Tchad

The first session of the National Steering Committee (NSC) of the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) in Chad was held in N'Djaména/Chad on 22 February 2024. This meeting, organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Agricultural Production and Processing, enabled the members of the CNP to review the state of implementation of the FSRP in Chad, while examining the 2024 Annual Work Plan and Budget (PTBA) with a view to its approval.

Made up of representatives of the government, development partners, producer organisations and the private sector, the Steering Committee is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the FSRP and ensuring coordination between the various players involved in the programme, in line with the National Agricultural Development Strategy.

At this first session, the members of the National Steering Committee were given a brief overview of the PRSP's basic data and main performance indicators, and discussed the consistency of the planned activities with sectoral policies before ensuring that all the programmed activities were in line with those agreed in the project document (PAD).

With regard to the 2024 work plan and annual budget, the members of the NPC examined the areas of intervention, in particular capacity building for local players, the development of sustainable agriculture, the promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship and the establishment of social safety nets for vulnerable populations. They then assessed the timetable for carrying out the activities before unanimously approving the 2024 work plan and annual budget.   

The FSRP in Chad targets 600,000 food system stakeholders with access to hydro and agrometeorological advisory services, 75,000 producers adopting climate-smart agricultural technologies and services, and 4,000 hectares of land under integrated landscape management practices. It aims to improve food and nutritional security by increasing agricultural production and promoting inclusive rural development, as well as intra-regional trade with Chad's West African neighbours.

At the close of this first session of the NPC, the members called for the mobilisation of all partners to support the FSRP and help strengthen the resilience of food systems in Chad.

With a view to accelerating the implementation of the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) in Chad, stakeholders and partners are being trained in innovative approaches and mechanisms for the production and dissemination of agricultural technologies.

More than 50 people from the various provinces in which the FSRP is implemented in Chad were trained in the techniques for setting up innovation platforms. This training, provided with the support of CORAF, was led by the Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Innovation pour le Développement Agricole (LRIDA) of the University of Parakou in Benin.

The FSRP Tchad focuses its activities on the priority value chains of maize, wheat and sesame. Through the innovation platform mechanism, the aim is to help ensure the successful transfer of agricultural technologies and innovations.

Through discussions and the sharing of experiences, participants learned that innovation platforms are a tool for dialogue between the various players in the value chain to collectively identify challenges and find opportunities to improve production and marketing through the adoption of the best technologies and innovations. The innovation platforms bring together research structures, producers' organisations, technical agricultural advisory and extension services, NGOs and civil society.

Through practical exercises, trainers and learners diagnosed problems, explored opportunities and sought solutions to challenges. This is the approach promoted by innovation platforms to integrate rural producers into value chains in West Africa. By coming together in this way, social and economic players try to resolve the constraints they face. In doing so, they build new synergies. Through a collaborative interrelationship, agricultural producers, processors, buyers, transporters, researchers, extension workers, etc. learn from each other, understand each other better and develop win-win exchanges.

The Institut tchadien de recherche agronomique pour le développement (ITRAD), in cooperation with the Centre ouest et centre africain pour la recherche et développement agricole (CORAF), organised a regional workshop on 07 and 08 December in Ndjamena to consider the establishment of a national wheat specialisation centre (CNS) in the country as part of the implementation of the Programme de résilience des systèmes alimentaires (PRSA).

 

Chad has identified three priority value chains, including wheat. The aim was to bring together the players in the wheat value chain to work together to lay the groundwork for the NSC and initiate the process of setting it up.

Over the two days, participants took stock of research into the wheat value chain, and shared experiences from other countries that have set up national specialisation centres.

In the past, Chad, with its polders on the Lake, was one of the few countries in West and Central Africa to produce and process wheat for consumption by the whole of Central Africa and some European countries.

As the NSC for wheat, Chad will be able to build synergy between the actions of national and international institutions in this area, with the aim of achieving excellence in research, developing a value chain and reducing national dependence on imports.

In preparation for the 2024 agricultural season, the national coordination of the Food System Resilience Program in Chad (FSRP-Chad) has launched a vast operation to distribute improved seeds. More than 3,000 tonnes of sesame and maize seeds were distributed to over 5,000 farmers in the Logone Occidental and Logone Oriental regions.

The initiative, carried out between 15 and 20 July by the Moundou regional coordination of FSRP-Chad, aims to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable households that depend mainly on agriculture for their income. During the distribution campaign, FSRP Chad officials also had the opportunity to meet members of the college of women seed producers, underlining the importance of including women in agricultural development.

The main aim of this distribution is to provide producers with high-quality seeds, which will improve agricultural production and guarantee food security for local communities. By having improved seeds at their disposal, farmers can look forward to a more abundant harvest that is more resistant to climatic hazards, thus contributing to greater resilience in the face of environmental and economic challenges.

The World Bank-funded FSRP-Chad continues to support farmers through various initiatives and programmes, demonstrating its commitment to improving the living conditions of rural populations and ensuring the sustainability of the food system in Chad. This seed distribution is just one of the many actions undertaken to strengthen food security and promote agricultural development in the country.

With a view to accelerating the implementation of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) in Chad, stakeholders and partners are being trained in innovative approaches and mechanisms for the production and dissemination of agricultural technologies.

More than 50 people from the various provinces in which the FSRP is being implemented in Chad have been trained in techniques for setting up innovation platforms. This training, provided with the support of CORAF, was led by the Laboratoire de Recherche sur l’Innovation pour le Développement Agricole (LRIDA) at the University of Parakou in Benin.

FSRP Tchad focuses its activities on the priority value chains of maize, wheat, and sesame. Through the innovation platform mechanism, the aim is to help ensure the successful transfer of agricultural technologies and innovations.

Through discussions and experiences sharing, participants learned that innovation platforms are a tool for dialogue between the various actors in the value chain to collectively identify challenges and find opportunities to improve production and marketing through the adoption of the best technologies and innovations. The innovation platforms bring together research structures, producers’ organizations, technical advisory and agricultural extension services, NGOs and civil society.

Through practical exercises, trainers and learners have diagnosed problems, explored opportunities and sought solutions to challenges. This is the approach promoted by innovation platforms to integrate rural producers into value chains in West Africa. By coming together in this way, social and economic actors try to resolve the constraints they face. In doing so, they build new synergies. Through a collaborative interrelationship, agricultural producers, processors, buyers, transporters, researchers, extension workers, etc. learn from each other, understand each other better and develop win-win exchanges.