countries in Africa : Ivory Coast,Ghana, Togo, Nigeria and Cameroon.

The researchers, technicians and growers involved have primarily worked along four lines : improved cropping systems, participative breeding of cultivars either tolerant of or resistant to the diseases that affect cocoa, protection against pests and diseases, and soil fertilization.