ECDD’s award-winning film about agriculture on Anjouan now online

"Hadisi ya Ismaël" est une production d'ECDD qui raconte l'histoire d'un agriculteur anjouanais, Ismaël Issouf Abdallah. Lors du "Comoros International Film Festival" 2012, le film a remporté le deuxième prix.

Ismaël Issouf Abdallah a ses origines au village d'Adda. Au cours des 10 dernières années, il a entreprit 6 tentatives pour traverser à Mayotte. Trois fois, son bateau a été arrêté par la police aux frontières. Les autres trois fois, il a réussit la traversée, mais arrêté et renvoyé après. En 2012, il en avait assez. Il décide pour de bon de s'installer à Adda et de se lancer dans l'agriculture. Pour restaurer la fertilité de son champs, hérité de son père, il s'est rendu à l'équipe d'ECDD pour demander leur avis. Avec l'aide de Badroudine Ali et les autres techniciens du projet, il a réussit dans son plan et il tire actuellement les bénéfices chaque jour.

Source: ECDD

Ivorian agricultural scientists open up their research

Dear readers: An initiative to to be inspired from!

[ABIDJAN] More than a dozen agricultural research institutes in Côte d'Ivoire have agreed to open up access to their research results and raise farmers' awareness of their work through a shared online platform. 

The aim is to increase the uptake of new and existing technologies and research findings, and eventually to boost agricultural production in the country and West African region.
The creation of the platform was agreed in May, and a planning workshop was held in Grand Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire, last month (19-20 July). It was attended by researchers and other stakeholders, including ministry officials and science communicators, who exchanged experiences on the best ways to disseminate research results. 

According to Pierre Ackah Angniman, executive director of the Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Counseling (FIRCA) — the organisation that will fund and run the research platform — scientists have decided to set up a national database of research results and technologies to improve research openness and popularisation.

They have also agreed to coordinate the outreach activities of different agricultural organisations.
Angniman told SciDev.Net that a committee will shortly be created to manage the platform and to work on raising awareness of existing agricultural technologies. 

"It's a matter of enlisting the help of professional agricultural organisations, which can help us convey messages efficiently to farmers, so that they can implement [research findings] that may boost their productivity and also allow them to increase their incomes," said Germain N'dri, a researcher at the University of Abobo-Adjamé in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. 

N'dri said that each participating research institute will be provided with a communication officer to support the project. 

He also explained that the platform will be integrated with existing initiatives managed by the Economic Community of West African States and implemented by the World Bank's West African Agricultural Productivity Program, which is working to disseminate research findings in the region.
Justin Koudougnon, an agricultural research engineer based in Côte d'Ivoire, said the establishment of a common system of information and communication on agricultural technologies is a strong initiative, and should lead to the better communication of research results to farmers.

"In Africa, the agricultural sector's low productivity is mainly due to the weak adoption of available technology, and the inefficiency or lack of mastery of technological resources," Koudougnon commented.

By:

Théodore Kouadio

14 August 2012

From: http://www.scidev.net

Youth in agricultural Extension – Challenges and opportunities

Agricultural extension and I

For the past 3 years, I have been studying agriculture with specialization in agricultural extension at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius. During my work-based placement, I have worked at the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), where I have got the opportunity to get some work experience in agricultural extension and I have also done my dissertation on the subject. Being involved in agricultural extension, I have seen that youth, as well as experienced professionals are facing several challenges in agricultural extension.

Agricultural Extension in Mauritius

Youth involvement in agricultural extension 

Presently, finding youth involved in agriculture is rare in Mauritius, since their main focus are on subjects related to management and engineering. This is so, because the image of agriculture does not appear “attractive” to youth and for many of them, agriculture is not even an option (Read more on attractiveness of agriculture to youth HERE). However, according to the annual report 2009/1010 of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Mauritius,. However, according to the annual report 2009/1010 of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Mauritius, each year, there about 120 students who enrol for courses related to agricultural sciences for their undergraduate degree. This also implies that every year, there are about 120 graduates from the Faculty of Agriculture. But how many of these graduates are involved in extension? Probably not many because of 2 main reasons; (a) there are not many job opportunities in agricultural extension in Mauritius and (b) extension involves working in the field with farmers, requires several skills and it is a challenging job.

Challenges

When considering the challenges faced by youth in agricultural extension, there are 2 ways in which it can be seen; (a) Challenges faced by young graduates and (b) challenges faced by young professionals.


Read more and looking forward to have your contribution HERE.