Preamble

This report was produced by a working group led by Inter-réseaux Développement Rural and comprising IRAM, CIRAD and Ambre Conseil/CERFRANCE. It is the culmination of several joint expert assessments by those three institutions on agricultural advisory services in Morocco1, Tunisia, Cameroon, Niger and Ivory Coast, among other countries.

A number of stakeholders involved in agricultural advisory services also contributed to this report with case studies and proofreading: AFDI, FERT, AVSF, CORADE (Burkina Faso), Afrique Verte Burkina Faso.

The full report includes a main text of about forty pages with references to eleven case studies, which are presented in the appendices. Those case studies draw on the experiences of several stakeholders in the field who are involved in agricultural advisory services: Cap Malagasy and Réseau SOA in Madagascar; the ACEFA programme in Cameroon; centres for management and rural economy in Senegal; FNGN, FEPAB, CAGEF, UGCPA, UNPCB and CPF in Burkina Faso; FUPRO in Benin; CNOP-G and FPFD in Guinea, milk-collection centres in Kollo and Hamdallaye in Niger; private advisory-services entities in Peru and Ivory Coast; and AVSF in Togo. Two cross-disciplinary case studies are also presented on the contribution of farmers’ organisations (FOs) to developing public policies for advisory services (AFDI) and on the emergence of new information and communication technology (NICT) in advisory schemes (CIRAD).

Figure 1: List of case studies2

Country Promoted by

SubSaharan

Africa

Agricultural profession

Case study

Role of FOs in advisory schemes

Niger

Ivory Coast

Agricultural profession / Private sector Private sector / Agricultural profession Multi-actor advisory-scheme model, promoted by a local value chain with a focus on one key stakeholder: a peasant-farmer milk-collection centre offering multiple services Advisory schemes linked to cocoa certification in Ivory Coast

Burkina Faso Agricultural profession

Peasant-farmer schemes offering advisory services for family farms (conseil à l’exploitation familiale) in Burkina Faso: evolution, features and challenges Cameroon State Advisory-scheme model for overhauling extension services at country level: the ACEFA programme

Burkina

Faso Agricultural profession Boosting sales for agricultural products: when producers get involved in agricultural advisory services via phone

Madagascar

Agricultural profession / Private sector Agricultural advisory scheme in Madagascar: Cap Malagasy

1 This report mainly addresses the revival of agricultural advisory services in sub-Saharan Africa, but several observations and proposals may apply to other regions and countries in the South. Likewise, analyses of public policies and situations relating to agricultural advisory services in Morocco, Tunisia and Peru may be useful for decision-makers in sub-Saharan Africa. 2 These case studies are available in French at https://www.inter-reseaux.org/ressource/fiches-de-capitalisation-leconseil-agricole/?lang=fr. English version will be available in 2022.

Senegal Agricultural profession Network of centres for management and rural economy in the Senegal River valley

Peru Private sector Towards the privatisation of agricultural advisory services: consequences for dairy producers in the Mantaro Valley Burkina

Faso Private sector / Agricultural profession How are information and communication technologies transforming advisory schemes? Survey of 16 agricultural advisory services in Burkina Faso

Togo Agricultural profession Note on field schools in northern Togo: Coaching to encourage joint development of peasant-farmer innovations

The following individuals helped write this report: Christophe Jacqmin and Vital Pelon (Interréseaux); Guy Faure, Patrick Dugué and Michel Havard (CIRAD); Jean-Christophe Claus and Alain Fournier (Ambre Conseil/CERFRANCE); Christophe Rigourd, Damien Halley des Fontaines and François Doligez (IRAM); Valérie Danto (AFD); Laure Hamdi and Anne Souarse (AFDI); and Anne Panel (FERT).

Christophe Rigourd (IRAM) and Patrick Dugué (CIRAD) coordinated the drafting of the report, and final editing was performed by Inter-réseaux. This project was funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).