News

• A project to scale up agricultural technologies and innovations will help 35 Beninese players to set up innovation platforms;
• The innovation platforms will accelerate the mass adoption of technologies and innovations capable of transforming Benin's agriculture by, among other things, increasing the country's agricultural productivity.
• Lmilk, corn, mango mango, onion, potato, soybean and meat are the seven commodities covered by the initiative to set up innovation platforms in Benin.

[Parakou, May 04, 2022] At a workshop to be held in Parakou from May 09 to 13, 2022, the project to scale up agricultural technologies and innovations to increase the resilience of production systems and family farms in West and Central Africa(TARSPro) will equip Beninese stakeholders with the skills needed to set up and facilitate innovation platforms (IPs) in the country. 

In Benin, as in most other countries in the sub-region, agriculture faces a number of challenges, including climate change and limited mechanization.

"Researchers have developed a myriad of technologies and innovations that make it possible to address most of today's agricultural challenges. The challenge now is to make these technologies and innovations accessible to users, and to encourage them to adopt them", emphasizes Marie Nicole Taha NKOUM, TARSPro Manager at CORAF. 

Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), TARSPro aims to support the wider dissemination of agricultural research products in West and Central Africa.

To achieve this objective, the project's implementation is based on three fundamental mechanisms, including IPs. The other two (02) are Competitive Projects and Commissioned Projects.

"Innovation platforms foster interconnection between players in the same value chain, with the aim of identifying needs, opportunities and challenges on the one hand, and on the other, proposing concrete solutions through the development, dissemination and adoption of technologies and innovations, to meet these challenges", explains Dr Emmanuel NJUKWE, Director of Research and Innovation at CORAF.

"Innovation platforms will help increase agricultural productivity in Benin through the use of technologies and innovations by farmers, as they will strengthen the involvement of all stakeholders, a sine qua non condition for effective adoption of these research products, and for inclusive development." 

In Benin, seven (07) identified agricultural commodities will be considered in the implementation of IPs: milk, corn, mango, onions, potatoes, soybeans and meat.

The five-day workshop, to be held in the city of Kobourou, is organized by the Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), as part of TARSPro. INRAB is the project's implementing partner in Benin.

A total of thirty-five (35) people will be trained in IP implementation and facilitation techniques.

With a proportion of 46% women and 60% young people, the group of participants is virtually representative of the project's target group - 50% women and 60% young people. 

At the end of the workshop, participants are expected to take ownership of the IP tool on the one hand, and on the other, to master the advocacy process, the theory of change, as well as resource mobilization techniques to ensure the sustainability of IPs.

In addition to Benin, TARSPro is also being implemented in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad.

The IP initiative should then be replicated in the other four countries in the near future.

Read also:

• TARSPro aligned with Benin government priorities, says government official
• Around ten million people to benefit from new SDC-funded project
• Swiss Cooperation and CORAF sign an agreement worth over 5.6 billion FCFA (11 million dollars)