www.selfhelpafrica.org

WES

T AF

RICA

The West Africa programme covers four countries:

Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and since 2012 Benin.

Programmes are managed out of the office in

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and are implemented by local

partners in each country. The focus of the programmes is

increasingly on value addition and creating linkages with

private sector opportunities for agricultural producers.

Current programmes in West Africa are:

Self Help Africa (SHA) is collaborating with PepsiCo and

private sector processor Tolaro Global to promote

greater productivity and develop an access to market

for smallholder cashew farmers in Central Benin. It is the first

project of its kind for SHA and our first project in Benin. We

are providing technical support to local implementing partner

Dedras to improve the productivity and production methods

of 1,200 cashew farmers.

A further objective is to improve the organization of cashew

producers and their cooperatives through training in

operational and financial management and linking them to

microfinance institutions.

By partnering with Tolaro Global processing plant, the cashew

farmers will be trained in quality control by the Tolaro quality

control division, and will have a ready market for their crops

through Tolaro and in turn PepsiCo’s snack food subsidiary,

FritoLay. SHA also has a contract with the African Cashew

Alliance (ACI) for this initiative, who will provide training

materials and support to connect smallholder producers with

other opportunities in the private sector.

Total Beneficiaries: 1,200 cashew producers

01 BENIN - PEPSICA

Programme Donor Timeframe ImplementingPartner

ProgrammeArea

Total Budget

PepsiCo – Increased cashew production

Improved Access to Water and Sanitation

Water Use and Sustainability in Market Gardening

Sustainable agriculture in Northern Burkina Faso

Improved cashew production and access to the value chain

Climate change adaptation

PepsiCo, African Cashew Initiative, The Department for International Development (DFID)

€ 180,000 2012 2014

Tolaro Global, Dedras Parakou, Benin

European Commission,Jersey Overseas Aid Cominnsion (JOAC)private trust funding

€ 1,599,050 2011

2016

Wend Yam,SOS Sahel International,Organic

Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre Nord, Centre Sud, Burkina Faso

DFID € 69,464 2012

2014

IDE,Adeccol

Centre Est, Burkina Faso

GOAC, DFID € 80,000 2012

2014

PER Bam Province, Burkina Faso

DFID € 60,000 2013

2015

SOS Sahel InternationalCashew processors

Hauts-Bassins,Cascades

DFID, JOAC € 100,000 2012

2013

Trax Ghana,Ministry of Agriculture

Upper East Region

01

02

03

04

05

06

Soil conservation and improved value addition

DFID € 210,000 2013

2015

Rafia,Code Utile, Gadib,Ministry of Agriculture

Savanes Region 07

1

Honey Value Chain DFID € 46,800 2013 Wend Yam Oubritoga 08

OUR

PROG

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MES

This is an EU-funded programme that will provide safe

drinking water, latrines and hygiene awareness training

for 30,000 people in the Boucle Mouhoun, Centre

Nord and Centre Sud regions of Burkina Faso. The provision

of safe drinking water and sanitation remains a major

challenge in rural Burkina Faso.

Two types of latrine are being provided, basic family latrines

and ECOSAN latrines. ECOSAN latrines are designed so

that faecal matter can be used as a safe, natural fertilizer.

Agriculture inputs such as chemical fertilisers are expensive

and beyond the means of most rural households as well as

being damaging to the environment, so an additional benefit

of this project will be an increase in crop yields through access

to natural fertiliser.

Water points are being rehabilitated or constructed according

to the availability of boreholes and wells in villages. We are

working with three local partners and local governments

to ensure careful follow-up of the maintenance and

management of the latrines and boreholes.

Total Beneficiaries: 30,000 people

02 BURKINA FASOWATER AND SANITATION

WEST AFRICA

2

togo

ghana

kenya

burkinafaso

zambia

malawi

togo

ghana

kenya

burkinafaso

zambia

malawi

togo

ghana

kenya

burkinafaso

zambia

malawi

Lake Volta Ou

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BENIN

BURKINAFASO

GHANA

TOG

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AccraLome

Porto Novo

1. PepsiCa

ImprovedCashewProduction

5.

2. Water and Sanitation

4. Sustainable Agriculture

3. Drip Irrigation Research

Soil Conservationand Value Addition

7.

Climate ChangeAdaptation

6.

8. Honey Value Chain

Ouagadougou

Bolgatanga

NIGERIACOTE D´IVOIRE

MALI

NIGER

This is a research project with local partner Adeccol to

measure the effectiveness of drip irrigation compared

to traditional irrigation, using watering cans. It follows

previous works with womens’ groups involved in marketing

gardening in Centre EST, Burkina Faso.

Through International Development Enterprises (IDE), an NGO

that specialises in low cost technological solutions, SHA is

providing drip irrigation to smallholder farmers. Sites have

been established that are measuring the use of water and

crop yields, and are comparing these to the volumes of water

and productivity using traditional methods.

A further aspect of the research is an assessment of the true

affordability and maintenance of the drip irrigation system for

smallholders without the support or organisations such as

IDE and Self Help Africa. The results of this research project

will be shared across SHA and other stakeholders in Burkina

Faso and West Africa.

Total Beneficiaries: 312

In collaboration with local partner PER in the Centre

Nord province, this project is using systems of lead

farmer training and knowledge transfer for conservation

agriculture measures and approaches. Literacy training is

provided to community members, and support and assistance

given with information gathering and documentation of

approaches and agricultural techniques. Building on the

previous successes of zaï (a practice that involves digging

small fertilising pits to rehabilitate farm land in Burkina Faso)

in increasing crop production in arid zones, 2013 will see an

increasing focus on the documentation and dissemination of

this technique amongst other stakeholders in the surrounding

regions. We will also incorporate the multiplication of

improved varieties of seed, as access to quality seed is a major

obstacle to smallholders.

This project will also provide a new borehole and rehabilitate

an existing water point to provide safe clean drinking water.

As in other regions of Burkina Faso, clean drinking water

is limited, and the community is currently sharing its water

sources with livestock.

Total Beneficiaries: 2,800

OUR

PROG

RAM

MES

04 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN NORTHERN BURKINA FASO

03 DRIP IRRIGATION RESEARCH

3

Value-addition and linking processors to markets is

the focus of this new project in Burkina Faso. Local

partners SOS Sahel will carry out the work in the west

of the country and forge links for producers with processing

companies based around Burkina’s second city, Bobo Dialasso.

We will work with producers on quality control using KOR

kits which will increase their credibility with processing plants

and carry out the first level of cashew processing, shelling, to

increase their margin from buyers. In addition to processing

of the nut we will train farmers and women producers on

processing of the cashew apple which is a valuable but under

utilised by-product of cashew nut production.

SHA will also work with producers to improve organisation

and management of farmer groups, as working in larger

groups on established plantations will give producers stronger

collective bargaining power. Women will be supported to

access credit from micro-finance institutions to invest in micro-

enterprises around the cashew value chain.

Total Beneficiaries: 100 cashew producers and processors

This project is being implemented by TRAX Ghana in the

Dachio and Pelunga areas of Upper East Region, and

Mozio and Pagnatik Zones in Northern Ghana.

This project promotes a range of soil and water conservation,

and other natural resource management activities and aims

to build the resilience of 2,000 small-holding farm families

to cope with climate change and produce food in changing

environmental conditions. The focal areas of the project

include soil fertility regeneration interventions, crop-livestock

farming, income generating activities and the strengthening

of community trainers as lead farmers and farmer-based

producer groups or organisations. The project will seek to

address the problem of unsustainable agricultural practices

and environmental degradation which is a contributing factor

to poor soils and desertification.

Farmers will be trained in the early detection of animal and

crop diseases and linked with Ministry of Agriculture paravets

for additional support. TRAX Ghana will also collaborate

with staff of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to train

farmers groups on wildfire prevention and management, link

up with Ghana Forest Services Department and Environmental

Protection Agency to support tree growing and environmental

conservation actions. Farmer producer groups of soybean and

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05 CASHEW VALUE CHAIN IN WESTERNBURKINA FASO 06 GHANA

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

4

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groundnuts will be linked up to Savannah Farmers Marketing

Company in Tamale for improved market access.

Total Beneficiaries: 2,000 smallholders

This project is designed to improve the economic and

ecological resilience to climate change of (mainly)

women smallholder farmers in Northern Togo.

Through soil conservation and sustainable agriculture

techniques, the use of chemical fertilizer will be reduced by

50%, not only increasing productivity but also removing a

costly drain on the limited incomes of smallholders. Value

addition will be a second main focus of activities allowing

farmers to increase their profits through soybean processing.

Farmers are being organized into cooperatives and trained on

various derivative products of soybean that can increase the

marketability and profits of the soybean harvests. Women

are the main producers of soybean in Northern Togo and a

nutrition component is integrated into training to encourage

the consumption of the soybean crop and products

themselves as they are highly nutritious and are ideal as a

nutritional supplement for small children.

Local partners Code Utile, Rafio and Gadib are being

supported to collaborate more closely and combine their

experiences in soil conservation, soy bean value chains and

wetland cultivation respectively.

In addition to soybean, during the counter season (off

season), farmers will be trained on rice production and

market gardening. As these activities are also primarily

aimed at women, there will be a focus on nutrition and the

post-harvest handling of crops to preserve their nutritious

components and sale value.

Total Beneficiaries: 1,000 smallholder farmers

This project will build on previous work we have

done with Wend Yam on bee-keeping and honey

production. As a next step, activities in 2013 will focus

on the value chain of bee-keeping derivative products such as

honey, propolis and beeswax. These are much more valuable

products than the raw honey farmers normally sell and will

help eliminate the middle man who usually pocket the bulk

of profits. Through Wend Yam, we will provide training and

equipment to facilitate post-harvest production of these

ancillary products. We will train producer groups on the

importance of quality control and negotiation skills for dealing

directly with buyers.

Total Beneficiaries: 200

07 TOGOSOIL CONSERVATION AND VALUE ADDITION

08 HONEY VALUE CHAIN

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Self Help Africa West Africa12 PO Box 418,Ougadougou 12,Burkina FasoTel. +226 50 36 89 60infowafo@selfhelpafrica.org