L’Agriculteur Africain comme un Gestionnaire de Production (1ère Partie)
En Afrique subsaharienne, 85% des pauvres se retrouvent dans les zones rurales et vivent essentiellement de l’agriculture . Ce qui signifie que la croissance agricole est un facteur déterminant de la réduction de la pauvreté. Ce que nous constatons aujourd’hui, c’est que les agriculteurs dans cette partie de l’Afrique continuent de produire seulement pour des fins de subsistance.
Ceci explique la préférence des États africains (qui sont souvent sans vision de production agricole) à importer des denrées alimentaires . Cela fait pitié , pitié car le continent possède suffisamment de ressources (en hommes , terres et eau) pour produire à l’échelle continentale les besoins alimentaires de tous les Africains.
La flambée des prix internationaux des denrées alimentaires de 2008, la crise économique internationale , les changements climatiques sont peut être les trois défis majeurs qui nous interpellent aujourd’hui , afin de prendre conscience de l’urgence de remettre l’agriculture au cœur de notre développement.
Il est très important aujourd’hui que l’Agriculteur africain commence à se considérer comme un gestionnaire d’un système de production cohérent pour accroître significativement la productivité agricole tout en enrayant la dégradation des ressources naturelles.
Le but de cet article est d’aider ceux qui veulent se lancer dans le busines agricole à voir une idée du système de production dans ce domaine. La présentation se fera à partir du petit schéma : « Nature d’une production ».
Le but d’une production agricole est de fournir en bonnes quantités des denrées alimentaires avec une qualité requise et à un coût raisonnable. Ceci doit se faire à un endroit précis et à l’heure souhaité par le client. Pour réaliser cela le gestionnaire de production a besoin de développer une méthode de production qui lui permettra aussi d’augmenter ses revenues.
D’abord le schéma nous montre des Intrants qui ont subi une transformation dans une boite « Transformation » pour fournir de Produits. Les intrants désignent tous les produits nécessaires au fonctionnement de l’exploitation agricole. Le producteur doit acheter ces intrants sur le marché extérieur. Cela inclut les semences, les engrais, les produits phytosanitaires, le matériel , les équipements etc. Un producteur qui veut avoir un bon profit doit se procurer des intrants à temps de telle façon qu’il soit prêt à semer ou planter au bon moment. Ceci aide aussi le producteur à éviter certains coûts inutiles.
Ensuite ces intrants passent par la boîte de « Transformation ». C’est là que le producteur doit faire preuve d’ingéniosité. Il utilise des ressources humaines
(main-d’œuvre) pour pouvoir transformer des intrants en produits finis, grâce aux machines, aux outils, et aux informations qu’il a, à sa disposition. Son savoir –faire joue un rôle très important à ce niveau. Il conçoit là un système de production qui puisse l’aider à maximiser son profit tout en satisfaisant les travailleurs et respectant la nature. Il peut se poser certaines questions à savoir : Quel type de système ai-je besoin ? Quels sont les machines nécessaires et comment les arranger ? Comment puis je mettre sur pied des procédures de contrôle de la qualité de mes produits finis ?
Les réponses à ces questions lui sont très utiles.
Enfin, à la fin de ce processus de transformation, nous avions des « Produits » finis qui sont utilisables par les Hommes. Ces produits finis sont dans un premier temps stockés dans un magasin et ensuite commercialisés. La commercialisation des produits agricoles permet de réaliser leur transfert de leur lieu de production au lieu de consommation . C’est là où rentre en jeu le facteur transport très important dans un système de production agricole. La réaction des consommateurs vis-à-vis du produit fini permettra au producteur d’améliorer son système de production pour une meilleure qualité.
Tout ce processus du système de production se réalise dans un environnement social , économique et politique. L’agriculteur en tant que gestionnaire de production doit donc s’informer de tous ces paramètres qui rentrent en jeu afin de pouvoir produire à la fin un produit désirable par le consommateur.
Firmin Soutime
Amsterdam-Pays-Bas
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Why Participation?
Why is it important to involve people in their own development?
Introduction
Participation is the new approach in the planning and management of development projects and programmes. It strenghtens the linkages between researchers, extension workers and farmers. For a long time, farmers have not been involved in the development process. The new technologiee were generated by researchers and imposed to farmers. This ‘Top-down’management has been regularly cited as one of the main reasons that conservation projects and progrmmes have failed (IFAD, 1992; Pretty & Shah 1994).But Participation advises to pay attention to what the land users know themselves, and involve them in the development process.
Why is it important to involve local people in their own development?
In this paper we try to examine participatory approach in three sections.
Section1 describes the old methods before Participation
Section2 takes a look at the aspects in which Participation is needed.
Section explains the type of participatory methodologies and their implications in the development process.
Section1: ‘Top-down’ Methodologies or Local people outside the game
There are three important actors in the process of agricultural development: researchers, extension workers and farmers. The researchers are involved in generating new technologies which are extended as information by extension workers to the famers who are in need. For years ago the linkages between these three actors have been qualified as ‘top-down’methods. In this approach, the farmers are not involved in the planning and evaluating of projects and programmes. They were told what to do. The extension workers are considered as instructors. They imposed new technologies to the farmers, without putting in consideration, farmers and farming conditions. Many educated extension workers do not have pratical experiences. They only provide to farmers what research staff has set-up. The research doesn’t fully involve farmers. The researchers in this approach are only to make brief rural visits. During those visites, the ask farmers some questions and they go back with their questionnaire. They use these little informations to set-up new technologies which they think will help farmers. Technical viability, economic feasibility and social acceptability of the new technologies are not measured.
As we can see this ‘top-down’ approach in development methologies encounters many problems such as inapproriate technology and weak linkages between the three actors in development. To solve those problems, a new approach which is participation is widely adopted.
Section 2 : In what area can local people be involved?
Participation is the new approach in development process which aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people. It promotes the involvement of rural people in decision making. This section explains the aspects where local people can be valuable partners.
1- Identifying needs, constraints and potentials.
In this new appraoch, identifying needs is the first step to take. Farmers are the people who work on the fields. They know better the zones. Their daily experiences in solving problems are for great foundations to the extension workers and researchers. To introduce a new technology in an area , the involvement of farmers is very important. It is them who know if realy the technology is nedeed, otherwise the technology is useless in that area. The researchers don’t waste their time discovering knowledges that are not needed..
They identify with farmers at the second step the constraints they are facing to solve their problems. Also the constraints in putting new technology in practise have to be identified.
The third step is the identification of farmer’s potentials. These are needed in research. They farmers are the people who grow crops and tend livestock. They have some knowledge and experiences of their respective areas. Their observations, suggestions and recommendations are useful for researchers and extensionists. It is also important to put into consideration the potentials of the farmers in their ability and capability to put into practise new technology.The farmers are not only valuable in the identification but also great partners in developing and modifying technologies.
2- Developing and modifying technologies.
To develop a new technology, the “outsiders” need to pay more attention to what the land users know themselves and already practise. Their experience of successes and failures can be the foundation (sources of ideas) for a new technology. “Land users know quite a bit about their own environment and often have pretty good practices that they have learned or that they have worked out through experimentation and innovation. Let’s not ignore this potentially useful source of ideas” ( e.g. Critchley et al , 1994; Reij et al, 1996).
Section 3 Types of Participatory Methodologies
Participation attempts to avoid traditional research carried out by universities and governments, and the ‘Top-down’ methodology. For this new concept to be effective, it needs some methodologies. This section quick looks at three of these methodologies:
1- Rapid Rural Appraisal -RRA-
2- Participatory Rural Appraisal –PRA-
3- Participatory Technology Development- PTD-
and emphasises on Participatory Learning and Action which is the new overall term for Participatory Methodologies.
1- Rapid Rural Appraisal -RRA-
Rapid Rural Appraisal began as a response in the late 1970s and early 1980s to the biased perceptions derived from rural development tourism ( the brief rural visit by the urban based professionals) and the many defects and high costs of large scale questionnaire surveys
( Chambers, 1980 ; Carruthers and Chambers , 1981 ; Longhurst, 1981) . It is a set of techniques for diagnosis of rural problems and potentials. The key is optimal ignorance meaning, focusing on the things that are really important. Some principles of RRA are:
- Learning from local people, directly, on the site and face-to face, gaining, insight from their local physical, technical and social knowledge.
- Learning rapidly and progressively with conscious exploration , flexible use of methods , opportunism, improvisation, cross-checking, not following a blueprint programme
- Offsetting biases , being relaxed not rushing, listening not lecturing, probing instead of passing on the next topic, being unimposing instead of important
RRA has bas been developed and generated in 1990 a new approach which is Participatory Rural Appraisal
2- Participatory Rural Appraisal
PRA has grown out of RRA and spread in the early 1990s. It is described as a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to express, enhance, share and analyse their knowledge, to plan and to act.
The more developed and tested methods of PRA include participatory mapping and modelling, transect walks, matrix scoring, matrix ranking, and seasonal activity diagrams. All these methods are undertaken by local people and have been used in natural resources management (Soil and Water Conservation, forestry, fisheries, village planning etc.), agriculture, health, nutrition, food security and programmes for the poor ( IDS, 1993).
Some additional principles in PRA are:
-Facilitating investigation, analysis, presentation and learning by local people themselves, so that they generate and own the outcomes
-Personal responsibility: PRA practitioners tend to take personal responsibility for what is done rather than relying on the authority of manuals or of a rigid set of rules.
- Sharing of information and ideas between local people, between them and outsiders facilitators and between different practitioners, and sharing field camps, training and experiences between different organizations, regions and countries. It is not only PRA approach which has been developed, but also Participatory Technology Development (PTD).
3-Participatory Technology Development-PTD-
Participatory Technology Development is an approach to learning and innovation as part of projects and programmes relating to sustainable agriculture. The approach involves collaboration between researchers and farmers in the analysis of agricultural problems and testing of alternative farming practises.
One of the leading authorise on this process is the Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture ( ILEIA) based in the Netherlands. ILEIA has described PTD as process between local communities and outside facilitators which involves
-gaining a joint understanding of the main characteristics and changes
-defining priority problems
-experimenting locally with a variety of options derived both from Indigenous Knowledge and from formal science
-enhancing farmer’s experimental capacities and farmers to farmers communication:
( Farming for the Future : An introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture, Coen Reintjes, Bertus Haverkort and Ann Waters- Bayer, 1992, ILEIA, Leusden, The Netherlands).
Among all the participatory methodologies, there is a new overall term which is Participatory Learning and Action(PLA).
3- Participatory Learning and Action –PLA-
The basic features of this methodology are :
- Semi-structured interviews which is often on individual basis and aims to guide conversations where only the topics are predetermined. The interviewer asks questions such as : What ?, When ? Where? Who? Why? , How?. He listens carefully and takes notes. He is sensitive, observant, respectful and good humoured. He cross checks the information he received through “Triangulation”
- Visualisation and diagramming are usually use through a focus group. Here is where farmers find useful and easy tools to draw and model their villages and resources deciding what to include and debating, adding and modifying details. Everyone can see what is being said because it is being shown.
.With participation mapping villagers draw several maps which become successively more detailed and useful. The maps are then used as reference for other planning and are retained by villagers for their own monitoring and evaluation.
.Matrix Scoring or Ranking elicits villagers’ criteria of value of a class of items (trees, vegetables, fodder, grasses fuel types …) which lead into discussion of preferences and actions.
.In shared diagramming; information is diagrammed to represent for example, seasonal changes in dimensions such as rainfall, agricultural labour, food supply, income. Paper can be used for visualisation and diagramming and also the ground and other local materials which villagers whether literate or not can use with confidence.
Conclusion
It is now clear that the old approach (Top-down) in development projects and programmes has failed and didn’t help the land users. But the new approach
(Participation) with its methodologies involves and empowers at all stages of decision making and action taking. The involvement of local people (who are often great untapped resource) conducts to lasting solutions. It is also clear that for practical and ethical reasons Local people should be involved in development process.
Now our questions are: Is Participatory methodologies problems free?
-What can we do to perform those methodologies?
Key References
- William Critchley, Bram Buscher, Sabina Di Prima, Wendelien Tuyp, Land Husbandry –Its role in Climate Change and poverty reduction-,2008 Vrije Universiteit Amaterdam, The Netherlands
- William Critchley , Dirk Versfeld and Naftali Mollel, Sustainable Land Management: Some Signpost for South Africa ,1998, University of the North, South Africa.
- William Critchley , Working with Farmer Innovators- A Practical Guide-First published 2007 by CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands ( www.cta.int)
- Coen Reintjes, Bertus Haverkort and Ann Waters- Bayer, Farming for the Future : An introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture, 1992, ILEIA, Leusden, The Netherlands
-Robert Chambers,1994 Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, U.K.
Firmin Soutime
IT Specialist ,Certified in Sustainable Land Management
Tel. 0031627385012 / Email. fsoutime@yahoo.fr
Why is it important to involve people in their own development?
Introduction
Participation is the new approach in the planning and management of development projects and programmes. It strenghtens the linkages between researchers, extension workers and farmers. For a long time, farmers have not been involved in the development process. The new technologiee were generated by researchers and imposed to farmers. This ‘Top-down’management has been regularly cited as one of the main reasons that conservation projects and progrmmes have failed (IFAD, 1992; Pretty & Shah 1994).But Participation advises to pay attention to what the land users know themselves, and involve them in the development process.
Why is it important to involve local people in their own development?
In this paper we try to examine participatory approach in three sections.
Section1 describes the old methods before Participation
Section2 takes a look at the aspects in which Participation is needed.
Section explains the type of participatory methodologies and their implications in the development process.
Section1: ‘Top-down’ Methodologies or Local people outside the game
There are three important actors in the process of agricultural development: researchers, extension workers and farmers. The researchers are involved in generating new technologies which are extended as information by extension workers to the famers who are in need. For years ago the linkages between these three actors have been qualified as ‘top-down’methods. In this approach, the farmers are not involved in the planning and evaluating of projects and programmes. They were told what to do. The extension workers are considered as instructors. They imposed new technologies to the farmers, without putting in consideration, farmers and farming conditions. Many educated extension workers do not have pratical experiences. They only provide to farmers what research staff has set-up. The research doesn’t fully involve farmers. The researchers in this approach are only to make brief rural visits. During those visites, the ask farmers some questions and they go back with their questionnaire. They use these little informations to set-up new technologies which they think will help farmers. Technical viability, economic feasibility and social acceptability of the new technologies are not measured.
As we can see this ‘top-down’ approach in development methologies encounters many problems such as inapproriate technology and weak linkages between the three actors in development. To solve those problems, a new approach which is participation is widely adopted.
Section 2 : In what area can local people be involved?
Participation is the new approach in development process which aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people. It promotes the involvement of rural people in decision making. This section explains the aspects where local people can be valuable partners.
1- Identifying needs, constraints and potentials.
In this new appraoch, identifying needs is the first step to take. Farmers are the people who work on the fields. They know better the zones. Their daily experiences in solving problems are for great foundations to the extension workers and researchers. To introduce a new technology in an area , the involvement of farmers is very important. It is them who know if realy the technology is nedeed, otherwise the technology is useless in that area. The researchers don’t waste their time discovering knowledges that are not needed..
They identify with farmers at the second step the constraints they are facing to solve their problems. Also the constraints in putting new technology in practise have to be identified.
The third step is the identification of farmer’s potentials. These are needed in research. They farmers are the people who grow crops and tend livestock. They have some knowledge and experiences of their respective areas. Their observations, suggestions and recommendations are useful for researchers and extensionists. It is also important to put into consideration the potentials of the farmers in their ability and capability to put into practise new technology.The farmers are not only valuable in the identification but also great partners in developing and modifying technologies.
2- Developing and modifying technologies.
To develop a new technology, the “outsiders” need to pay more attention to what the land users know themselves and already practise. Their experience of successes and failures can be the foundation (sources of ideas) for a new technology. “Land users know quite a bit about their own environment and often have pretty good practices that they have learned or that they have worked out through experimentation and innovation. Let’s not ignore this potentially useful source of ideas” ( e.g. Critchley et al , 1994; Reij et al, 1996).
Section 3 Types of Participatory Methodologies
Participation attempts to avoid traditional research carried out by universities and governments, and the ‘Top-down’ methodology. For this new concept to be effective, it needs some methodologies. This section quick looks at three of these methodologies:
1- Rapid Rural Appraisal -RRA-
2- Participatory Rural Appraisal –PRA-
3- Participatory Technology Development- PTD-
and emphasises on Participatory Learning and Action which is the new overall term for Participatory Methodologies.
1- Rapid Rural Appraisal -RRA-
Rapid Rural Appraisal began as a response in the late 1970s and early 1980s to the biased perceptions derived from rural development tourism ( the brief rural visit by the urban based professionals) and the many defects and high costs of large scale questionnaire surveys
( Chambers, 1980 ; Carruthers and Chambers , 1981 ; Longhurst, 1981) . It is a set of techniques for diagnosis of rural problems and potentials. The key is optimal ignorance meaning, focusing on the things that are really important. Some principles of RRA are:
- Learning from local people, directly, on the site and face-to face, gaining, insight from their local physical, technical and social knowledge.
- Learning rapidly and progressively with conscious exploration , flexible use of methods , opportunism, improvisation, cross-checking, not following a blueprint programme
- Offsetting biases , being relaxed not rushing, listening not lecturing, probing instead of passing on the next topic, being unimposing instead of important
RRA has bas been developed and generated in 1990 a new approach which is Participatory Rural Appraisal
2- Participatory Rural Appraisal
PRA has grown out of RRA and spread in the early 1990s. It is described as a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to express, enhance, share and analyse their knowledge, to plan and to act.
The more developed and tested methods of PRA include participatory mapping and modelling, transect walks, matrix scoring, matrix ranking, and seasonal activity diagrams. All these methods are undertaken by local people and have been used in natural resources management (Soil and Water Conservation, forestry, fisheries, village planning etc.), agriculture, health, nutrition, food security and programmes for the poor ( IDS, 1993).
Some additional principles in PRA are:
-Facilitating investigation, analysis, presentation and learning by local people themselves, so that they generate and own the outcomes
-Personal responsibility: PRA practitioners tend to take personal responsibility for what is done rather than relying on the authority of manuals or of a rigid set of rules.
- Sharing of information and ideas between local people, between them and outsiders facilitators and between different practitioners, and sharing field camps, training and experiences between different organizations, regions and countries. It is not only PRA approach which has been developed, but also Participatory Technology Development (PTD).
3-Participatory Technology Development-PTD-
Participatory Technology Development is an approach to learning and innovation as part of projects and programmes relating to sustainable agriculture. The approach involves collaboration between researchers and farmers in the analysis of agricultural problems and testing of alternative farming practises.
One of the leading authorise on this process is the Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture ( ILEIA) based in the Netherlands. ILEIA has described PTD as process between local communities and outside facilitators which involves
-gaining a joint understanding of the main characteristics and changes
-defining priority problems
-experimenting locally with a variety of options derived both from Indigenous Knowledge and from formal science
-enhancing farmer’s experimental capacities and farmers to farmers communication:
( Farming for the Future : An introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture, Coen Reintjes, Bertus Haverkort and Ann Waters- Bayer, 1992, ILEIA, Leusden, The Netherlands).
Among all the participatory methodologies, there is a new overall term which is Participatory Learning and Action(PLA).
3- Participatory Learning and Action –PLA-
The basic features of this methodology are :
- Semi-structured interviews which is often on individual basis and aims to guide conversations where only the topics are predetermined. The interviewer asks questions such as : What ?, When ? Where? Who? Why? , How?. He listens carefully and takes notes. He is sensitive, observant, respectful and good humoured. He cross checks the information he received through “Triangulation”
- Visualisation and diagramming are usually use through a focus group. Here is where farmers find useful and easy tools to draw and model their villages and resources deciding what to include and debating, adding and modifying details. Everyone can see what is being said because it is being shown.
.With participation mapping villagers draw several maps which become successively more detailed and useful. The maps are then used as reference for other planning and are retained by villagers for their own monitoring and evaluation.
.Matrix Scoring or Ranking elicits villagers’ criteria of value of a class of items (trees, vegetables, fodder, grasses fuel types …) which lead into discussion of preferences and actions.
.In shared diagramming; information is diagrammed to represent for example, seasonal changes in dimensions such as rainfall, agricultural labour, food supply, income. Paper can be used for visualisation and diagramming and also the ground and other local materials which villagers whether literate or not can use with confidence.
Conclusion
It is now clear that the old approach (Top-down) in development projects and programmes has failed and didn’t help the land users. But the new approach
(Participation) with its methodologies involves and empowers at all stages of decision making and action taking. The involvement of local people (who are often great untapped resource) conducts to lasting solutions. It is also clear that for practical and ethical reasons Local people should be involved in development process.
Now our questions are: Is Participatory methodologies problems free?
-What can we do to perform those methodologies?
Key References
- William Critchley, Bram Buscher, Sabina Di Prima, Wendelien Tuyp, Land Husbandry –Its role in Climate Change and poverty reduction-,2008 Vrije Universiteit Amaterdam, The Netherlands
- William Critchley , Dirk Versfeld and Naftali Mollel, Sustainable Land Management: Some Signpost for South Africa ,1998, University of the North, South Africa.
- William Critchley , Working with Farmer Innovators- A Practical Guide-First published 2007 by CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands ( www.cta.int)
- Coen Reintjes, Bertus Haverkort and Ann Waters- Bayer, Farming for the Future : An introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture, 1992, ILEIA, Leusden, The Netherlands
-Robert Chambers,1994 Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, U.K.
Firmin Soutime
IT Specialist ,Certified in Sustainable Land Management
Tel. 0031627385012 / Email. fsoutime@yahoo.fr
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Investir dans le domaine agricole
Rétrospectivement lorsqu’on regarde l’Afrique de la fin du deuxième millénaire et du début du nouveau , il y a matière à pleurer et à crier sa colère. Car le monde bouge : du Pacifique à l’Atlantique , de l’Océan Indien aux Caraïbe. Seule l’Afrique fait exception : groupes armées, guerres fratricides, corruption , maladies, misère…Voilà les réalités africaines.
A ces réalités s’ajoutent aujourd'hui deux défis majeurs : Le changement climatique et la crise économique internationale. La situation est grave mais pas désespérée.
Tous ces problèmes font croire que l’Afrique est un continent pauvre. Non, l’Afrique n’est pas un continent pauvre. Elle a été appauvrie par des faits endogènes et exogènes. Le but de cet article n’est pas d’accuser qui que ce soit mais de lancer un appel pour examiner deux questions :
-Qu’est ce qui a été fait pour trouver des solutions à ces problèmes ?
-Qu’est ce qu’on peut actuellement faire ?
Ce n’est un secret pour personne que l’Afrique est un continent riche en ressources naturelles et minières. Elle est bénie par des hommes et des femmes intelligents et travailleurs. Bon nombre de cette élite africaine se retrouve et se cherche dans les pays occidentaux aujourd’hui. Plus de 80% de la population africaine vit dans des zones agricoles et rurales. Ce qui veut dire que L’Afrique ne peut jamais se développer si elle ne fait pas quelque chose dans le domaine agricole.
Il temps pour que les Africains décident d’investir dans des projets agricoles. Nous devons commencer par réaliser des projets à long terme et mettre sur place des structure s et stratégies pour une gestion durable de ces projets et de nos ressources naturelles. L’éducation et la formation dans les domaines agricoles sont des clés essentielles pour le développement agricole. Ce n’est plus une question d’importer des connaissances toute faites d’ailleurs et les imposer aux agriculteurs africains, mais leurs donner des opportunités d’exposer ce qu’ils connaissent déjà. La plupart des agriculteurs africains seraient des professeurs s’ils avaient une éducation ! Dans une approche participative élaborer des documents qui puissent intensifier la production et la productivité. La mise en place des programmes météorologiques, des programmes de déforestation et de désertification qui seront enseignés non seulement dans les milieux ruraux et agricoles mais aussi dans des classes.
Pour éviter aux pays africains d’importer des produits alimentaires et vivriers, ils doivent travailler ensemble. Les gouvernements des pays africains doivent collaborer afin qu’aucun d’entre eux importe ces produits, car en important , ils font partir le capital financier ailleurs alors qu’ils ont besoin de ce capital pour leur propre développement. L’Afrique n’a pas besoin d’importer ces produits parce que nous avons des hommes et des femmes capable de produire . En travaillant ensemble , ils peuvent éviter des erreurs commis par d’autres pays dans le passé.
Il faut désormais considérer l’agriculteur africain non pas comme celui qui produit pour nourrir sa famille mais comme un homme d’affaires et lui créer des opportunités d’affaires.
Les gens meurent chaque jour de faim et de malnutrition en Afrique . Nous devons faire quelque chose aujourd’hui et demain. Sans cela , nous ne serons pas en mesure de transformer nos ressources pour répondre aux besoins de la population africaine
Firmin Soutime
Spécialiste des TICs, certifié en Gestion des Ressources Naturelles
fsoutime@yahoo.fr
Amsterdam-Pays-Bas
A ces réalités s’ajoutent aujourd'hui deux défis majeurs : Le changement climatique et la crise économique internationale. La situation est grave mais pas désespérée.
Tous ces problèmes font croire que l’Afrique est un continent pauvre. Non, l’Afrique n’est pas un continent pauvre. Elle a été appauvrie par des faits endogènes et exogènes. Le but de cet article n’est pas d’accuser qui que ce soit mais de lancer un appel pour examiner deux questions :
-Qu’est ce qui a été fait pour trouver des solutions à ces problèmes ?
-Qu’est ce qu’on peut actuellement faire ?
Ce n’est un secret pour personne que l’Afrique est un continent riche en ressources naturelles et minières. Elle est bénie par des hommes et des femmes intelligents et travailleurs. Bon nombre de cette élite africaine se retrouve et se cherche dans les pays occidentaux aujourd’hui. Plus de 80% de la population africaine vit dans des zones agricoles et rurales. Ce qui veut dire que L’Afrique ne peut jamais se développer si elle ne fait pas quelque chose dans le domaine agricole.
Il temps pour que les Africains décident d’investir dans des projets agricoles. Nous devons commencer par réaliser des projets à long terme et mettre sur place des structure s et stratégies pour une gestion durable de ces projets et de nos ressources naturelles. L’éducation et la formation dans les domaines agricoles sont des clés essentielles pour le développement agricole. Ce n’est plus une question d’importer des connaissances toute faites d’ailleurs et les imposer aux agriculteurs africains, mais leurs donner des opportunités d’exposer ce qu’ils connaissent déjà. La plupart des agriculteurs africains seraient des professeurs s’ils avaient une éducation ! Dans une approche participative élaborer des documents qui puissent intensifier la production et la productivité. La mise en place des programmes météorologiques, des programmes de déforestation et de désertification qui seront enseignés non seulement dans les milieux ruraux et agricoles mais aussi dans des classes.
Pour éviter aux pays africains d’importer des produits alimentaires et vivriers, ils doivent travailler ensemble. Les gouvernements des pays africains doivent collaborer afin qu’aucun d’entre eux importe ces produits, car en important , ils font partir le capital financier ailleurs alors qu’ils ont besoin de ce capital pour leur propre développement. L’Afrique n’a pas besoin d’importer ces produits parce que nous avons des hommes et des femmes capable de produire . En travaillant ensemble , ils peuvent éviter des erreurs commis par d’autres pays dans le passé.
Il faut désormais considérer l’agriculteur africain non pas comme celui qui produit pour nourrir sa famille mais comme un homme d’affaires et lui créer des opportunités d’affaires.
Les gens meurent chaque jour de faim et de malnutrition en Afrique . Nous devons faire quelque chose aujourd’hui et demain. Sans cela , nous ne serons pas en mesure de transformer nos ressources pour répondre aux besoins de la population africaine
Firmin Soutime
Spécialiste des TICs, certifié en Gestion des Ressources Naturelles
fsoutime@yahoo.fr
Amsterdam-Pays-Bas
Welcome to Farmer Innovations Center
This is a Center for Information and Documentation in Agricultural Area
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