Management Advice for Family Farms in West Africa

CEF1-Benin-ROuchousseNew agricultural advisory services have grown in Francophone Africa following the withdrawal of the State from agricultural extension responsibilities. Agricultural advisory services are once again the subject of increased attention in some countries (Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, etc.), especially following the recent global food crises. Currently we observe a plurality of forms of advisory services provided by a variety of actors.  Experiments in MAFF (Management Advice for Family Farms) conducted with French support for nearly two decades in many Francophone African countries have sought to promote comprehensive advice to farms, one that is based on learning methods. Support from various cooperative efforts (French, Dutch, Swiss, Belgian) also helped to test and adapt MAFF in different contexts.

 

A workshop was held in Bohicon, in Benin, 13 to 15 November 2012, for improving the sustainability of approaches for management advice for family farms (MAFF) in Africa. The workshop had the objectives of (i) taking stock of MAFF approaches in different countries in Francophone Africa through the analysis of the durability of such systems (integration in an advisory and training system, governance of mechanims, funding of activities, capacity building for advisers and managers of these mechanisms), (ii) determining courses of action to improve the ability of MAFF mechanisms to meet producers’ needs and to ensure their sustainability by identifying methodological and institutional innovations.

On the initiative of CIRAD and AFD, this present workshop was organized in conjunction with Inter-Réseaux, University of Parakou (Benin), PADYP (an AFD project in Benin) and FEPAB (a farmer organization in Burkina Faso). 

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