Agrisud in Ivory Coast: promoting sustainable agriculture in Abidjan!

On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Agrisud organized a round table on December 8, 2022 at the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny. 

The discussion focused on the obstacles and solutions to the agro-ecological transition based on the experiences of the PROFIT project currently conducted in the Autonomous District of Abidjan (ADA).

Several partners took part in the event, including the ADA's environment department, the Institut de Géographie Tropicale (IGT) and CIRAD, which was attended by around 40 people.

Promoting agroecology to meet the agricultural and food challenges of the ADA

Around Abidjan, land pressure is increasing. Land used for subsistence farming is being converted into residential areas and the quality of the soil is deteriorating due to the overuse of chemical inputs and inappropriate agricultural practices. The result is a decrease in agricultural production in quantity and quality as well as an impoverishment of the inhabitants.

"It is urgent to protect the remaining agricultural spaces in the peri-urban area of Abidjan in order to ensure food security for the District, but also decent living conditions for the population," explains Dr. Milène Koutouan of the ADA's Environment Department.

Since 2021, the PROFIT project (Promotion of territorialized agricultural value-chains) has been operating in two villages in the District (Adattié, Abiaté 2) to develop sustainable family farming with an agroecological approach. 

"Agroecology is a solution to fight against poverty and food insecurity by creating or maintaining agricultural jobs, better paid and able to ensure the food sovereignty of the populations" explains Camille MOULENE, Agrisud representative in Ivory Coast. 

This project, carried out by Agrisud and its partners, including ADA, aims to improve the local production of vegetables and cassava (in quantity and quality) to meet the needs of the District's populations. After the pilot phase, the objective is to extend these practices to other villages.

The stakeholders of the territory as the engine of the agroecological transition

To support the agroecological transition, we must work on two levels: that of the farms and that of the territories that of farms and that of the territories in which they are established in order to remove certain obstacles. In the case of the ADA, it is the growing urbanization of the capital that is an obstacle to the development of sustainable agriculture.

It is therefore necessary to mobilize the various stakeholders concerned: local authorities, decentralized government services, research, businesses, consumers, etc., in order to find common solutions.

For example, in the PROFIT project, the work carried out with IGT geography students has made it possible to design an agricultural development plan (ADP) for the village of Adattié. The objective was to develop family farming while preserving agricultural land. Several stakeholders were mobilized, from the village committee to the families who own the land, in order to implement concrete and appropriate actions. 

CIRAD presented the MARIGO research-action project, which aims to create a multi-actor platform on the theme of peri-urban agroecological market gardening in Ivory Coast.

The global and multiform crisis we are going through requires real changes. This is what Agrisud and its partners are doing in the ADA territory to develop sustainable peri-urban agriculture that meets the needs of the population and preserves natural resources.