As part of the implementation of the Food System Resilience Programme in West Africa (FSRP), the Togolese Institute for Agricultural Research (ITRA) organised its first open days and guided tours of technology and innovation satellite parks on 18-19 December 2025 in Dapaong and on 16 December 2025 in Sarakawa.
Following the success of the first Agricultural Technology and Innovation Park (PTIA) established in Davié in 2023 with the support of CORAF, the national coordination of FSRP-Togo assisted ITRA in setting up satellite technology and innovation parks in Sarakawa (Kara region) and Dapaong (Savanes region). These satellite parks, also known as local technoparks, were created to bring innovations from research closer to producers in remote areas and encourage their adoption. They serve as platforms for demonstration, learning, training and dissemination of agricultural technologies.
The organisation of these first open days and guided tours gave nearly 200 visitors (agricultural producers, seed producers and other stakeholders in the sector) the opportunity to discover and evaluate several improved crop varieties. These include soybeans (CRASS-1910P1, ITRA-SJ171), sorghum (Soubatimi and Pépé Kalé varieties), rain-fed rice (WAB0019634, WAB0019715), legumes, particularly cowpeas (WANG KAE), peanuts (IS1, L-GHA ITRA-SH2, ITRA-RAF and SH470P), and a variety of sweet potato varieties (Apomuden 1 and 2, Amouzoukopé, Djété Jaune). These technologies have been appreciated for their earliness, yield and potential for adaptation to local agroecological conditions.
Since 2022, several major achievements have been made possible thanks to the support of the national coordination of the FSRP Togo, including:
- the establishment of two (02) satellite parks in the Kara and Savanes regions;
- the conduct of field trials over two (02) agricultural seasons (2023 and 2024) in the six (06) agricultural regions of Togo, focusing on rice, maize, sorghum and legumes (groundnuts, cowpeas, soybeans);
- the organisation of Periodic Technology Review Workshops (APRT) in the six agricultural regions;
- the strengthening of technology transfer through ITRA's System Research Support Mechanism (DARS).
Thanks to these interventions, the following results have been recorded to date:
- More than 900 producers have participated directly in field trials, promoting the adoption of technologies and good agricultural practices;
- 244 leading producers and around 150 agricultural advisers have been trained in the use of the FeSeRWAM interactive digital platform, enabling better support for producers in variety selection and fertiliser management;
- Nearly 200 agricultural producers and seed growers actively participated in open days and guided tours of the technology and innovation parks in Sarakawa and Dapaong;
The gradual adoption of these different technologies has enabled producers to achieve substantial improvements in their yields.
- Producers who have adopted improved sorghum varieties (Soubatimi) report a significant increase in yields of up to 5 t/ha, compared to around 1 t/ha for local varieties.
- Similarly, groundnut producers using the IS1 variety have seen their yields increase to 2 t/ha, compared to 0.5 t/ha previously.
These yield improvements contribute to higher incomes for producers, leading to significant positive changes in their living conditions.
