Rainfed Food Crops in West and Central Africa

Nourollah Ahmadi (1, 2) , Ernest Assah Asiedu , Pierre Baris , Hubert Boirard , Nicolas Bricas (3, 4) , Jean-François Cruz (5, 6) , Marie Hélène Dabat (7, 4) , Sébastien Demay , Marcel De Raissac (1, 2) , Patrice Djamen , Issa Drabo , Patrick Dugué (8, 4) , Benoît Faivre-Dupaigre , Koichi Fatakuchi , Wole Fatunbi , Geneviève Fliedel (5, 6) , Michel Fok (9, 6) , Melaku Gedil , Mame Codou Gueye , Momar Talla Gueye , Henri Hocdé (7, 4) , Gnissa Konaté , Frédéric Lançon (7, 4) , Florent Maraux (9, 6) , Vatché Papazian , Philippe Remy , Harold Roy-Macauley , Denys Sanfo , Jacob Sanou , Michel Papaoba Sédogo , Didier Simon , Comlan Hervé Sossou , Marie-Cécile Thirion , Ouola Traoré , Julienne Gué-Traoré , Gilles Trouche (1, 2) , Philippe Vernier (10) , Gaspard Vognan , Ndjekoun Kosse Djool Yagoua , Pierre Goli Zohouri , Bernardin Zoungrana

1 UMR AGAP - Amélioration génétique et adaptation des plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales
2 Cirad-BIOS - Département Systèmes Biologiques
3 UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs
4 Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés
5 UMR Qualisud - Démarche intégrée pour l'obtention d'aliments de qualité
6 Cirad-PERSYST - Département Performances des systèmes de production et de transformation tropicaux
7 UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement
8 UMR Innovation - Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Agro-alimentaire
9 UPR SCA - SyStèmes de Cultures Annuelles
10 Cirad-Dgdrs - Direction Générale Déléguée à la Recherche et à la Stratégie

The rise in world agricultural prices in 2008 revealed the fragility of food security in many developing countries. Poor populations in sub-Saharan Africa are the biggest victims of this fragility. Rainfed food crops can play a unique role on the continent by supplying regional markets, increasing farmers' incomes, and creating jobs in rural areas. Working within the framework of the regional dynamics launched in West and Central Africa, AFD, CIRAD and IFAD initiated three studies to (i) map the food crop production and consumption areas in the zone, (ii) identify the contributions of research on these supply chains, and (iii) analyze food crop project practices. This book summarizes this research, accomplished with African research and regional expertise centers (AGRHYMET, WECARD). It reports on current knowledge of the main food crop supply chains in the region: rice, corn, cassava, millet-sorghum, yam, groundnut and cowpea. Other areas remain to be explored to strengthen existing dynamics: how can intermediation professions be supported? How can a regional approach to these supply chains be developed so as to disseminate best practices, expand markets and foster synergy? What role in supporting these supply chains could be (re)assigned to research? How can the financing constraint, which is present throughout the supply chain, be overcome? This book aims to provide keys to decipher supply chain operations and the challenges facing food crop supply chains in this region.

Domaines: Economies et finances; Géographie

Nourollah Ahmadi, Ernest Assah Asiedu, Pierre Baris, Hubert Boirard, Nicolas Bricas, et al.. Rainfed Food Crops in West and Central Africa: Points for Analysis and Proposals for Action. Uhder Christine. Agence Française de Développement, 183 p., 2013. ⟨hal-03050394⟩