The decline in the quality of animal health and veterinary services has been of increasing concern not only to the sub-Saharan countries themselves but also to the national and multinational aid donor agencies. If the animal health services are to avoid a further decline in functional ability, and if in future they are going to improve in efficiency to match the anticipated livestock development then major changes need to be made
Foreword The context for irrigation development in Africa has been changing rapidly and drastically over the past decade. On the one hand, there is increasing scepticism about the returns to public investment in irrigation development, and a resulting decline in such investment. On the other hand, there are continued serious concerns about food insecurity and economic under-development in Africa. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) adopted the ambitious goal of achieving and sustaining a 6 percent annual growth rate, a goal that has since been endorsed by Africa's Heads of State under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). How is Africa to achieve such a growth rate in agriculture and attain the World Food Summit goal of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015 without substantial irrigation investments? The good news is that while public investment has declined in the past, there is increasing evidence of positive experiences with small-scale private sector supported irrigation development. Some 70 million ha are currently under private irrigation in developing countries but are not well accounted for in official government statistics. It is estimated that nearly three-quarters of the future investment needed in the developing countries would consist of private commitments. We now realise that in the past the potential role of the private sector has been under-estimated. It is this realisation which gave impetus to this workshop. In 2000, the Africa Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) approached the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and proposed to co-organise the workshop. IWMI and CTA accepted the idea at a time when the former was establishing a new Africa Regional Office in Pretoria, South Africa and because it was in line with the latter's policy and programme. While FAO led the organisation of the workshop, IWMI prepared these Proceedings for copublication by the three co-sponsors. As evidenced in these Proceedings, we believe the expectations we had for the Workshop were more than fulfilled. There are a number of interesting and promising projects in Africa that demonstrate the potential of the private sector in promoting irrigation. These projects are promoted by NGOs, local private firms and individuals. They include interesting cases of the public sector encouraging and enabling private sector participation and development. Some of these cases are presented in this volume. FAO, IWMI and CTA continue to work together on a range of programmes globally and in Africa. We perceive that together we can accomplish a lot in terms of supporting an African agricultural renaissance by mutual co-operation and partnerships with a range of African institutions. We are confident that these Proceedings will be useful for many researchers, policy makers and practitioners in agricultural development in Africa. Douglas J. Merrey Director for Africa IWMI M. J. Omar Officer-in-Charge FAO Regional Office for Africa Carl B. Greenidge Director CTA ; Regional Seminar on Private Sector Participation and Irrigation Expansion in sub-Saharan Africa
The study of appropriate URLs will provide CTA with the necessary elements to develop suitable documentation. More particularly, the study will supply information on the value and relevance of existing Internet documentation in terms of content, topicality and accuracy of the information and its level of adaptation for use by CTA's target groups (for example, officials in the Ministries of Agriculture and Trade, and other interested parties, in the ACP countries). ; The study of appropriate URLs will provide CTA with the necessary elements to develop suitable documentation.
Ces dix dernières années, les pays ACP ont été marqués par quatre grandes mutations : Une mondialisation économique qui a modifié les relations entre les échelles internationales, nationales et locales ainsi que les enjeux de production et de commercialisation, d'accès aux marchés, aux capitaux et à l'information. Le développement de nouvelles technologies, notamment dans le secteur de 1'information et des biotechnologies. Une libéralisation économique qui a provoqué une forte diminution de emprise de sur la gestion du développement rural. Les logiques de type planificatrices laissent progressivement place àun pilotagedu développementpar le marché. Le rôle du secteur privé s'en trouve considérablement renforcé. Une démocratisation politique qui s'est traduite par la possible participation des différents acteurs de la société civile au débat sur les orientations en matière de développement rural. Ces mutations correspondent à une transformation importante de l'environnement des acteurs du développement rural des pays africains. ; Le séminaire a mis en évidence plusieurs domaines d'action parmi lesquels: le renforcement de capacité des acteurs à mettre en œuvre des stratégies d´information, la promotion et le renforcement des réseaux entre parties prenantes.
ACP countries have been marked by four sweeping changes over the past 10years: Economic globalisation that modifies the relationships between the intemational, national and local scales, as well presenting challenges for production and commercialisation, and access to markets, capital and information. The development of new technologies,notably in the information sector and in biotechnology. Economic liberalisation which has led to a marked reduction in the state hold on managementof rural development. Planning logic is progressively giving way to market steering of development. The role of the private sector is thus considerably strengthened. Political democratisation, seen in the possibility for different civil society stakeholders to participate in the debate on the orientation of rural development. These changes correspond to a major transformation in the environments of rural development stakeholders in African countries. ; The areas highlighted were the development of support programmes to improve stakeholders' ability to implement information strategies, the promotion of increased networking, and the improvement of information generation and supply using appropriate media.
Mechanisation background and scope Farm production and rural transport require power. There are three main options: human work, animal power and the use of motors. The choice depends on local circumstances. Human, animal and machine power can complement each other in the same household, farm and village. Agricultural mechanisation involves the use of tools, implements and machines to improve the efficiency of human time and labour. The most appropriate machinery and power source for any operation depends on the work to be done and the relative desirability, affordability, availability and technical efficiency of the options. A hand hoe may be the best tool for intensive vegetable production. However, if much work needs to be done, human power alone is generally slow and tiring. Mechanisation, using animal or motor power, can significantly increase the productivity of human labour and improve the quality of life for women, men and children. Agricultural mechanisation is not an end in itself, but a means of development. The goal is sustainable and socially-beneficial agricultural production. The hardware is just one component of very complex farming systems. A wide range of social, economic and ecological factors determine whether a technology is practicable, beneficial and sustainable in an area. Sometimes mechanisation is confused with motorisation and tractorisation. Tractor power is just one option. In sub-Saharan Africa, some of the most successful mechanisation introductions have used animal power. In the CTA seminar and in this report, mechanisation is understood to encompass a range of technologies, using human, animal or motor power. The present levels of the various forms of agricultural mechanisation in Africa can only be estimated. It is widely acknowledged that most agricultural work (perhaps 80%)depends entirely on human labour. Animals may perform up to 20% of the operations, while in tropical Africa tractors contribute only a small proportion of the total agricultural work. During the last decade, structural adjustment programmes have changed the economic environment of African agriculture. Changing prices, currency values, government services and policies have affected the profitability of agriculture in both smallholder and large-scale production systems. The conditions for profitable distributing and repairing agricultural equipment have also changed. In many countries, farmers have appealed to development programmes and governments for assistance with farm power and mechanisation. In some areas, farmers have demonstrated there is a clear economic demand for animal power tractors. In other areas, such mechanisation remains a dream, being economically unsustainable in present circumstances. Government services involved in the development of agricultural mechanisation have suffered from cuts in the national budgets. Some of their activities have been criticised for not generating sustainable effects. Although 6 Integrating mechanisation into strategies for sustainable agriculture mechanisation can clearly influence production and the evolution of agricultural systems, its role in national development strategies has often been poorly defined. In 1996,CTA commissioned a study of mechanisation experiences in Africa that was undertaken in association with FAO by Dominique Bordet and Rabezandrina. The analysis started with the following key observations: Public-sector tractor hire services have failed throughout Africa. Private sector tractors have been profitable on large landholdings: tractors have seldom proved viable for the smallholder sector, whether in individual or group ownership or in private hire services. The devaluation of currencies has dramatically increased the price of tractors relative to the value of harvested produce. Tractors and machinery supplied under aid programmes have often been unhelpful, being inappropriate unsustainable. They have diverted the work of agricultural engineering departments from more appropriate, sustainable technologies. Artisans (blacksmiths) have been largely ignored as agricultural machinery (such as animal-drawn plows and cultivators) has been imported or made in centralised workshops. Supply of equipment has been determined largely by public sector organisations and not by the genuine demand of farmers. Research has been top-down and given insufficient consideration to the social, economic and environmental realities of African farming systems. ; Mechanisation background and scope Farm production and rural transport require power.
Cet atelier entendait mieux sensibiliser les responsables des instituts de recherche agricole à l'importance de politiques d'information solides pour le développement agricole et au rôle des institutions en tant que fournisseurs et utilisateurs d'informations. Les actes comprennent les exposés présentés lors de l'atelier et les rapports des groupes de travail. ; Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, 1995 The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)was founded in 1975 as an autonomous institution of 12 member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).The member countries are: Antigua and Barbuda,Barbados, Belize,Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago. The governing body is the Standing Committee of Ministers responsible for Agriculture, and the board of directors is drawn from member governments and regional agencies. CARDI's mission statement is: To accelerate sustainable agricultural development through strategic management of those processes that generate, transfer and commercialize appropriate technology that will improve the social and economic well-being of Caribbean people. ; second meeting
Setting up an integrated pest management network for the Caribbean is the proceedings of a seminar held in Barbados from 16-19 October 1994 (see Spore 55 p9). Published by CTA, and available from CARDI in the Caribbean, or from CTA. This publication has specific relevance to the Caribbean region. ; Based on an analysis of the national IPM programmes in 12 Caribbean countries, workshop participants discussed the objectives of a Caribbean IPM network involving government institutions, NGOs, universities and research centres.
Metadata only record ; This website, established by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), serves as an open forum for professionals, stakeholders, policy makers, farmers, and researchers in the field of agriculture to share information about initiatives, studies, and results in order to facilitate collaboration concerning policy development with the greater goal of assisting the development, adaptation, and adoption of science and technology in agriculture in African, Caribbean, and Pacific nations.
This work emphasizes the need to reduce dependence on imports while increasing the value of national products, which is in comformity with the aspirations of ACP countries
