The Action Center for Food Security and Sustainable Development (CASAD) launched a multi-stakeholder platform for the promotion of farmers’ innovations in ecological agriculture and natural resource management in January 2016 in Glazoué, a town in central Benin.
In this context, CASAD has taken the necessary steps with Prolinnova International to integrate the platform into this network. Thus, Prolinnova sent a mission led by Geneviève Audet-Belanger to discuss with the members of the platform on May 25, 2016 in Cotonou.
A 10-person delegation from the platform led by the CASAD program manager met Geneviève Audet-Belanger from Prolinnova International at 19:00 at the Cotonou Lake Hotel.
The CASAD Program Manager presented the platform, its objectives and activities. Thus, it emerges from this presentation that the platform has set itself five essential objectives: to promote local innovations in ecological agriculture and natural resources management in Benin; Work towards the development and implementation of national agricultural development policies and programs adapted to farmers’ innovations in Benin and defend the values of a sustainable and efficient peasant agriculture at the service of family farms and agricultural producers.
After this presentation, Geneviève asked the platform’s stakeholders questions about their activities and how to finance the platform. The representatives of the groupings presented their activities which boils down to the transformation of agricultural products into several derivatives and the country activities. Other activities such as the production and marketing of organic fertilizers are conducted by other members. NGOs provide technical support to clusters through various capacity building sessions.
Geneviève also introduced PROLINNOVA INTERNATIONAL, a Dutch network present in 18 African countries headquartered in the Netherlands. This network supports multi-stakeholder platforms whose main objective is the promotion of peasant innovations in ecological agriculture and natural resource management.
After about two hours of exchanges, it was on a note of satisfaction from both sides that the session ended with a family photo.
To join or learn more about the platform, contact us at casad@casad-benin.org