Togo: Double gains through the joint EU-UN project
Northern and Eastern Togo was heavily hit by floods in 2011, while the 2008 floods affected rural populations and infrastructures in the Southern country. Food price increased as a result to high transport costs after the destruction of infrastructures. Just in the Northern part of the country, a total of 2,200MT of food was distributed by UN agencies to 65,000 people in November 2008 as aftermaths of floods.
A European Union and UN participated in a joined initiative to help Togo cope with high food prices and bad weather by providing seeds, fertilizers and other input for 20,000 rural farmers, which now has been assessed as producing returns that are almost double the cost.
Under the scheme, the European Union (EU) channelled €2.5 million through Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2009 to help more than 20,000 Togolese farmers most affected by floods and sharp increases in food prices in 2007 and 2008 to restart production.
Two years on, FAO estimates at €4.7 million the total value of what they have produced: 9,634 tons of maize, 675 tons of rice, 85 tons of sorghum, 3,522 tons of tomatoes, 350 tons of onions and 85 tons of green chillies.
Even before the floods, rural Togolese were suffering from malnutrition, exacerbated by demographic pressure and the collapse of cotton cultivation, a major cash crop. In 2006, almost 50% of the population was underfed, according to figures from the UN World Food Programme.
Thanks to the UN-EU initiative 15,000 farmers received seeds and fertilizer to grow staple crops such as maize, rice and sorghum, while 5,500 more received inputs for market gardening.
The long term development approach
In addition, the EU-funded FAO efforts also delivered structural support to Togo's agriculture, in particular to its seed sector and the market information system.
Togo's primary seed farm, which has the potential to produce quality seed for the whole country, was rehabilitated and provided with equipment. Its staff, as well nearly 300 seed producers, received training in the production and certification of quality seeds.
Furthermore, an information system covering each of Togo's five provinces as well as the capital was put in place, allowing buyers and sellers to better monitor the prices of agricultural products.
"We have provided some oxygen to farmers," says Marc Casterán, in charge of rural development at the EU Delegation in Togo. He perceives the EU Food Facility as a booster in helping Togo move towards long-term food security.
Structural support is crucial, he adds. "It will help to sustain the work done."
Advantage of the joint initiatives
When world food prices hit record highs in 2007-2008, leading to unacceptable levels of hunger around the world, the European Union (EU) responded quickly and massively with the € 1 billion Food Facility. At that time it was calculated that one out of six persons on this planet were undernourished. The Facility is a two-year programme to help developing countries move towards long-term food security.
Over €232 million is being channelled through FAO, allowing the organisation to field operations in 28 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, touching the lives of more than 9 million people in rural areas.
Helping developing countries move towards long-term food security, FAO projects under the EU Food Facility cover the transition period from emergency aid to longer-term development. FAO is helping to boost agricultural production by working with local communities and farmer organizations on quality agricultural inputs, seed and livestock production, extension, access to markets, storage, irrigation and conservation agriculture.
A small portion of funds were diverted to contribute to FAO’s relief efforts following emergencies in countries where FAO was already operating Food Facility projects, such as Haiti and Pakistan.
EU-FAO projects are embedded in government policies for food security and poverty reduction and are in line with government programmes to address the food price crisis.
