|
|
When an animal, like the cow, looses weight, suffers from internal bleeding and acute diarrhoea, with necrosis and shrivelling of the gastro-intestinal lining, make no mistake, these are the signs of a highly contagious disease: rinderpest. Sixty to eighty per cent of Africa’s cattle herd has been lost to it. Two hundred million cattle were decimated in Europe, two hundred years ago. In 1888, the virus came onto the African continent, through the Ethiopian port of Massawa, carried by Indian cattle. It has been a nightmare for African veterinary services, since 1964. In Senegal, where it has been silent for a while, as has been the case in most countries (thanks to two vaccination campaigns), the newly developed kit is a formidable epidemiological surveillance tool and provides early warning of the virus’ emergence. It was developed by the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles’ National Livestock and Veterinary Research Laboratory. Of course, other rinderpest surveillance and diagnostic techniques exist already, but they have the disadvantage of being lengthy, difficult to carry out (requiring infrastructure and staff training) and expensive, whilst the situation is so grave that a simple, sensitive, specific, reliable, and inexpensive technique is needed to combat this menace. The kit meets these requirements: designed according to the principle that the virus reproduces prior to multiplication (negative DNA), genes from the virus were cloned and inserted into the genome (the collection of chromosomes from the sexually reproductive cell that represents half of those from the other cells) of a bacillovirus to infect the larvae or the butterflies (Spodptera frugiperda) cells grown in vitro. This made it possible for them to produce a large quantity of protein used in this kit as markers for the rinderpest antibodies. Therefore, even if it is moving around very silently, the virus is quickly unmasked, which also makes it possible to rapidly and efficiently encircle the infectious outbreak areas. The Laboratory is able to produce sufficiently large quantities to comfortably meet the requirements of Senegal (nearly 7,000 samples a year) and the rest of the continent. As a result, this kit may also be of interest to Asian countries, where rinderpest exists. And yet, this is not the first success story from the Laboratory, since another kit, to combat African swine fever this time, was developed, six months ago. Contact: Joseph Sarr, A. Shabbir,
Over the past few years, the Togolese climate has fluctuated considerably. The rainy season has grown shorter and local varieties have produced lower yields, in the savanna region. The deficit of sorghum grain (coarse millet) production is estimated between thirty-three thousand to fifty thousand tons, whereas average on-farm yields fluctuate betwen five hundred and eight hundred kilogrammes per hectare. The plant growing cycle is also extremely long, between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and eighty days to flowering, to a height of four to six meters. Yet sorghum, that yields between one hundred and ten and one hundred and seventy-two thousand tons of grains a year, is one of the major food crops. Given this situation, the Institut togolais de recherche agronomique carried out research, in 1991, that led to high-yielding improved sorghum varieties. The most productive turned out to be Sorvato 1 (with ivory-white grains) and Sorvato 28 (with red grains). They grow as tall as 2-2.5 meters, 100-105 days to flowering, with average yields ranging from 2-3 t/ha under intensive cropping. In addition, they are ideal for pounding into a paste, the main staple eaten by the population, and for making into traditional beverages (60% of this sorghum production is used for this purpose), like "tchoucoutou" and "tchakpalo". Fifteen per cent of Sorvato 1 goes into making bread (the remaining 85% being made up of wheat flour). It is of high technological value and has low levels (0.20%) of phenol (tannin). Seed Production to Disseminate These agronomic, technological, and culinary properties have led to the dissemination of these two new improved varieties in fourteen West and Central African countries, where they have consistently maintained their high-yielding production. Seed production has made it easier to disseminate these varieties, throughout the savanna region, with the collaboration of the réseau Ouest et Centre africain de recherche sur le sorgho (ROCARS), the Projet de soutien aux groupements villageois dans l’est de la région des savanes (SOGVERS), and the Association française pour le développement international (AFDI 47). ITRA received support for this research from the European Development Fund. Contact: Batoussi N. M’Po
Rural electrification, the pumping, drying, and heating water are gains in conventional energy and environmental protection, particularly for poor countries. However, using these new and renewable sources of energy entails costs, not least of which is the cost of capacity building. Courses in renewable energy (solar energy, biomass, etc.) for rural development were organized, in Abidjan, for the benefit of senior officers and technicians, from West and Central Africa, from 12-16 November 2001. This was carried out at the initiative of the Ivorian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Organisation islamique pour l’éducation, les sciences et la Culture (ISEISCO), and UNESCO. Participants also visited sites equipped with these energy sources. Contact: Arsène N’Da Kouadio
In Africa South of the Sahara, rural and periurban women and children suffer the most from a poor diet and malnutrition. Senegal is no exception to the rule. Thirty-two per cent of the households fell below the poverty threshold in 1997. Fifty per cent of Senegalese people will be living in poverty in 2015, if nothing is done. However, leafy vegetables, a basic food crop for the population and a major source of income (representing fifty per cent of the family budget in 1999), can contribute to providing solutions. Yet, production is not without its problems. Seeds are not always available, quality remains poor, efficient crop pest control methods do not exist yet, viable technical practices have not been perfected either, processing techniques are not mastered, there are still no studies on marketing channels and the socioeconomic impact of leafy. These are as many difficulties that are being tackled by research carried out by the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles’ centre pour le développement horticole (CDH), since 1998 (see the eleventh issue of Coraf Action). In the past, the center had collected results about the production of sweet potato tubers, cassava roots, "jaxatu" fruit, "bisaap" (Guinea sorrel) flowers and leaves, and amaranthus leaves. On the basis of these findings, the research project on traditional leafy vegetables studies the production, conservation, processing, marketing and consumption of the leaves of Hibiscus sabdariffa (bisaap), Moringa oleifera ("nebedaay"), Amaranthus spp, VIgna unguiculata (cowpea), and Manihot esculenta (cassava). An outcome of the first phase (1998-2000) was the organization of a planning workshop, in Dakar, at the beginning of September 2001, which concluded on the need to launch a second phase, financed by The Netherlands. All the partners were there: representatives of the Institut de technologie alimentaire (ITA), the Institut fondamental d’Afrique noire Cheikh Anta Diop (IFAN CAD), nonGovernmental Organizations (Environnement et développement du Tiers-monde, Horticonsult, Sahel 2000), the Projet de promotion des céréales locales (PROCELOS), Semences tropicales (TROPICASEM), and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). The second phase, planned for a duration of three years, is financed by The Netherlands. This project is part of the IPGRI research network bringing together researchers from South Africa, Cameroon, the Gambia, Kenya, and Senegal. They are working on collecting and preserving different ecotypes for these species, selecting productive major pest-resistant varieties, suited to agroecological conditions, developing protection methods for crops, humans, and the environment. The project is also trying to develop harvesting, preservation, and packaging techniques for the leaves, analyzing their nutritional content, developing recipes and carrying out socioeconomic impact studies. In the future, research will be carried out at pilot sites, at Keur Pathé Kane, in the Thiès region (Centre-West), at Matam, in the Saint-Louis region (North), at Tambacounda, in the region of the same name (East), and at Kaolack, in the region of the same name (South-West). Contact: Meïssa Diouf
Animal trematodosis has started to flourish in the Senegalese river basin, because of the Diama and Manantali dams and hydroagricultural developments. Several outbreaks of fasciolosis (the disease caused by Fasciola gigantica) and schistosomiasis (caused by Schistosoma bovis and Schistosoma curassoni) have broken out there, over the past few years, causing considerable losses amongst cattle and small ruminants. The most widely-used disease control method was the coproscopic technique, used for a precise count of the eggs of the parasite responsible for this disease affecting animals. Unfortunately, the eggs can only be detected two or three months, after they have infested the animals. A choice had to be made amongst the new serological tests to develop a more sensitive technique, adapted to the animals and practical for early detection of the animal disease: the ELISA technique. It also reveals the presence of some diseases, but is hardly ever used to diagnose fasciolosis and schistosomiasis. In Senegal, the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles’ National Livestock and Veterinary Research Laboratory has carried out a test on three groups of sheep. The sheep, in the first group, were infected by products secreted by F. gigantica (serving as anti-gens) to detect fasciolosis. For schistosomiasis detection, the sheep in the second group were infected with S. bovis adult worms, and those, in the third group, with S. curassoni adult worms (acting as antigens). The animals were monitored, and serum collected, once a week, to look for the antibodies created by these antigens. A fourth set of non-infected sheep was also used as a control group. From the fourth week after infestation, this technique made it possible to find the first F. gigantica anti-bodies. After the sixth week, the first S. bovis antibodies were detected, whilst the S. curassoni were found, the ninth week. No Reaction From the Animals Then, a study was carried out, in the endemic areas, to see how efficient the ELISA technique was compared to the coprological technique (an analysis of fecal matter) on three herds of 33, 62, and 79 sheep located in the endemic zones. The first technique revealed 75.75% fasciolosis present in the first herd, 85.5% schistosomiasis and 96% in the two other herds. The second technique showed fasciolosis (18%) in the first herd, and schistosomiasis (26-24% for S. curassoni only) in the two other herds. These results eloquently attest to the fact that the ELISA technique is useful for organizing and establishing detection programs for disease control, be it in a herd, on a farm, or in a livestock region. Contact: Oumar Talla Diaw
There is no doubt that cities have a lot to offer agricultural activities. It is much easier to purchase goods and inputs from the markets, water is more readily available, waste is better managed. However, this type of agriculture is no better off and continues to face difficulties: conservation of produce, unbearable pressure on natural resources, threats to people’s health, weak institutional capacity. A lot of questions have been asked about the "benefits" generated by research and new prospects are being examined. On both fronts, the Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar and the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles carried out a research project on urban agriculture. The first phase (1998-2001) has produced satisfactory results that have been published. In June 2000, the Institut organized training for participants, from ten West and Central African countries, with the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement and the International Development Research Centre, in Dakar. The participants were able to harmonize their approaches to urban agriculture. The research-development methodology adopted is prone to mobilize all agricultural actors around their common expectations, to break down sector barriers in favor of integrated approaches for a common strategic vision of the sector. Contact: Maty B. Diao
A valuable new universal tool for river basin data management is now available in France. This software, baptized HYDROMET, can recover, store, process and transmit hydrometeorological data on the level and flow of water courses, water quality, wind speed and direction, the rainfall. This is the result of collaboration between the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and the Compagnie nationale du Rhône (CNR). This is not the first of its kind for either IRD or CNR. The first of the two institutions developed several computerized tools including HYDROM, PLUVIOM, for all its computerized data transmission networks (in hydrometeorology) in some forty countries, especially in the South. The second institution developed the Thalie software, in the nineties. It gathers, analyzes, processes, and transmits data to its clients, as does the SADT software which runs a hydrological network, in Paraguay. In France, the CNR uses a network of about one hundred and twenty measurement sites on the Rhône and its major tributaries. Contact: Hélène Deval
Over five hundred million people live on cassava throughout the world, eating its roots or tubers, due to their high energy content, and to its leaves that are an abundant source of protein and vitamins A and B. In Togo, it is eaten as gari, chips, paste, or "foufou". However, this is a crop that has been ravaged by disease, pests, or the vagaries of the climate, over the past few years. In the mountainous regions, in this case the Danyi Plateau and the Adélé region, a shocking discovery occurred: young cassava shoots were wilting, stems and roots were rotting, causing major yield losses. Research began, in 1991, to find out the reasons for this calamity. They had to wait seven years to identify the pathogenic agent. It is an earthborne fungus, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, which lives in the soil, thanks to its pycnides (receptacles for the mushroom containing conidiae) and on the dead post-harvest debris. Under favorable conditions, the parasite germinates and infests crops, especially attacking their conductive tissue. Control methods were developed by the Institut togolais de recherche agronomique. Benomyl (2 gm/l of water) has proved efficient. Unfortunately, this fungicide is out of the reach of most farmers’ pockets. Therefore, researchers are looking into using resistant varieties. However, farmers must be trained to recognize the symptoms of this disease, avoid picking planting material from contaminated fields, and should not keep stalks destined for planting for more than one month. They should also avoid planting cassava again in the same field in an endemic zone, and, finally, they should avoid burying the stalks underground. Contact: Béré Tchabana
The second longest river in Africa after the Nile, the second largest river worldwide in terms of water flow, after the Amazon, the River Congo contains half of the water African rivers pour into the Atlantic Ocean. With a river basin of three million and seven hundred thousand square kilometers, it rises in the Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, cuts across Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Zambia, Tanzania, and the Sudan. This gigantic waterbody has, for the past century, been studied by researchers at the Institut de recherche pour le développement, who have been observing the relationship between rainfall and water flow in the river and its tributaries. Flow has been unstable over the past fifty years: a sharp drop over the past ten years, variations due to fluctuating rainfall, the influence of heavy rains moderated largely by the nature of the basin’s soils. As is the case in other parts of Africa, the River Congo basin was affected by several periods of drought, which led to a 4.5% drop in rainfall, between 1961 and 1999. The Oubangui, its major tributary, recorded a 3% drop in rainfall. Other tributaries (Shangha and Kouyou) located further to the North, experienced a reduction in rainfall, ten-thirteen years later. The variability study of the Congo and Oubangui river flows showed that, between 1980 and 1996, the Congo’s flow dropped the most, by 10% (37,400 m3). The second tributary’s experience was worse: its flow was reduced by 29%. This reduction was, two to four times, more than the amount of rainfall for the Congo, but it was five times more for the Oubangui. How can one explain that, in a situation where there was drought everywhere, the drop in water flow was not identical from one river body to the other? The answer is as straightforward as they come: the considerable variations in the geological composition of the different tributary river basins. To the North, the Oubangui is a ferruginous rock-hard peneplain on which water runs off, increasing the rate of variability in the rainfall (a 3% drop in rainfall led to a 29% reduction in flow, between 1982 and 1993). Further South, the Shangha and its sandy soils are partially flooded during heavy rains. Finally, near the estuary, the gritty soils of the Kouyou have, a contrary, stabilizing effect (retaining excess water during the humid season and releasing it during the dry season), causing only a reduced impact due to low rainfall levels of 5.3% on flowrates, which only went down by 0.2%. Without questioning the effect of the drought that has been raging in Africa, since the seventies, this study, on the contrary, details its impact on water resources. The size of the River Congo basin and the diverse nature of its tributaries are remarkable assets, making it remarkably stable under variable rainfall. If the River were as sensitive as its tributary, the Oubangui, one can well imagine the catastrophic consequences the recent drought would have had on this part of Africa. Contact: Gui Mahé Extensive cropping systems, conservation, distribution, and processing methods, the volume of post-harvest losses, low productivity levels, and technology transfer, in rural environments, are problems encountered by the yam sector. To put an end to them, eighteen research institutions, from ten West and Central African countries, invested in research which produced results on physiology, crop protection, and varietal improvement. Researchers, development agents, farmers, traders, and nonGovernmental Or-ganization officials met at a national workshop on the sustainable development of the production and consumption of yam in Cote d’Ivoire, in Abidjan, from 23-26 October 2001. Discussions and recommendations centered on the achievements and ongoing research on varietal improvement, crop protection, sustainable crop development, conservation, processing and marketing. It was under the auspices of the Centre national de recherche agronomique, associated with the Projet sur la gestion participative des ressources naturelles et de la faune (GEPRENAF) (Participatory Management of Natural Resources and Fauna Project), the Agence nationale d’appui au développement rural, the Projet d’appui à la commercialisation et aux initiatives locales (PACIL) (Local Initiatives Marketing Support Project), the Sécurité alimentaire durable en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre (SADAOC) (Sustainable Food Security in West and Central Africa), the Centre suisse de recherches scientifiques (CSRS), and the Association ivoirienne des sciences agronomiques (AISA). Despite its national scope, this workshop was attended by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, and the West Africa South Development Unit (WASDU). Contact: Pierre Zohouri
In Africa South of the Sahara, agricultural research and development institutions need a management information system, now more than ever, to organize, share, better communicate information, and arbitrate amongst priorities and conflicts that may have emerged. Beyond these institutions, the public needs sensitization, explanations, and satisfaction. To achieve this, the information system should be organized, as a project piloted by a team with well-defined skills and responsibilities, sharing the same values and vision. Implementing such a management information project requires clearly-defined objectives, an analysis of user needs, functional operating specifications (user needs and a description of existing needs), technical specifications prepared (project feasibility, suitable technical solutions). This preliminary requirement will make it possible to carry out various phases of the project, from conception (technical development of the solution) through maintenance (viable and regular functioning of the system) to operating the system. Production and conserving documentation, collected during preceding operations, will be given particular attention. Finally, users will have to be trained, even if user manuals have been well designed and are available in adequate numbers. This is the essence of training on the design and implementation of a management information system, in Bordeaux, at the end of September 2001, by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, in collaboration with CORAF-WECARD and the Institut francophone des nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la formation (INTIF). At the end of this workshop, facilitated by trainers from the Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, research institution authorities feel able to design and carry a project to its conclusion. Contact: Dady Demby, Janine Goudiaby
In Nigeria, the morose economic climate makes it difficult for small-scale farmers to procure chemical pesticides. Even those, who are able to obtain them, run the risk of being poisoned, either by using chemically treated crops, or fungicides, or insecticides. With the rate at which our planet is being polluted on a daily basis, it is time, for scientists and farmers, to pause and introduce some natural and environmentally-friendly cropping practices. Have they forgotten that any plant species, that has not been attacked by a specific pest, may be a natural pesticide to control that pest? Natural pesticides may not be as efficient as synthetic pesticides, but there is no doubt about their efficacy, albeit partial, as control agents. In addition, the fact that these are low-cost, safe, and easily available, natural pesticides should be welcomed and promoted by all the agricultural actors who are seeking to improve the life of rural dwellers. The National Cereals Research Institute has made its own contribution, by identifying and using natural pesticides to control two major rice diseases: brown leaf spot (Helminthosporium oryzae) and blast (Pyricularia oryzae). This happened at Badeggi, in Nigeria, a predominantly rice-growing area, where these diseases are of economic importance. Mango (Mangifera indica) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) were used as seed treatment. Plants grew better. The seedlings were more vigorous than the ones from the untreated seeds. This gave the rice plants a better start. Foliar sprays also helped to manage the diseases. The rice crop was able to establish well before the onset of the diseases. Although, these pesticides do not eliminate the diseases, the yield obtained from plots, with these two treatments, was better than from the untreated plots. Contact: L. Ogboire
Zimbabwe seems much too large a country for its eleven million inhabitants with its three hundred and ninety thousand square kilometers. Both in rural areas and in the cities, compounds extend for hectares. How can one provide security for properties like that? A young native-born genius believes that he has made his own special contribution, by inventing an easily controlled machine that can manufacture double spiral wire. Two types of mechanisms are applied on this famous 10.5 kilowatts machine. The first type is driven by electric motors and pneumatics (air conditioned system). It can work 3 millimeters diameter wire into fencing of 2-2.5 meters width wire and mesh sizes from 20-75 millimeters. The second type is driven by hydraulic motors. It can work wire up to the diameter of 3 millimeters into 5 meters width and mesh sizes from 20-100 millimeters. Variable Speed As soon as the machine is switched on, the rotating weaving blade draws the two wires in the double grooved weaving worm. The spirals, manufactured in this way, run into the split weaving tube and screw itself into the last of the two spirals previously manufactured on the machine. When the required length has been achieved, the spirals are cut, and the weaved fence is moved one diamond mesh forward in preparation for the next spiral. Weaving, cutting, bending of the ends, counting the number of meshes and spirals are all done automatically. The machine is electronically controlled, so the weaving blade can be exactly positioned; as can also be done under changing working conditions. The rotational speed of the weaving blade can be varied from zero to one hundred rotations per minute, while the machine is working; it all depends on wire quality, wire diameter, material strength, size of mesh, and the width of the fence. The maximum speed can be fully utilized, because the acceleration and deceleration of the weaving speed can be electronically controlled per every spiral. In critical areas, such when the spiral moves into the tube, lesser speed is used. Digital Data Technology Finally, the machine has a safety mechanism that automatically controls the running of the machine, and sets off the machine, when there is a disturbance at the pick up coil or at the point where the spiral runs into the weaving tube. In addition to these advantages, the machine moves in slow motion, during setting up. Digital data feeding technology makes it easy to operate; each mechanical movement can be carried out in isolation to the whole process in manual status. Contact: Godfrey Matewa Fresh milk is surely one of the best foods for healthy nutrition. Drunk regularly, particularly by children, it prevents anaemia, osteoporosis, and avitaminoses. In Guinea and the Gambia, the International Trypanotolerance Center found, from a recent study, that almost the entire milk production is consumed fresh or soured by the people, when they do not take it to the nearest markets for sale. Biological tests, carried out in nine markets, revealed that this milk is almost 100% contaminated with bacteria which can make consumers seriously ill. These bacteria are E. coli, Staphylococcus sp, Clostridium sp, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella sp and Listeria sp. Poor hygiene, the reason for most of these bacteria, is caused by poor transport conditions and handling during sale. Milk Boiled Before It Is Consumed For ITC, the best solution is as follows: set up a dairy industry responsible for collection, pasteurization, and processing. Particularly as this is in the process of being done in some countries in the subregion. Meanwhile, it is highly recommended that milk be boiled before it is consumed. Contact: S. Munster
Agricultural activity will remain a mystery for a long time to come. The integrated intensification program of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) has, once again, proved this to be true. It has designed a tool to aid decision-making, and thereby determine the best time and place for leafy vegetable cultivation. This tool, a technical brief for which can be obtained on request, must be tested by the user, who is requested to indicate the cropping environment and highlight any weaknesses observed. In addition, IFDC has developed other decision-making tools, including one on the feasibility of fertilizer use. It determines the price of products and agricultural fertilizers in West Africa. It also informs about the relationship between the dosage used and its effect, costs and benefits, and selecting between phosphate fertilizer and natural phosphates in agricultural production. The information sheet on this tool can be obtained from the address indicated below. Contact: Henk Breman
In Nigeria, village communities have increased utilization and average production of sugarcane and soybean. Some sugar companies (Nigerian Sugar Company, Bacita and Savanna Sugar Company, Numan) produce less than five per cent of domestic sugar requirements. Their major production constraints have been very low annual harvests of millable sugarcane. Farmers, from the communities neighboring the estates, have been organized into sugarcane outgrower cooperatives to augment the scope of production. However, their participation has been low for economic reasons and for a lack of compatibility with the traditional cropping system. Farmers produce the local biotype of cane, in various intercrop systems, with horticultural crops. However, it took the National Cereals Research Institute’s study to show that these two crops can be grown in a relay intercrop system, in most of the upland fields cultivated by farmers around the estates. Thus, in May-June, land is ploughed and harrowed. Rows are marked, about 1.5 meter apart. Sugarcane is planted immediately afterwards, by laying cane setts along the rows, while soybean is introduced, at three weeks after planting, and drilled midway between the rows of sugarcane. To Support the Sugarcane Tillers Finally, fertilizer is applied at the recommended basal rate: 60 kg of nitrogen, 80 kg of phosphate and 80 kg of potash. Diuron (2.5 kg/ha), a local herbicide, is applied at planting to control the early flush of weed seedlings. Soybean is harvested, between September and October, depending on the maturation period of the cultivar used. Interrow cultivation is carried out immediately afterwards to create ridges and support the sugarcane tillers. Bringing Small Sugarcane Companies Together The benefits of this system include soil conservation, increased land equivalent ratio (more than 45%), higher farm returns, weed suppression in sugarcane by the canopy of soybean crop, and avoiding the risk of a total crop failure. Recently, some state governments (Jigawa, Benue, Sokoto) suggested that NCRI and the National Sugar Development Company establish community-based medium-scale sugar companies. These proposals will influence the sup-ply from farmer’s outgrower fields, diversity, viability, and sustainability of such crops. Contact: A.A. Ndarubu,
At this very moment in time, of the fifty-four million people in the Sahel, over fifteen million individuals are suffering from hunger. The Comité permanent inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel (CILSS) has decided to ensure that member countries can feed over one hundred million people from the Sahel by 2025. To achieve this, several activities need to be carried out in various disciplines, including pesticides. The comité sahélien des pesticides, which met, from 19-23 November 2001, in Bamako, reviewed all issues related to this situation. Major issues related to the implementation of regulatory texts and legislation, the ratification of joint regulations on pesticide certification signed in 1992, and the establishment of national management committees. Controlling pesti-cides in circulation, the phytosanitary situation, management policy for crop pests, the project on pesticide management in the Sahel, and the strategic framework on sustainable food security are some of the issues that were scrutinized by the experts on the committee. The Implementation of Decisions and Guidelines The committee, with its mandate to protect crops that do not endanger the environment and health of the populations, declared its determination to monitor the implementation of decisions, and guidelines issued by CILSS member states. Contact: Cheikh Hamallah Sylla
As of the last issue of Coraf Action, newsletters, information bulletins and reviews from agricultural research and development institutions that are members of CORAF-WECARD, and from sub-regional sub-Saharan African agricultural research organizations are a regular feature. CNRA-Info. CNRA information and liaison bulletin, 8 pages. Published by the Centre national de recherche agronomique, 01 BP 1740 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire, fax +225 23 45 33 05. It consists of the following sections: News from Headquarters, In the Fields, Research Angle, With our Partners, Echoes from Regional Directorates. La Lettre des Savanes. Newsletter about agriculture in the Sudan zones of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad. 8 pages. Published by the Pôle régional de recherche appliquée au développement des savanes d’Afrique centrale (PRASAC), the Farcha Laboratory, BP 764, N’Djamena, Chad, fax +235 52 83 02. It consists of the following sections: Regional Markets, Technical Innovations, Local Development, Natural Resource Management, Life of the Pole, In Brief. La Lettre de l’ISRA. 6 pages. Published by the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles, BP 3120, Dakar, Senegal, fax +221 832 24 27, ISSN 0850 5071. It consists of Events, Research Results, In Our Sights, Publications, Nominations and Secondments, Flash. SACCAR Newsletter. Three issues a year, 20 pages. Published by the Southern Africa Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Training (SACCAR), Private Bag 00108, Gaborone, Botswana, fax + 267 328806. Production intensive de viande en Afrique sub-saharienne. Actes du
séminaire-atelier, tenu du 13 au 17 Mars 1995, à Mbour, Sénégal = Intensive Meat
Production in sub-Saharan Africa. Publication of a workshop-seminar held in Mbour,
Senegal, from 13-17 March, 1995. By Safietou Toure Fall and Adama Faye, scientific
editors. 2000, 406 pages, "Publications", vol. 6, no. 2, ISSN 0850 8798.
Published by the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles, BP 3120, Dakar, Senegal. Impacts socio-économique de la lutte contre la trypanosomose animale sur les
pratiques d’élevage et agricoles. Etude de cas dans les départements de Satiri et
Bekuy, Burkina Faso = Socioeonomic Impacts of Animal Trypanosomiasis Control on Livestock
Production and Agricultural Practices. Case Study in the Satiri and Bekuy Departments of
Burkina Faso. By Christine Antoine, Anne-Sophie Brasselle, and Mulumba Kamuanga. 1999,
34 pages, "Working Document no. 3". Published by the Centre international de
recherche-developpement sur l’élevage en zone sub-humide, BP 454 Bobo-Dioulasso,
Burkina Faso, and the International Livestock Research Institute, P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi,
Kenya. Gestion et transformation de la matière organique. Synthèse des travaux de
recherches menés au sénégal depuis 1945 = Management and Processing of Organic Matter.
Synthesis of Research Work Carried Out in Senegal since 1945. By Aminata Niane
Badiane, Mamadou Khouma, and Modou Sène, scientific editors. 2000, 131 pages. Published
by the Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles, BP 3120, Dakar, Sénégal, the
Institut du Sahel, BP 1530, Bamako, Mali, and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and
rural Cooperation, Postbus 380, 6700 AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands. L’analyse économique des filières agricoles en Afrique sub-saharienne =
Economic Analysis of the Agricultural Sector in sub-Saharan Africa. By Pierrick
Fraval. 2000, 100 pages, "Study Reports", ISBN 2-11-092576-0. Published by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, direction générale de la coopération internationale et du
développement, 20 rue Monsieur, 75007 Paris. Techniques de transformation et de conservation artisanales de fruits et légumes =
Processing and Artisanal Conservation Techniques for Fruits and Vegetables. By
Guiseppe Amoriggi. 1988, 62 pages. Published by FAO, via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100
Rome, Italy. La transformation de fruits et de légumes par des méthodes artisanales. Manuel
technique = Processing Fruit and Vegetables by Artisanal Methods. Technical Workbook.
By Gaetanao Paltrinieri, Fernando Figuerola, and Loreto Rojas. 1998, 172 pages. Published
by FAO, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile.
- Meeting on institutionalizing agricultural research impact studies is organized by the CORAF-WECARD and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation in Dakar, from 26-29 March 2002. - CORAF-WECARD is organizing a meeting of agricultural actors on the Strategic Plan for Agricultural Cooperation, Research and Development in West and Central Africa in Dakar, in April 2002. - The meeting of the CORAF-WECARD Executive Committee was held in Bamako, from 19-21 December 2001.
|
