Fair trade is much in vogue in Europe.For consumers in the northern hemi-sphere, buying produce from small
farmers in the South, and paying a fair price
for it, is a way of showing solidarity with
poor and vulnerable producers, who are
being crushed by the weight of globalisation.
It helps people living in the North to feel as
though they are both consumers and actors,
doing their bit to create a world that is less
unjust and more human. Campaigns laun-
ched by various organisations regularly speak
out against the iniquities of international
trade and the exploitation of agricultural
producers in the developing countries, and
these, together with the major international
forums have gone some way towards chang-
ing the way people think. Europeans are
anxious to consume 'more responsibly', and
are more sensitive to the conditions in which
the food they eat has been produced,
whether these be social or ecological. 
The major retail chains, always on the
lookout for new trends, were quick to spot
this tendency. All, or most, of the biggest
brand leaders now carry some fair trade
products, though they are not always easy to
track down on the shelves. "Consume better.
It’s important," goes the latest advertising
campaign run by Carrefour, the world’s lead-
ing supermarket chain. In Switzerland, even
the fast food king McDonald’s now serves
fair trade coffee to its customers.
Development organisations have also
taken an interest. The European Union is
backing fair trade initiatives in the ACP
SPORE 110 • PAGE 1
In this issue
While African producers
have been discovering
the exacting demands
of supermarkets, European
consumers have been putting
pressure on the major food retail
chains to sit up and take more
notice of fair trade and organic
products. In both cases, only a small
minority of producers in the South
have so far managed to benefit
from these new commercial trends. 
It has taken 30 years for the notion
of fair trade to emerge from the
sidelines and shrug off its image of
militant eccentricity. Today,
information technologies mean that
new market trends catch on more
quickly. Consumers in the North and
producers in the South can carry out
transactions or glean valuable
information with the click of a
mouse. By no means all producers
are hooked up. But those who are
have proved they are quick to learn
how to seize new business
opportunities and how to unravel
the threads of the Net.
Fair trade
Setting a virtuous
circle in motion
Every farmer wants to sell his or her produce at a fair price, and
the fair trade lobby has made this wish its watchword. But
although the movement is backed by a growing number of
Europeans, it has had only the slightest impact on farmers in the
South. What they want most of all is a change in the rules of
international trade.
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Number 110
APRIL 2004
Fair trade
Setting a virtuous circle in motion 1
Food retailing
Supermarkets usher in retail 
revolution 3
ICTs
Poor but plugged in 4
IN BRIEF 6
LINKS 10
PUBLICATIONS 11
BETWEEN US 14
VIEWPOINT
Women and decentralisation
If your husband listens to you... 16
Website: spore.cta.int
countries by funding promotion campaigns
for these products in Europe. In a recent re-
port on coffee, the World Bank itself recog-
nised that fair trade clearly improves living
conditions for producers in the South.
The figures bear witness to the
extent to which some consumers
have taken the fair trade cause to
their hearts: between 2000 and
2002, sales of fair trade products
rose by more than 40% worldwide.
In France and Norway, two coun-
tries which previously lagged 
behind, fair trade doubled between
2001 and 2002! But they still have
a long way to go before they can
catch up with Britain and
Switzerland, the undisputed leaders
in terms of sales for this type of
trade-with-a-conscience. Even so,
each Swiss citizen spends only an
average of € 10 per year to support
producers in the South. For while
few people would argue with the
generous principles behind fair
trade, it’s not quite so easy to put
one’s hand in one’s pocket and shell
out several cents more than one
would if buying a conventional
product…. In spite of the spectacu-
lar rise, the main products sold
under the fair trade label – tea, 
coffee, bananas, fruit juice, sugar
and rice – account for just 0.01% of
total world trade.
Fair trade’s 
800,000 producers
So it should come as no real surprise
that in the South, this type of trade
based on equity, partnership, confi-
dence and shared interests remains
largely misunderstood. It is true that
the groups and cooperatives which 
benefit from fair trade are pleased to be
selling their produce at a price that is
higher than the market rate, as well
as receiving advance funding for
farming initiatives and being able
to count on long-term contracts.
They also profit from the invest-
ments in infrastructure (for exam-
ple, schools and health centres) often
made to groups as a development bonus. But
on a global scale, only 800,000 farmers
benefit from these advantages. The majority
of them live in Latin America, while the
movement continues to have only a minor
presence in Southeast Asia and Africa.
The overall impact in terms of numbers of
people is miniscule. What is more, only a
very small proportion of agricultural output
is sold under the fair trade label – not
enough to make any real changes to the lives
of the producers. In the words of one agri-
cultural technician from Burkina Faso: "The
peasant farmers couldn’t care less about the
term 'fair trade'. They are interested in con-
crete results, in seeing more money in their
pockets." This attitude is exemplified by the
mango producers in the cooperative where
he works. In 2002 they were overjoyed to see
their organic mangoes being bought for
twice the export price paid for ordinary
mangoes. But last year they were greatly dis-
appointed when only 300 tonnes were 
purchased out of the total 
40,000 tonnes that had been pro-
duced. A similar situation exists in
Cameroon, where organic papayas
are bought by a Swiss association at
a price that is three times higher
than the rate paid at the local mar-
ket. "My output is around one
tonne a week, and Terrespoir takes
just 58 kg," complained one 
producer.
Many of the fair trade initiatives
are launched by small associations
based in the North, run by volun-
tary staff working with scant re-
sources. Often, they are based on
goodwill rather than professional-
ism, and they are subject to the vag-
aries of air transport, especially in
the case of fresh produce. The prod-
ucts are sold by cutting the number
of middle-men to a bare minimum,
and placing them in small specialist
stores which can absorb only a lim-
ited quantity. The strength of the
major food retailers lies in the fact
that they source products from cen-
tralised  distribution centres, which
also handle product labelling, a 
system which enables much greater 
volumes of stock to be shifted.
Restrictive labels
Since its small and informal begin-
nings, ethical trade has imposed stan-
dards. These days, not just anyone can
lay claim to the fair trade epithet. In
order to be deemed 'fair', products
have, since 2000, had to satisfy a range
of international criteria, strictly laid
down by the Fair Trade Labelling
Organisation (FLO), a body which is
recognised by all the players in the
game, and which was set up when it
became clear that there was a need
to have a label that was accepted by
all. The small marginalised producers
from the South are seen as the main
beneficiaries of the system, but they have
certain obligations which are expected to be
fulfilled. For the idea is that the advantages
should be equitably shared between all those
involved in production (especially women),
and that groups which deal in fair trade
products should be run in a transparent and
democratic manner. Such rules are some-
times hard to understand for the farmers.
For example, producers in Burkina Faso can-
not fathom why there should be any opposi-
tion to women carrying heavy basket-loads
of fruit, or why anyone should want to make
the farmers share the profits of their harvest
with the women. "If too much fuss is made
about the fate of women, it turns into dis-
crimination. The main thing is to look after
the interests of the family," commented one
extension worker after attending a FLO
meeting.
For many peasant farmers, the demands of
the North are all the more difficult to 
understand given that, increasingly, products
are both fair trade – paid for at a price that
is equitable – and organic, grown without
any chemical inputs. Although quite inde-
pendent of one another, the two movements
often go hand in hand, since European 
consumers are as concerned about respecting
the environment and their own health as
they are about safeguarding the well-being of
producers. The rules that they impose are
highly restrictive. The question that small
farmers have to ask is this: should the quan-
tity sold turn out to be too small, will it all
be worth it?
For the time being, this type of trade is
limited mainly to export produce consumed
on a large scale, such as coffee and bananas,
and to niche market products such as 
organic fruits and vegetables. Critics claim
that far from helping poor farmers, fair trade
serves only to make them even more depen-
dent on consumers in the North, deepening
the gulf between the poor producing coun-
tries and the wealthy consumer nations.
Others complain that the ecological costs are
not really taken into account. In this con-
text, the Max Havelaar Foundation, which
leads sales of fair trade products in Europe,
has been roundly criticised for flying flowers
into Switzerland that have been artificially
grown under glass, using chemical products,
in Zimbabwe. Finally, some detractors claim
that this movement fails to pay sufficient at-
tention to the interests of small farmers in
the North, who face competition from those
in the South.
Making trade fair
Parties involved in fair trade are themselves
divided about the shape of its future. A
French organisation called Minga, which
brings together about 30 fair trade associa-
tions, decries what it claims is "a North-
South vision, whose tendency is to reduce
fair trade to a new form of aid to the Third
World and its producers". This is biting 
criticism, given that when fair trade started
in the 1970s, the slogan adopted by 
movement was "trade not aid".
So is it better to aim for a continued 
increase in sales, or would it be more effec-
tive to work towards developing rules and
practices in international trade, in such a
way that the majority of producers, and not
just a very small minority, can benefit from
fairer prices? Oxfam, the British organisation
which pioneered fair trade, has opted for the
second approach and is running a vigorous
campaign, which it has dubbed "make trade
fair." Many militants now consider that 
instead of persuading consumers to buy
products at a fair price, efforts would be 
better spent in getting them to pressure
companies into adopting sustainable 
environmental and social values, even
though this may bear fruit only in the long
term.
SPORE 110 • PAGE 2
Fair trade • 
It is Friday evening in Antananarivo, andlike scores of others in the Malagasy capi-tal, Hanitra Randrianarivelo is doing a big
weekly shop at her local Champion super-
market. She likes the choice, the out-of-sea-
son fruit and vegetables and the fact that
shopping here saves time.
"In the end, the price works out the
same," says Randrianarivelo, as she piles gro-
ceries into her trolley. "If you compare beans
that you buy in the local market, which have
not been sorted, and the ones you choose
yourself. Anyway, it’s quicker here."
Randrianarivelo has a good job, and few
worries about the bill that awaits her at the
checkout. But in other corners of Africa,
families with far lower incomes are turning
to the one-stop store as the solution for their
shopping needs.
Supermarkets have made massive inroads
into the food retailing system in much of the
developing world (see Spore 109), transform-
ing agrifood markets and the consumer
habits of millions. But the rapidly changing
food retail system poses a major challenge to
many producers. Small-scale farmers, unable
to meet new demands for food production,
packaging and delivery, may be forced out of
the food economy if they are unable to
adapt.
Sink or swim
"The smaller farmers are in danger of being
marginalised if they don’t get help with tech-
nology, start-up capital and whatever it takes
to get into this new market," said Kostas
Stamoulis, an economist at FAO. "They
need help with facilities for packaging and
storage, for getting the right seeds, in gain-
ing knowledge about chemicals, and with
credit."
Latin America, including the Caribbean,
leads the field in the supermarket surge, but
though slower to start, Africa is catching up
fast, especially in the South and East. South
Africa dominates, with two chains,
Shoprite/Checkers and Pick 'N Pay.
With their centralised procurement sys-
tems, tight profit margins and insistence on
standardised products and quality, super-
markets drive a hard bargain with their sup-
pliers. Producers have to be able to deliver
shelf-ready products 365 days a year, with
unwavering standards in terms of flavour,
appearance and safety.
"Tomatoes not only have to be tasty and
look good," said Stamoulis. "They must also
have low pesticide residues, timely delivery
and be supplied in stable quantities. The 
supermarkets don’t want their shelves empty
some of the time."
The new rules of the game
Packaging, storage and transport require 
investment and new practices for small 
producers. Some 90% of produce supplied
to Freshmark, the procurement subsidiary of
Shoprite, is expected to arrive washed,
packed, labelled and bar-coded. Like most
major supermarket buyers, Freshmark oper-
ates distribution centres covering entire 
regions, so producers may have to transport
goods over long distances, in suitably refrig-
erated vehicles. Food safety certification can
pose further hurdles, with many inter-
national chains now insisting on standards
for growing and packaging that are more
rigorous than those imposed at national
level. As the impact of supermarkets has be-
come more apparent, tensions have
emerged. In Tanzania, horticultural farmers
launched a protest when a new supermarket
opened with fresh fruit imported from
South Africa.
But for those able to meet the new 
requirements, the rewards are attractive. The
advent of supermarkets represents a stable
market, with prompt payments for suppli-
ers. Other potential benefits include im-
provements in the quality and safety of food
sold locally, as farmers strive to meet super-
markets’ higher standards. This will result
not only in better foodstuffs for domestic
consumption, it should also put producers
on a stronger footing for competing in 
export markets.
In Senegal, small farmer Aboubacar Fall
sells his entire output of rice to the Score
chain of supermarkets. To win the contract,
he has had to organise packaging, labelling
and delivery, but he claims the investment
was worth it.
“I’m earning good money,” he said, 
unloading at a Dakar supermarket, where
the shelves are stacked with a range of fruit,
vegetables, chickens and milk produced by
other local suppliers. As the retail network
spreads, there is more scope for regional
trade. These days, bananas found in a Cape
Town supermarket may come from
Zimbabwe, while baby vegetables and avoc-
ados may be from Kenya or Zambia. With
the right help, farmers can make the grade.
A project in Zambia enabled small-scale
farmers from the region of Chipata to pro-
duce higher quality cabbage, tomatoes and
green beans for Shoprite.
Sourcing locally
"There are threats, but there are also oppor-
tunities," said Stamoulis. Exploiting those
opportunities will take time, but at FAO
plans are in hand to set up links between
producers, NGOs and supermarkets them-
selves. Keen to protect their brand image,
some chains are making more effort to
source locally. In Namibia, stores are provid-
ing technical assistance, supplying small
farmers with seeds, know-how and help with
certification. Following the Tanzania uproar,
Shoprite claims that 90% of its Arusha
store’s stock comes from local suppliers.
Developing country producers are precar-
iously placed in buyer-driven commodity
chains – one slip and they may be ‘delisted’,
a chilling term with chilling consequences.
But being small does not necessarily mean
exclusion. In the Solwezi district of Zambia,
the local supermarket has made the small-
scale of its suppliers a selling point. Every
day, a steady stream of farmers delivers let-
tuce, spinach and onions not by truck, but
by bicycle or wheelbarrow.
SPORE 110 • PAGE 3
Food retailing
Supermarkets usher
in retail revolution
The rapid expansion of supermarkets across large swathes of the
developing world poses a threat to small farmers. But it also
offers new opportunities for rural producers if they can tap into
the new market.
Customers and local
producers are turning
to supermarkets.
Safety for the former,
constraints but also
opportunities for 
the latter.
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Linking people to each other for a betterlife." So went the slogan for the globalvillage installed at the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS) held in
Geneva in December 2003 (see Spore 109).
As shown by the 265 organisations drawn
from 80 countries which set up stands there,
ICT4D, the acronym created to denote in-
formation and communication technology
for development, is a concept that has taken
off throughout the world. In the countries of
the South, in spite of common constraints
such as poor connections, lack of telephone
lines and illiteracy, local resourcefulness and
inventiveness have combined to develop
different ICT systems and to draw the  maxi-
mum advantage from them.
Rural dwellers who, by their very nature
are the most removed from such modern
technology, have made sure they are not left
behind. In Niger, the village of Bankilaré, in
the extreme west of the country, has neither
running water nor electricity, yet it can com-
municate with the entire outside world. The
pilot radio station installed there by the
Rural radio and information centres for de-
velopment programme (RURANET/CID)
downloads documents via the Afristar satel-
lite. These are received by a digital receiver
hooked up to a personal computer powered
by solar energy. On their wind-up radios, the
nomadic herders and farmers of the region
are able to listen to advice and news, trans-
lated into their own language by local radio
presenters – information which opens a win-
dow onto the outside world. Topics that
might be broadcast include how to use solar
energy in order to watch television, pump
water, dry fruits and vegetables or grind
cereals. But they still have problems in
receiving national radio! 
Better sales with a mobile phone
In the rural areas of Africa, the radio and the
mobile telephone remain the most fre-
quently used tools. They serve to relay inform-
ation available on the Internet, to which
only a very small minority of people have 
direct access, most of them urban dwellers.
Several years of experience have shown that
market information is the service most 
welcomed by farmers: when they are better
informed, they are able to sell their produce
for a higher profit. In Senegal, the small 
horticultural producers of Sébikotane, in the
Dakar region can follow the latest prices for
fruit and vegetables in the five Dakar mar-
kets on the screens of their mobile phones.
T2M or Time to Market – the real-time in-
formation system for prices and availability
of farm and marine produce set in place by
Manobi in Senegal, won an award at the
WSIS. A number of initiatives in the same
vein have been launched. In Uganda, radio
stations translate market information into
local languages and transmit it to the farthest
flung corners of the bush. In the Dominican
Republic, producers can learn about weather
conditions or find out the contact details of
potential buyers. These services are especially
prized in the most isolated Pacific islands.
Designed for small business owners in the
Solomon Islands, the Online Business
Information Service (OBIS) is run from a
single computer installed at the Ministry of
Trade and offers information on markets
and buyers, as well as avenues for financing
or raw materials, to anyone who wants it.
Questions can be sent in via fax or telephone
from any of the islands.
Other projects are designed specifically for
agriculture. One such example is AGRINET
in Ghana, which pools information from
various institutions. In South Africa, the
Southern African Agricultural Geo-refer-
enced Information System (AGIS), an infor-
mation service funded by CTA, enables
decision-makers and extension workers to
have a better understanding of soils and nat-
ural resources and to find out more about
the economic or social data relating to the
regions in which they are working. In a sim-
ilar fashion, the South Pacific Applied
Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) enables
farmers in the Pacific islands to have access
to information about water and natural re-
sources, factors which will help dictate the
kind of crops they decide to grow. There is
also information on livestock rearing. It is
hard to obtain up-to-date information in
these small islands about animal health and
the risk of epidemics since there are no labo-
ratories able to carry out diagnoses. One so-
lution to the problem is offered by the
Pacific Health Information Service (PAHIS),
a database offering information about live-
stock disease and veterinary infrastructures.
The advent of e-commerce should enable
producers to export without intermediaries,
and hence to obtain better prices, but it is in
precisely this field that the African countries
lag farthest behind, according to a report by
the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) on elec-
tronic commerce and development in 2003.
SPORE 110 • PAGE 4
Information and communication technologies 
Poor but 
plugged in
These days it is often said that there can be no development
without access to ICTs. It is certainly true that farmers who
are hooked up to new technologies fare better.
But they are few and far between.
Planters hook up to the Web
in Mauritius
In Mauritius, planters have been lucky
enough to have a government deter-
mined to turn them into fans of the Inter-
net. For the past 4 years, loans at 3% have
been available to anyone on the island
wanting to buy a personal computer.
Thanks to this initiative, about 700 of the
island’s 33,000 farmers have gone online
in their own homes. Many more, especial-
ly those who are not yet computer liter-
ate, prefer to use cooperatives, almost all
of which are kitted out with information
technology tools. There are special sites,
created for the island’s producers by the
cooperatives and the Ministry of Agricul-
ture. These are full of useful information
about services available, as well as techni-
cal help and tax incentives, and farmers
can be guided through the process, by
email if necessary, so they do not have to
move from their land. Other bodies, such
as the research institute for the sugar
industry, are also on the Web, where they
offer practical information useful to the
planters. From these institutes’ point of
view, it is a good way of giving exposure
to their research efforts.
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To find out more about ICTs, turn to the
Links page. For further information on ICTs
for agriculture and rural development, 
see http://ictupdate.cta.int
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At last, agricultural websites from around the
world are accessible in the South
"
SPORE 110 • PAGE 5
The sole exception is Kenya, which organises
online auctions to sell its coffee, in the same
way as many Latin American countries have
done for some time. With the exception of
South Africa, the few Internet sites that have
been set up for the sale of agricultural pro-
duce are poorly designed, and do not have
the capacity to accept payment online.
Sophisticated toys or tools 
for development?
There is no shortage of initiatives under way,
be they laboratories for developing innova-
tive technologies or development tools 
designed to give agricultural producers more
freedom of action. So long as these initia-
tives are well adapted to the needs of the
people for whom they are designed, their
benefit is clearly discernible. But most of
them continue to be restricted to small 
areas and it is still too early to be able to
measure their overall impact on agricultural 
performance.
In spite of these limitations, it is now
widely accepted that ICTs are essential to de-
velopment, and that anyone who rejects
these technologies is placing themselves
firmly on the side of the losers. As a result,
whittling away at the now famous 'digital di-
vide' – the gap that exists between those who
have access to the Internet and those who do
not – has become a priority for development
policies.
"We are resolute to empower the poor,"
states the Declaration of Principles of the
WSIS. Grandiose declarations are easy to
come by, but the digital divide masks the 
social divide that exists between the rich and
the poor countries. Only one African in
every 100 has access to the Internet, com-
pared with one in every two or three people
in North America and Europe, according to
figures given in the UNCTAD report. And a
computer costs the equivalent of an average
of 18 months’ salary in Kenya, or 2 years in
the case of Ghana.
The mobile telephone has seen a meteoric
rise in Africa, where, over the past 5 years, it
has shown the highest growth rates any-
where in the world. But communications re-
main very costly and inaccessible for large
sectors of the population. The introduction
of mobile telephones is in fact something
that has been fostered by the private sector,
whose overriding concern is to see a return
on its investments. For in order to reduce the
digital divide, one must first lower the costs
of providing technology to the poor. That is
the goal towards which the Global
Knowledge Partnership (GKP), a network
which promotes contacts between potential
partners, is striving.
Information highways, 
but roads too
But there is also a need for political will,
such as that shown by the President of Mali,
Amadou Toumani Touré, who wants to
hook his country’s 700 town councils up to
the World Wide Web, or that of Senegal’s
President Wade who has grasped the impor-
tance of making sure that Africa is not left
behind. But these two countries are the ex-
ception rather than the rule. Too many gov-
ernments either take little interest in the
issue or are actively against increasing peo-
ple’s access to information since they are
afraid it will mean less control. In any case,
gaining access to technology is not an end in
itself. These tools, and the information they
relay, need to be adapted to local usage.
Before you can surf the Net, you have to be
able to read and speak either English or
French! Some critics claim that electronic
communication networks create a new form
of cultural dependence on western countries,
because the flow of information is all one-way.
And development does not depend solely
on technology, observes the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The important thing is to train men and
women to make good use of it, and to 
improve their skills. With this in mind,
IFAD is promoting exchanges between the
agricultural projects that it manages within a
given region: it is easier for producers who
face similar problems to understand each
other. The WSIS saw the launch of the 
E-quality for African Women and Innovation,
an initiative aimed at helping women to play
a more active role in the information revolu-
tion, from which many of them continue to
be excluded.
Some go even further and ask if it is right
to invest in sophisticated communications
techniques when basic services are still lack-
ing. "Our priorities are health, water and 
education. The Internet cannot provide 
solutions to these," commented Ould
Najem Shindouk, the world’s first net-surf-
ing Tuareg, who comes from Timbuktu. It is
clear that being hooked up does not necess-
arily make you any richer. It is one thing to
know the going prices at the various mar-
kets, but what good is that if there are no
roads to transport one’s produce there and
sell it? That may be true, but allowing 
impoverished ACP countries to remain on
the sidelines of the information highway
would only serve to marginalise them even
further. Taking part in the information revo-
lution could help them to take their place on
the new global highway. So long as the road
tolls do not turn out to be too high.
"Thank you, Internet!"
Some 6 years after he first hooked up to
the Internet, Dramane Traoré is still brim-
ming with enthusiasm. He runs Cikelaw, a
modest association of rural producers
based in Bobo-Dioulasso, in western
Burkina Faso, and he is firmly convinced
of the value of the Internet. "The Internet
was invented for farmers’ organisations,"
he said. Today, Cikelaw boasts a file of
150 addresses and receives almost
500 emails a year. This connection enables
Traoré to keep in touch with members,
but even more important, in his view, is
the access it has given his organisation to
funding, the ability to network and to
trawl for technical information.
Thanks to the Web, the association has re-
ceived a range of funding: € 10,000 to 
finance credit for women for a 2-year 
period, a grant to enable it to carry out an
evaluation of its activities, € 7,000 for an
economic support project carried out with
a network of five NGOs…
Keen to boost potato and soya produc-
tion, Traoré has been surfing the Net to
find addresses of seed producers in The
Netherlands and France. He also came
across some technical information about
Morocco, which he has adapted for pro-
ducers in Burkina. For soya, Cikelaw has
linked up with American Soybean, which
sends the organisation brochures about
the crop, together with ideas for its use.
Computer viruses, lightning damage to
the modem, the cost of surfing – nothing
can stop the members of this association
from hooking up to the World Wide Web.
For the advantages of going online clearly
outweigh the negative aspects. 
Cikelaw
01 BP 186 Bobo-Dioulasso,
Burkina Faso
Fax: 226 97 30 27
Email: cikelaw@fasonet.bf
Digital solidarity
Digital solidarity is an African initiative
launched by the President of Senegal,
Abdoulaye Wade at the Information
Summit. The aim is to create a fund with
voluntary contributions from the industries,
governments and consumers of the North.
For example, a percentage of the price of
every computer sold could help buy infor-
mation technology equipment in the South.
The idea was turned down by the govern-
ments, but it will nevertheless take off
thanks to the backing of several major cities
(Geneva, Lyon and Turin), which have al-
ready pledged significant sums. Senegal it-
self has announced it will donate € 400,000.
The scheme will be managed with the max-
imum transparency and the least possible
bureaucracy by a Foundation grouping to-
gether members of civil society, the private
sector and governments.
www.solidaritenumerique.org
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There are more and more mobile telephones,
but they are expensive
• ICTs
■ What could be more tiresome
than pumping water by hand?
And what could be more
fun than taking turns on
a merry-go-round? But
where’s the connection?
In South Africa, the
inexhaustible energy of
children has been put to
good use, to pump water.
In rural schools large
wheels have been set up
in playgrounds, which
pupils thoroughly
enjoy turning round
during break time.
By running around
to jump on the
wheels, the children
activate a hydraulic
pump which is
linked to a well.
With each turn, the
youngsters pump up
2 litres of drinkable water from
the borehole, helping to fill the
tank on top of the roundabout.
After 3 hours of playing, the
5,000-litre tank is full. By con-
trast, a hand-pump can produce
only 150 litres an hour, and that
with some difficulty. This inven-
tion, called the Roundabout
Play-Pump, is both economical
and ingenious – the whole device
is financed by renting advertising
space on the tank itself. Some
400 pumps have already been
installed in schools and
villages in South Africa.
The project has attract-
ed the attention of the
World Bank, which has
granted it US$ 165,000
and has commissioned
the Roundabout Out-
door company to ex-
port the Play-Pump to
eight African countries:
Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Mali, Nigeria, Uganda,
Rwanda, Mozambique,
and Tanzania.
Praiseworthy though 
it may be, this initiative
is no more than a drop
in the ocean for the
needs of this continent,
where 40% of the pop-
ulation live without
drinkable water.
✍ Trevor Field
Roundabout Outdoor
PO Box 449 
Rivonia 2128
South Africa
Fax: +27 (0) 011 803 1639
Email: trevorf@roundabout.co.za
In brief •
Banned herbicide
The sales of Atrazine, 
a broad-spectrum herbicide
heavily used in maize farming, 
is now banned throughout 
the European Union because 
of the risk of contaminating
underground water sources 
and the drinking water 
that these provide. 
Atrazine is toxic to frogs, 
fish, freshwater invertebrates
and, more particularly, to 
aquatic plants. So far, studies
have not formally concluded 
that it is dangerous to humans.
This herbicide, which is relatively
inexpensive, is currently used 
in Africa in the farming 
of maize, sugar cane, sorghum,
millet, cowpea, etc. The United
States of America has decided 
not to ban atrazine, which 
is used as an ingredient in 
about 100 commercial products,
including Alazine, Azinotox,
Crisazina, Gesaprim, 
Malermais and Simazat.
Solidarity among women
Women involved in food
processing in Benin, 
who are organised into 
80 groups throughout 
the country, have formed 
a network of mutual savings 
and credit organisations. This
network has created a 
guarantee fund, supported 
by the Projet d'appui au
développement des micro-
entreprises (PADME), 
an African micro-financial
institution. Thanks to PADME, 
the women can borrow 
more and thus better manage
their activities. 
Jeanne-Marie Houessou
Email: houessoujm@ifrance.com
Source: Initiatives, bi-monthly
publication from the Centre de
Promotion et d'Encadrement des
Petites et Moyennes Entreprises 
in Benin
Food science online 
New developments in food
science and technology are
charted in Food Science Central, 
a major food information 
portal and one well worth 
bookmarking. Registering 
is free, and a quick and efficient
search facility turns up material
from a vast gamut of sources, 
on topics ranging from food
safety to storage. The service 
is constantly updated, so visitors
can get the latest developments
on hot topics such as GM crops
and BSE. A valuable feature 
of this well designed site 
is the searchable Internet Links
database, a selection 
of more than 2,800 
of the best food and nutrition
websites available on the
Internet.
Website:
www.foodsciencecentral.com
SPORE 110 • PAGE 6
■ Small-scale fishermen in
Guinea have turned to techno-
logy in their daily battle to keep
trawlers out of their fishing
grounds. Local crews, dogged by
the presence of poachers in their
waters, have been supplied with
satellite-positioning receivers and
trained in their use. Now, when
industrial fishing boats stray into
their territory, the African fishers
calmly radio the offending boat’s
latitude and longitude to the
nearest coast guard station. A
patrol vessel is dispatched to
intercept the trawler.
The community surveillance
experiment, launched in con-
junction with the Guinean coast
guard, is part of FAO’s
Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods
Programme. Its success is being
hailed as a possible solution for
other African fishers plagued by
poachers.
Poor fishing communities
from the Congo to Senegal com-
plain bitterly about daily, some-
times fatal, encounters with
industrial fishing boats that
poach in the richly stocked zone
reserved for small-scale fishing.
The industrial boats, some
national, others foreign, destroy
the nets of the small boats when
they drag their heavy industrial
nets over them. They rarely pay
compensation.
In 2000, before community
patrols began in Guinea, indus-
trial boats made 450 illegal incur-
sions into the zone, according to
government figures. In Bongolon,
trouble with industrial boats had
reached crisis proportions. Small-
scale boat crews were afraid to
put to sea and some had reached
the point of firing submachine
guns in the direction of industri-
al trawlers that were poaching in
their waters.
To date, the results of the
surveillance programme have
been promising. Only 56 incur-
sions by poachers were recorded
in the first 6 months of 2002.
The programme has succeeded 
in reducing illegal incursions 
by industrial trawlers by 59%.
Fishers report that trawlers now
flee at the sight of their canoes,
knowing how quickly they can
summon the authorities.
Fishermen go hi-tech to thwart industrial poachers
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In Guinea, community patrols look
out for poachers
Pumping water can be fun
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• In brief
SPORE 110 • PAGE 7
■ Export niches, such as exotic
fruit production, must be care-
fully nurtured. If not, competi-
tion may emerge, and this can
have a devastating effect on mar-
kets that seemed safe. The
Madagascans, who until now
enjoyed a virtual monopoly in
the export of fresh lychees to
Europe, are learning to their cost
that their orchards are aging and
that the grade and quality of the
fruit is declining. Waiting in the
wings, South Africa has been
quick to begin offering lychees to
customers in Europe, where
demand is especially high over
the Christmas and New Year hol-
idays. As a result, between
20,000 and 30,000 plants have
been distributed to fruit farmers
to give Malagasy lychees a new
lease of life.
In Burkina Faso, mango trees
have taken a hard knock and the
country’s exports have been dealt
a serious blow. About 80% of the
country’s apple orchards are
planted with old varieties, among
them the flavoursome Amélie.
However, Europeans tend to
shun such apples, opting instead
for the attractively coloured Kent
variety. The situation poses a real
dilemma. Should producers cut
down the old trees and replace
them with more popular vari-
eties? Most small farmers have
strong ties with their plantations,
and they are reluctant to take
such a drastic step. Besides, it
would mean a wait of 5 years,
with no income, before they
could produce modern varieties.
Another solution involves graft-
ing, a process sometimes called
rejuvenation. This not only 
produces new varieties in large 
quantities, but it takes just 
2 years to do it. The grafting is
done just after the harvest,
around September-October.
First, the larger branches of the
old trees are pruned – because
grafting cannot be done directly
onto the trunk, explains 
Moussa Guira of the Institut de
l’environnement et de recherches
agricoles (INERA). After 4 or 
5 months, when the new growths
are about the thickness of a pen-
cil, grafting is done using grafts
of the desired varieties. The small
farmers in Kénédegou province,
dubbed the 'orchard of Burkina',
are already familiar with this
technique. But most of the coun-
try’s other planters have yet to try
it. No matter what the technique
is, the important thing is to con-
tinue to export, to monitor the
quality of the products, and to
make sure that they suit the tastes
– often fussy and changing – of
consumers.
✍ Moussa Guira
INERA
BP 33, Banfora
Burkina Faso
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Malagasy lychees get a new lease
of life
■ Many African urban dwellers
are missing out on a nutritious
food source, as well as on a valu-
able part of their agricultural heri-
tage. A study by scientists from
the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has
provided evidence that tradition-
al, leafy vegetables (TLVs) are
essential for both nutrition and
economic livelihood. Leafy, green
vegetables are part of the diets of
many households across Africa,
used primarily to accompany
starchy staples. But rapid urbani-
sation in recent years has led to
TLVs being replaced by intro-
duced species of the Brassica vari-
ety, including cabbage, kale, and
mustard green.
While these new species have
benefited from extensive breed-
ing and selection, traditional veg-
etables such as amaranth, African
nightshade, jute mallow, and 
cassava leaves have been virtually
ignored. But these vegetables are
nutritionally rich, contribute to
crop diversity, and could prove
vital to poverty-reduction strate-
gies. The IITA team conducted a
survey of urban households in
Yaoundé, where, surprisingly, 
traditional vegetables emerged as
among the most commonly
found greens grown in the home
gardens of the poorest house-
holds. IITA research shows that a
small reallocation of urban food
budget towards greater TLV con-
sumption would significantly
improve the micronutrient intake
of the poor.
✍ International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA)
PMB 5320
Ibadan 
Nigeria 
Fax: +234 2 241 2221
Email: iita@cgiar.org
Website: www.iita.org
■ Rural dwellers in Malawi are
being helped to find a new source
of income by collecting baobab
fruits, and selling them to make a
vitamin-rich juice drink.
Marketing is being handled by
PhytoTrade Africa, the Southern
African Natural Products Trade
Association (SANProtA) and
plans are in hand to hit the
European market. As a useful
spin-off, pressure has eased on
the surrounding forests, which
were being decimated by local
villagers cutting down the trees 
to make charcoal, which they
sold for US$ 2 a bag in order to
survive. 
✍ PhytoTrade Africa
Southern Africa Natural Products
Trade Association (SANProTA)
PO Box BE 385
Belvedere
Harare
Zimbabwe
Fax: +263 4 790 470
Email: info@phytotradeafrica.com
Modernise or die
Eat your greens
Baobab drink brings bucks to
Malawi
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A talk shop 
for organic seeds 
The challenges for promoting
organic agriculture in the seed
industry will be examined 
at the First International 
Organic Seed Conference 
in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 7 July
2004. The event aims to foster 
information exchange between
the organic movement and the
conventional seed sector. It will
also focus on technical aspects
related to organic seed issues 
and evaluate regulatory
requirements for organic seed.
The conference is being 
jointly organised by FAO, 
the International Federation 
of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM) 
and the International Seed
Federation (ISF). 
Email: seedsconference@ifoam.org
Website:
www.organicseedconf.org
Tsetse fly is back in force
Focus on one disease can help
conceal another. In Uganda, 
the concentration of control 
and research efforts on AIDS 
has led to sleeping sickness,
trypanosomiasis, being neglected.
Until recently, trypanosomiasis
was believed to have been
eradicated in many parts 
of the nation. But the latest
statistics show that 70% 
of the country is infested 
by the tsetse fly, the vector 
of the disease. Millions 
of Ugandans are exposed 
to one of two strains 
that are now spreading
(Trypanosoma gambiense 
and T. rhodesiense). During 
the 1990s, low-cost programmes
obtained good results against 
this scourge that threatens
humans and livestock.
More than just nectar
There is banana nectar – and
then there is banana juice. 
The first contains just 25%
of fruit pulp. The second, 
which has neither sugar 
nor water added, retains 
all the qualities of the fresh fruit.
The manufacturing process 
for the juice, perfected by 
a researcher seconded from 
the experimental unit 
of France’s National Institute 
of Agricultural Research (INRA) 
in Montpellier, is protected 
by a patent. A company,
Tropicaline, has been created 
to develop the project and 
a manufacturing unit has been
constructed in Guadeloupe. 
This new fruit juice is a high
value-added product that will
increase the value of 
'second-choice' bananas, 
good quality fruit which cannot
be exported because 
of blemishes. 
✍ Nathalie Minatchy
Email:
nathalie.minatchy@wanadoo.fr
In brief •
SPORE 110 • PAGE 8
■ Rwandan women who lost
their menfolk in the 1994 mas-
sacres, and who face the burden
of feeding their families single-
handed, are being helped to
develop small plots of land as a
source of food, fuel and income.
As part of a US$ 1.8 million pro-
gramme called Seeds of Hope,
designed to kick start agricultural
production in Rwanda, several
hundred women have received
training in techniques such as
grafting and mixing manure, to
improve impoverished soils.
With guidance from newly
trained agroforestry experts,
many of the women have begun
planting trees to supply fodder,
firewood and fertiliser and help
combat erosion. The AFRENA-
Rwanda programme has set up
seven community-based nurseries
around the country, and farmers
have been helped to create their
own nurseries, producing
seedlings for avocado, citrus,
papaya and passion fruit. 
Key to the success has been the
rebuilding of Rwandan know-
how. Large numbers of the coun-
try's qualified agricultural
specialists, including agroforestry
experts, were killed or forced to
flee in the conflict. More than
15,000 hectares of forest and
35,000 hectares of trees and
woodlots were destroyed. A
scheme launched by the World
Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is
training students, field techni-
cians and lead farmers to rehabil-
itate the farmland. The Centre’s
agroforestry programme in
Rwanda has offered more than
30 internships covering a wide
range of disciplines in order to
furnish the expertise that
Rwanda needs in agronomy, crop
sciences, soil and water sciences
and forestry. As part of the drive,
ICRAF has rebuilt the Tree Seed
Centre at Butare, purchasing
essential equipment and training
new staff.
✍ World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
United Nations Avenue, Gigiri
PO Box 30677 
00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 524001
Email: w.easdown@cgiar.org
Website:
www.worldagroforestrycentre.org
Rebuilding
agroforestry 
in war-torn
Rwanda
A whole body of know-how needs to be rebuilt
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■ A new email-based network
will help users find out more
about pests and plant diseases in
the Caribbean. CariPestNet, an
advice and information network
hosted on the Internet, has been
launched to enable farmers,
researchers and others to have
rapid access to expert informa-
tion about plant protection. The
service, which is free, offers a dis-
cussion forum on issues such as
pest outbreaks, biological control
and quarantine concerns. A web-
site, under construction, will
enable users to link up with sci-
entists to answer questions. The
network is being set up by the
Caribbean taxonomic network,
CARINET, with funding from
CTA. It will be broadly modelled
on PestNet, which links the
Pacific and Southeast Asian
regions with plant protection
specialists worldwide. Some 
40 scientists act as resource
points for PestNet, which has
received some 2,000 messages
since it was launched 4 years ago.
The network offers an archive
service, and members can also
send in samples of pests for 
identification by experts, either
with photographs or by mailing
specimens of the insects, weeds
or diseased material. A database
of digital images of pests, diseases
and weeds that have been 
submitted by PestNet members
can be searched on the website. 
Users can join both the CariPestNet and
the PestNet networks either by email
or via the Yahoo!®Groups website.
To subscribe to PestNet, send a blank
email to: 
PestNet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 
or go to:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/
pestnet/ 
and follow the instructions for new
or existing members
To subscribe to CariPestNet, send a
blank email to: 
caripestnet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 
or go to:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/
caripestnet/
Email for PestNet: 
Wilco@PestNet.org 
Website: www.pestnet.org 
Email for CariPestNet:
carinet@trinidad.net
Electronic pest advice comes to the Caribbean
Experts identify pests from a distance
On the move
The International Service 
for National Agricultural Research
(ISNAR) has been wound up 
as in independent institution. 
But fans of this venerable outfit
need not despair. ISNAR 
will continue to exist as a division
of the International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI). 
The new ISNAR programme 
will be located in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, bringing it into closer
contact with its main target
region. Though its main focus 
of attention will be Africa, ISNAR,
which will keep its name, 
will continue to be active 
in strengthening agricultural
research in Latin America, 
the Caribbean, Asia 
and North Africa. 
✍ As of 1 April 2004, ISNAR’s new
address is:
International Food Policy Research
Institute
2033 K Street, NW, 
Washington DC 20006–1002
USA
Fax: +1 202 467 4439
Email: isnar@cgiar.org
Website: www.isnar.cgiar.org
All the answers on GMOs
How good is your understanding
of GMOs: adequate, slight 
or non-existent? To test your
knowledge, go to the online 
quiz set by CIRAD, which has just
updated the GMO section on its
website. If your score is too low,
you can always follow the guide
on the website, which presents
the main issues, the evolution 
of the technologies involved 
and the current state of
knowledge, as well as research
carried out by the centre, sorted
by objectives and by species
Website: www.cirad.fr/en/actualite/
communique.php?id=78
Agricultural research goes
global 
Gaining access to updated
scientific information has long
been a battle for anyone based 
in the developing world. Equally
difficult has been the task 
of finding an outlet to publish
findings, or a source for updating
teaching curricula and identifying
funding. The Access to Global
Online Research in Agriculture
(AGORA) aims to fill the gap 
by providing free or low-cost
access to major scientific journals
in agriculture and related
biological, environmental 
and social sciences to public
institutions in developing
countries. Led by FAO, it offers
access to over 400 journals 
from the world's leading
academic publishers. Free access 
is available to most countries 
with an annual per capita 
gross national product 
of US$ 1,000 or less. 
Email: agora@fao.org 
Website:
www.aginternetwork.org Ph
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• In brief
SPORE 110 • PAGE 9
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South African scientists develop
new fuel
■ As renewable sources of fuel
such as wood become increas-
ingly scarce, scientists in South
Africa have come up with an
alternative source that could
prove a boon to both urban and
rural communities, and protect
the forests at the same time. The
system, developed by a team of
researchers at the University of
Cape Town, involves converting
coal dust, a widely available waste
product of South Africa’s large
coal industry, and converting it
into briquettes, to make an
affordable cooking and heating
alternative. The briquette has an
innovative Swiss-cheese like con-
figuration of holes running
through it, to increase surface
area and boost heat output. The
team has designed a special oven
for the briquettes, which max-
imises the energy available at a
minimum cost to the user. A vat
of water can be placed on top and
slow-boiled by the smouldering
briquette, an efficient way of
purifying water and reducing the
incidence of water-borne diseases
in the family. An added benefit 
is the decreased reliance on paraf-
fin made possible by this fuel.
Each year, more than 3,500 chil-
dren die in South Africa alone
from accidental ingestion of
paraffin. 
The researchers are now look-
ing to place 50,000 of the units
in homes throughout South
Africa. They have already been
approached by venture capitalists
interested in backing the idea.
■ Cultivating watermelons is
more restrictive but more prof-
itable than growing groundnuts.
In Senegal, where the latter sup-
ports 65% of the population,
more and more planters are turn-
ing towards watermelons, now
very popular with consumers.
Watermelons have the advantage
of being less sensitive than
groundnuts to the vagaries of the
international market and the
weather. In the centre of the
country, it actually eclipses
Senegal’s main agricultural 
source of income. In 2002, 
224,000 tonnes of watermelon
were grown, an increase of 76%
over the previous year. In the
same period, groundnut produc-
tion dropped by 44% and cereals
by 13%.
For a long time, this gourd-like
fruit was used mainly to feed live-
stock. Its bland taste did not
greatly appeal to consumers. But
research headed by the Centre
pour le développement de l’horti-
culture de Cambérène of the
Institut sénégalais de recherche
agricole (CDH/ISRA) since the
1970s has led to the introduction
of new, tastier hybrid varieties
that have helped the fruit expand
its market. As a dessert, the
watermelon – eaten whole or in
slices – is putting a smile on the
faces of the Senegalese, most of
whom lack the means to pay for
imported fruit.
✍ CDH/ISRA
BP 2619 Dakar, Sénégal
Email: cdhisra@sentoo.sn
■ Between 6 to 8 months is an
important stage in the growth of
babies in developing countries. It
is the delicate weaning phase,
when babies gradually move from
mother’s milk to the first
cereals. To prevent
these preparations
from thickening
too quickly dur-
ing cooking,
with the risk
that infants
might refuse
them, mothers
tend to use less
flour. The result
is that the meals
contain fewer calories
and nutriments, and the
children grow more slowly.
Then came the idea of making
the cereals more fluid in order to
encourage mothers to use more
flour of their own accord. All it
takes is the addition of an
enzyme, amylase, which acts on
the starch to make the cereal
more fluid. At the French devel-
opment research institute IRD,
researchers in its 'Nutrition, food
and society' unit studied the
effect of this addition on the
growth of infants. Conclusive
tests showed that, in the Congo
(Brazzaville), babies fed with 
cereals enriched with amylase
grew 0.5 cm more than other
children.
Amylase can be produced
industrially – it is already avail-
able commercially in granules as 
Ban 800 – or very simply by 
germinating cereal or legume
seeds for several days. These are
then dried and ground before
being mixed with children’s 
cereals. Research is continuing,
on a case-by-case
basis, to deter-
mine the cor-
rect amounts,
according to
which cere-
al flour is
used and
which kind
of seed is
germinated. 
✍ Serge Trèche
IRD, UR 106 Nutrition, Alimentation
Société
BP 64501
34394, Montpellier Cedex 5
France
Fax: + 33 4 67 41 62 83
Email: serge.treche@mpl.ird.fr
Fluid cereals feed babies better
Thicker cereals aren’t necessarily
the most nourishing
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The Senegalese are crazy about
watermelon 
Watermelons
versus
groundnuts
Photo: S. Trèche © IRD
A daily digest
A new initiative from 
the International Institute 
for Environment and
Development (IIED) 
is this useful news website. 
It provides a one-stop electronic
news clipping service 
from the UK news media 
and a broad range of
stakeholders – governmental,
NGO, academic and private 
sector – on issues relating 
to the environment and
sustainable development.
Bookmark the site and
use it as often as you like, 
or get a summary bulletin
delivered each morning 
by email. 
Website: www.Earthwire.org/uk
Market knowledge
Farmers, small-scale traders 
and processors in many parts 
of Africa have scant 
information about market
conditions outside their
immediate areas. With trade
liberalisation forcing many local
producers out of their traditional 
markets, there is a growing 
need for farmers to have 
access to clear and accurate
market information, so they can
find new ways of selling their
produce at a fair price. 
A training course on Market
Information Systems, 
held in Accra, Ghana 
went some way towards 
filling the gap, with
representatives from Ghana,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone 
and The Gambia meeting 
to discuss how to connect 
rural producers with more 
up-to-date agricultural
commodity market data 
by boosting the development 
of a market information 
service in West Africa. 
The course, held in November
2003, was jointly organised 
by CTA, the Rural Sector
Enhancement Programme
of the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in
Nigeria, and Institute for
Scientific and Technological
Information (INSTI) 
in Ghana. A similar course,
this time in French, 
is being planned for 
May 2004 for the following
francophone West African
countries: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, 
Mali, Niger, Senegal 
and Togo. 
Genes online
Aimed at scientists, TropGENE 
is an online database which
provides the genetic and genomic
profiles of plants studied by the
Centre de coopération
internationale en recherche
agronomique pour le
développement (CIRAD). Three
modules are already available:
sugar cane, the cacao tree and
the banana tree. Modules on 10
other tropical plants will follow.
Website: http://tropgenedb.cirad.fr
SPORE 110  • PAGE 10
Links •
Before setting out to researchinformation on ICTs, it is agood idea to know exactly
what you are looking for. If you
don’t, you may find yourself tan-
gled up in the spider’s web that
weaves through the Net. To learn
more about ICTs, the first stop is
clearly going to be the Internet.
That is where you will find the
most comprehensive informa-
tion, though there are also some
CD-ROMS worth looking at.
Books and magazines tend to be
less helpful on this subject.
To get an idea of the wealth of
data available, open the Africa’nti
website. This is a research project
which groups together French
and African researchers. The site
is predominantly French, but it
has an impressive list of links,
bulletins and documents in both
French and English. On the
menu are: the state of infrastruc-
tures and connectivity (telecom-
munications, electronic networks,
rural telephony, satellites, cable,
etc.), international programmes,
local organisations running 
projects, and finally, the eco-
nomic and legal issues of the
Internet. 
Those of you wanting an à la
carte service will have to make 
a choice. For the more techni-
cally minded, the African
Internet Connectivity website
gives plenty of useful information
about connections, on a country-
by-country basis. Another
interesting site is that of
Worldspace whose satellites,
Afristar and Asiastar, cover most
of these two continents. There
you will find data about how to
receive information from these
satellites, as well as the pro-
grammes available in each region. 
If you want to know more
about how to make use of this
magic tool, why not get the
DVD Building cyberspace? It is
put out by the Information
Society Programme of the United
Nations Institute for Training
and Research (UNITAR) in part-
nership with, among others, the
United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) and
the World Bank. Now in its third
edition, this comprehensive
guide assembles a vast body of
documentation: course notes,
multimedia documents, publish-
ed texts, background documents,
case studies and legal documents.
If, on the other hand, you are
new to ICTs and want, above all,
to understand and get to grips
with some of the applications of
these technologies, then you will
probably be more interested in
practical experiences and projects
that are under way. Here, the
array of information available is
bewildering, since every organisa-
tion that runs a programme has
its own site, its bulletin and its
discussion forum.
The International Develop-
ment Research Centre (IDRC)
was a pioneer in the use of ICTs
for development. Since 1997, its
Acacia programme has been
backing the efforts of communi-
ties in sub-Saharan Africa to use
ICTs to further their social and
economic development. In the
light of its experience, the IDRC
has issued a collection of three
books, under the collective title
of Information and communica-
tion technologies for development
in Africa, which together offer a
useful selection of evaluations.
Other programmes have been
developed in Latin America and
the Caribbean as well as in Asia:
information about these can be
found on the website. 
If you are more interested in a
particular region or country, here
are a few pointers. On the 
UNESCO portal, the Com-
munication and Information 
section gives access to all the ICT
activities run by this organisa-
tion, listing them region by 
region, as well as country by
country, with links to other 
programmes and local websites. 
In each area, there are also por-
tals which group together various
sources of information. For ex-
ample, for the Pacific islands,
open The Pacific ICT Portal
which is very clear and easy to
use. In West Africa, almost every
country has a website which gives
access to the various programmes
and players in the country.
Turning to southern Africa, The
Association for Progressive
Communications (APC) is a
South Africa based network pro-
moting ICTs in developing coun-
tries. Its well-designed website is
a useful source, with good links.
An interesting newcomer to the
ICT field is Women’sNet, an 
initiative launched to help
women in southern Africa use
the Internet to find the people,
tools and resources they need for 
development. Also worth noting
is Information-communication 
and Development in Africa
(IAFRIC), a site run by volunt-
eers, which gives students and 
researchers a wider audience for
their work on these technologies.
Finally, if you feel in a critical
mood, read the recent work
Société de l'information et
coopération internationale, pub-
lished by the Graduate Institute
of Development Studies (IUED)
and also available on CD-ROM.
Thirty authors from the South
and the North put forward their
viewpoints and explore the issues
in the debate on information for
development. After that, you’ll
need to get back to unravelling
the threads of the Net once again,
but this time you’ll do it with a
different slant!
ICTs
Unravelling the
threads of the Net 
From wide-ranging discussions about the latest technologies to grassroots
experiences at local level, the choice of information about ICTs is vast,
and it’s easy to get lost. Here is a short guide to help you find your way. 
Ill
us
tr
at
io
n:
 D
zi
w
or
nl
i
Ill
us
tr
at
io
n:
 N
 M
ah
m
ou
d
For futher information:
Africa’nti
www.africanti.org 
African Internet Connectivity
http://demiurge.wn.apc.org/africa 
Worldspace
www.worldspace.com/sitemap.html
(for direct access to site map)
Building cyberspace
DVD (or earlier versions on CD-ROM)
UNESCO
Information Society Division
1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris, France
Email: a.ongouya@unesco.org
World Bank
InfoDev
1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA
Email: Jdubow@worldbank.org
IDRC
www.crdi.org
Information and communication
technologies for development in
Africa
• Vol. 1: Opportunities and
challenges for community
development. Edited by R Molo
Thioune. CODESRIA/IDRC, 2003
220 pp. ISBN 1 55250 001 2
•Vol. 2: The experience with
community telecentres. Edited by 
F Etta & S Parvyn-Wamahiu
CODESRIA/IDRC, 2003. 220 pp. 
ISBN 1 55250 006 3
•Vol. 3: Networking institutions of
learning, SchoolNet. Edited by 
T James. CODESRIA/IDRC 
2004. 220 pp. ISBN 1 55 250 008 X
US$ 30 • € 24 per volume 
US$ 75 • € 60 for all three volumes
IDRC
BP 8500, Ottawa, Ontario 
K1G 3H9, Canada
UNESCO
www.unesco.org 
The Pacific ICT Portal
www.pacificforum.com/ict/
index.shtml 
The Association for Progressive
Communications (APC)
www.apc.org
Women’sNet
www.womensnet.org.za
IAFRIC
www.iafric.net/indexGB.htm
Swiss yearbook on development policy-
2003. IUED. ISSN 1660 5934
Yearbook available in French only 
CD-ROM available in French and
English
IUED
Service des publications
Case postale 136
CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland
■ This is the fifth book in the
well-written Roots series of prac-
tical guides for people involved in
development. The title of the vol-
ume, Project cycle management, or
PCM, is borrowed from the cor-
porate sector, and refers to the
process of planning and manag-
ing business projects. But
increasingly, the concept is being
used by development organisa-
tions, in an effort to improve the
planning and management of
projects and programmes. 
The book departs from the
premise that some development
projects fail because they are
badly planned and do not take
into account the views of those
on whom they should have an
impact. PCM ensures that all
aspects of projects are considered
and, just as important, are
reassessed constantly throughout
the course of the project.
The book offers a set of plan-
ning tools to help project design-
ers and managers produce a
logical framework, or ‘logframe’
in PCM jargon. Simply put, this
is a table which gives a summary
of the project plans. Some donors
now expect logframes to be 
submitted alongside project 
proposals, which may bar the 
uninitiated from accessing donor
funds. Armed with this slim
tome, the task should be a breeze.
Project cycle management
By R Blackman, Tearfund 
2003. 80 pp.
ISBN 1 904364 21 7
GBP 10 • € 14.65 
Tearfund, 100 Church Road 
Teddington, TW11 8QE 
UK
Fax: +44 208 9433594
Email: roots@tearfund.org
The sweet potato is one of
the world’s most impor-
tant food crops. Cultivated in a
wide variety of climates, inclu-
ding the tropics, subtropical and
temperate zones, it is increasingly
being seen as a cash crop, as well
as a subsistence crop grown in
home gardens. Its high potential
energy yield per hectare easily
outstrips that of other key crops
such as rice, maize, cassava, ba-
nana and yam. And yet, in spite
of its potential, this rich food
source is still under exploited.
Sweet potato, part of The
Tropical Agriculturalist series of
practical field guides and text-
books jointly published by
Macmillan and CTA, is trans-
lated and adapted from the origi-
nal French and offers a
comprehensive guide to this valu-
able plant. Readers are given in-
formation on how to grow and
harvest the crop, how to diagnose
and manage the pests and dis-
eases which attack it, and how to
store, process and use it. 
Sweet potato
By L Degras, The Tropical
Agriculturalist series
Macmillan – CTA, 2003. 124 pp.
ISBN 0 333 79150 9
CTA number 1152
10 credit points
■ Fresh from FAO are two new
CD-ROMs, which bring togeth-
er a wealth of useful information
about two very different subjects
– tropical soils and fisheries.
Properties and management of
soils of the tropics is a user-
friendly tool aimed at students
and agronomists, and anyone else
with an interest in and a basic
understanding of soil science and
natural resource management.
With an interactive format, this
CD-ROM reviews soil condi-
tions in the tropics and describes
land types in terms of their qual-
ities and major constraints.
The FAO Fisheries Technical
Papers series has published more
than 400 volumes since the first
one was produced back in 1958.
A number of the titles are no
longer in print, yet requests 
continue to come in for many of
them. In order for these popular
publications to reach a wider
audience, the Fisheries
Department has started work on
retrospective digitalisation. This
first CD-ROM includes the full
text of 144, mainly older, FAO
Fisheries Technical Papers in
English, French and Spanish.
Properties and management of soils of
the tropics 
FAO Land and Water Digital Media
Series No. 24, 2003
CD-ROM
ISBN 92 5 105007 4
US$ 44 • € 35 
FAO Fisheries Technical Papers
A selected digital collection
FAO, 2003
CD-ROM
ISBN 92 5 004988 9
US$ 30 • € 24 
FAO Sales and Marketing Group
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy
Fax: +39 (0)6 5705 3360
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
SPORE 110 • PAGE 11
• Publications
Publications
A handy duo
Sweet success The importance
of planning
The great trade debate
■ Part of the Gatekeeper series
of journals on sustainable 
agriculture, this paper looks for
the deeper causes of African 
problems in agriculture and
world markets. Western 
protectionism, subsidies and 
dumping are all analysed, leading
up to the question that gives the
journal its title.
Should Africa protect its farmers to
revitalise its economy?
International Institute for
Environment and Development
(IIED), 2003. 20 pp.
ISSN 13579258 GK105
Available as subscription 
to Gatekeeper Series of Journals
Free to non-OECD organisations
and individuals
Others US$ 40 • € 32 per year
Earthprint, Box 119
Stevenage, Herts SG1 4TP, UK
Fax: +44 1438 748844
Email: iied@earthprint.com
Small farms and open
markets
■ This study examines some 
of the strengths and weaknesses
of smallholder farming and 
livestock systems in West Africa
against the background of 
globalisation and the threats 
and challenges posed by 
the new open markets. 
The future of family farms in West
Africa: What can we learn from 
long-term data? 
By M Mortimore
IIED, 2003
72 pp. ISBN 1 84369 486 7
US$ 5 • € 4
Downloadable as PDF 7473 Kb
from: www.iied.org 
For IIED address, see Earthprint
details above
Catch ‘em while they’re
young
■ Graindell, which gives this book
its name, is a planet shaped like a
grain of rice. At first glance, this
is a whimsical children’s book
about two boys who make their
dreams come through by hard
work and altruism. On a deeper
level, it’s an allegory, and the
publishers, the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI), hope it
will make adults and children
alike appreciate the scientific
effort that goes into producing
improvements for all the rice-eat-
ing people on planet Earth. An
apt choice in this the
International Year of Rice.
Graindell
By R Villaneuva & R Abos
IRRI, 2003. 60 pp.
ISBN 971 220176 7
US$ 15.95 • € 12.70
Marketing and Fulfillment 
Communication and Publications
Services
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI)
DAPO Box 7777 Metro Manila
Philippines
Fax: +632 580 5699
Email: irripub@cgiar.org
Reams have already been
written on evaluation, a
topic much in the spotlight as
pressure increases on project
managers to be accountable to
the donors, bosses and the public
at large. But in contrast with the
theorising of much of the 
literature, this volume adopts a
refreshingly practical, nuts-and-
bolts approach. The author has
hit on the winning idea of draft-
ing the text in the form of a letter
to a hypothetical agricultural in-
formation project manager. He
provides a series of guidelines,
checklists and suggestions to help
turn what may seem a daunting
task into a relatively simple and
satisfying exercise.
Evaluating an information pro-
ject: A letter to a project manager
is a joint ISNAR/CTA publica-
tion, the product of a series of
CTA-sponsored workshops or-
ganised to improve evaluation
techniques and practices. The
book takes the reader through
nine steps, leaving no stone un-
turned, and provides well laid out
tables and worksheets, as well as a
helpful batch of empty work-
sheets at the end, so that man-
agers can compile data from their
own projects. The language used
by the author is clear, the presen-
tation is appealing, and the book
has the added benefit of being
short – the sort of document that
a busy project  manager might
actually have time to read from
cover to cover. 
Evaluating an information project: 
A letter to a project manager
By B Mook
CTA – ISNAR, 2003. 50 pp.
ISBN 92 9118 072 6
CTA number 1154 
10 credit points
Downloadable as PDF 300 Kb at:
www.isnar.cgiar.org/publications
■ Against the backdrop of con-
stant food shortages in Africa,
Maize revolution in West and
Central Africa may sound a pre-
tentious title. But this publica-
tion does report impressive
changes in the livelihoods of
farmers who have adopted
improved maize technologies
through the West Africa
Collaborative Maize Research
Network (WECAMAN). Funded
by USAID, WECAMAN began
introducing maize to savanna
ecologies known mainly for mil-
let and sorghum production.
Two decades later, substantial
increases were recorded by many
farmers.
The authors report that maize
grain yields per unit land 
area rose by 41% between 1970 
and 2000, and total produc-
tion soared from 2.74 to 
10.49 million metric tonnes, 
a 384% increase. The book is a 
celebration of the successes of
local farmers adopting drought-
tolerant, extra early-maturing, 
disease- and pest-resistant maize,
using high-yielding varieties
characterised by good flavour,
easier processing, storage and
flour quality and higher income
prospects. 
In support of its claims, the
work contains 40 scientific
papers. It is intended as a 
companion for researchers,
extension agents, farmers and
food industrialists.
Maize revolution in West and Central
Africa
Edited by B Badu-Apraku et al.
IITA. 2003. 566 pp.
ISBN 978 131 200 9
US$ 15 • € 11.81
IITA, PMB, 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria 
Fax: +234 2 241 2221
Email: iita@cgiar.org
SPORE 110 • PAGE 12
Publications •
Amazing maize yields 
■ Exploring strategies for
developing a holistic farming sys-
tem, based on tree crops and live-
stock as well as arable farming,
the authors of this book focus on
how the livelihoods of farmers in
three zones of sub-Saharan Africa
can be improved. Food self-suffi-
ciency in sub-Saharan Africa has
long posed a challenge to inter-
national agricultural researchers,
and scientists believe that solu-
tions are location specific.
Strategies for farming systems
development in sub-Saharan
Africa divides tropical Africa up
into three distinct regions: moist
savanna, humid forest and inland
valleys. Some 200 million people
live in these zones. 
Organising topics under 
21 different headings, this wide-
ranging book documents farmers’
practices, as well as institutional
and policy issues in agricultural
research in 11 countries of West
and Central Africa. The authors
urge further research on short fal-
low systems, crop-livestock inte-
gration and cereal-legume crop
rotation. One of the most inter-
esting aspects comes in the final
chapter, which is dedicated to
research on women farmers, their
circumstances, needs and
resource use patterns. As the
authors rightly point out, women
are the sustainers of African
households, because they are
closely involved in food produc-
tion for the family, but they also
take on a wealth of extra roles.
Strategies for farming systems
development in sub-Saharan Africa
Edited by E A Atayi & D O Ladipo
IITA – FAO, 2003. 208 pp.
ISBN 978 131 185 1
US$ 10 • € 7.87
IITA 
For address, see above
Looking at the big picture in 
sub-Saharan Africa
Dear project
manager
Exports from Africa
■ Author John Isemede has
worked in private sector export
from his native Nigeria for more
than two decades, and is well
versed in some of the pitfalls of
selling overseas. He wrote this
very practical guide to help others
explore export opportunities and
give guidance on how to get
started. Areas covered include
export to European and ACP
countries, international standards,
cargo handling and insurance
and risk management.
Exporting in West Africa. A practical
guide
By J Isemede,
Malthouse Press, 2003. 402 pp.
ISBN 978 023 1145
US$ 37.95 • € 30
African Books Collective Ltd
The Jam Factory 
27 Park End Street
Oxford OX1 1HU, UK
Fax: +44 1865 793298`
Email:
orders@africanbookscollective.com
An organic future
■ The time is ripe for organic
agriculture in Africa, claim the
authors. Whether to be certified
or not, organic agriculture has
grown to a point at which it can
no longer be ignored. Uganda,
for example, is the first developing
country with 1% of its agricultural
land certified as organic. The
publication presents a wealth of
data from 22 countries for the
debate on the future of 
agriculture in Africa.
Organic and like-minded movements
in Africa
By N Parrot & B van Elzakker
IFOAM, 2003. 130 pp.
€ 8
International Federation of
Organic Agricultural Movements
(IFOAM)
Bundeshaus, Gorresstrasse 15
53115 Bonn, Germany
Fax: +49 (0) 228 926 5099
Email: a.rott@ifoam.org
Better bananas
■ The development of 
embryogenic cell suspensions (ECS)
is a technique already used for
the genetic transformation and
protoplast fusion in banana
plants. This booklet, part of the
International Network for the
Improvement of Banana and
Plantain (INIBAP) Technical
Guidelines series, examines 
methods based on immature
male flowers and scalps in
banana and plantain plants, since
these have been supported by a
number of publications and tried
and tested in several laboratories.
Included are guidelines on how
to assess the quality of ECS and on
the limitations of this technique.
Banana and plantain embryogenic
cell suspensions
Edited by A Vezina & C Picq
IPGRI, 2003. 32 pp.
ISBN 2 910810 63 1
IPGRI, Via dei Tre Denari 472/a
00057 Maccarese (Fiumicino)
Rome, Italy
Email: ipgri-publications@cgiar.org
SPORE 110 • PAGE 13
• Publications
The fine art of communication
■ Almost all economic activities
in rural areas continue to be
linked, either directly or indirect-
ly, to agriculture, forestry and
other natural resources. So better
connections are needed between
agriculture, agribusiness and
non-agricultural economic activ-
ities. Within this context, the
book sets out a framework for
fostering Rural Economic and
Enterprise Development (REED)
and for understanding how such
development can help tackle
poverty. 
The Guide to rural economic
and enterprise development is
based on the findings of a work-
ing group which looked at suc-
cess factors in rural economic
development, on the one hand,
and failures on the other and
which sought to define some
guidelines for appropriate inter-
vention. The working paper that
came out of the workshop is a
first edition, which is expected to
be revised after field testing. The
contributors are drawn from the
development organisations which
took part in the workshop,
among them CTA.
Guide to rural economic and enterprise
development 
Working paper edition 1.0 
GTZ, 2003. 120 pp.
€ 10
German Technical Cooperation 
(GTZ) GmbH
Dag Hammerskjöld Weg 1-5
65760 Eschborn
Germany
Fax: +49 (0)6196 79 7173
Email: rainer.neidhardt@gtz.de
Enterprising endeavour Going well in Ghana
■ The Plant Genetic Resources
Centre (PGRC) was set up to 
collect, conserve and document
plant genetic resources in Ghana,
a task which is fundamental if
improvements are to be made 
to agriculture in the country,
without threatening basic 
environmental systems. The
authors of this book, drawn from
PGRC itself, as well as IPGRI and
the Genetic Resources Network
for Western and Central Africa
(GRENEWECA), set out to assess
how well PGRC has handled the
task over the past two decades.
The verdict is that PGRC has
made significant strides, 
developing its activities and
diversifying services, such as 
selling planting material to
increase funds. Four key areas are 
identified for further 
improvement and development:
better targeting of PGRC’s needs, 
broader capacity development,
better monitoring and a focus 
on building capacity within 
IPGRI and GRENEWECA.
Capacity development in Ghana’s
plant genetic resources centre 
An evaluation
By S Bennett-Lartey, R Vodouhe &
J Watts
ISNAR, 2003. 38 pp.
ISNAR, PO Box 93375 
2509 AJ The Hague
The Netherlands
Fax: +31 70 381 9677
Email: isnar@cgiar.org
Refining research
■ If African agricultural research
is to help move millions of 
subsistence farmers out of 
poverty, it must become both
more efficient and more relevant.
This report looks at research
reforms under way in most
African countries and attempts 
to answer the question – are they
working?
A review of key issues and recent
experiences in reforming 
agricultural research in Africa
By S Chema, 
E Gilbert & J Roseboom
ISNAR, 2003. 70 pp. 
ISBN 92 91180742
Free for readers in developing
countries 
Others: US$ 20 • € 16
For ISNAR’s address see above
ICT made easy
■ This refreshingly simple 
guidebook from the Association
for Progressive Communications
(ACP) dispenses with jargon to
take the mystery out of ICT 
and policies connected with this
increasingly topical issue. 
It is aimed at non-specialists who
would like to learn more about
how new communications 
technologies can be used 
to help development.
ICT policy: A beginner’s handbook
Edited by C Nicol
APC, 2003.140 pp. 
ISBN 1 919855 10 6
US$ 10 • € 8
Downloadable as PDF 6169 Kb
from: www.apc.org/books 
For readers whose appet-
ites have been whetted by
our feature on information and
communication technologies and
by our 'Links' column, the 
following is a selection of publi-
cations available from CTA.
These have already been pre-
sented in earlier issues, but they
remain valid resources for this
topic. Books written about 
communication are not always
that communicative. But Paul
Mundy and Jacques Sultan’s
Information revolutions: how 
information and communication
management is changing the lives
of rural people (see Spore 95) pro-
vides a summary, without over-
whelming the reader in the
process. Taking 40 success stories
from ACP countries, the book
shows how  the communication
of information through various
channels (radio, television, ICTs,
libraries, farmers’ organisations
etc.) has helped bring changes to
the rural aeras of ACP countries. 
Images are a powerful method
of communication, being both
direct and instantaneous in their
impact – so long as one knows
how to interpret them. In differ-
ent cultural contexts, some logos
and symbols can become sources
of confusion and misunder-
standing. Volker Hoffmann’s
book, Picture supported communi-
cation in Africa: fundamentals, 
examples and recommendations for
appropriate communication pro-
cesses in rural development pro-
grammes in sub-Saharan Africa
(see Spore 92), gives a theoretical
approach to communicating with
images before focusing on two
examples where communications
backed up by pictures have
proved particularly successful in
Burkina Faso and Rwanda. 
In order to increase public
awareness and get one’s message
across, a whole package of com-
munications tools is needed:
these may include press releases,
interview techniques, annual 
reports, publicity events, fairs,
crisis management, follow-up
and evaluation etc. But on its
own, that will not be enough.
Public awareness: a manual 
for agricultural NGOs and 
research institutions for Africa
(see Spore 102) reminds farmers’
organisations and African 
agricultural research institutes
that one-way communication is
doomed to failure and that, in
order to really make oneself 
understood, the first rule is to 
listen to the public you are 
hoping to reach. 
Information revolutions: how
information and communication
management is changing the lives of
rural people
By P Mundy & J Sultan
CTA, 2001. 242 pp. 
ISBN 92 9081 2289
CTA number 1037 
40 credit points 
Downloadable as PDF 1,9 Mb at:
http://www.cta.int/pubs/inforev/
index.htm
Picture supported communication in
Africa: fundamentals, examples and
recommendations for appropriate
communication processes in rural
development programmes in sub-
Saharan Africa
By V Hoffmann, Margraf – CTA 
2000. 366 pp. 
ISBN 3 8336 1342 1
CTA number 1014
40 credit points
Public awareness: a manual for
agricultural NGOs and research
institutions for Africa: 
CTA, 2002. 172 pp. 
ISBN 9966 9705 3 3 
CTA number 1088
20 credit points
SPORE 110  • PAGE 14
Between us •
The CTA office in Brussels, which untilrecently played a mainly administrativerole, is being given a new lease of life.
Expanding the branch office’s scope and
range is part of a plan to make sure that
CTA’s profile is kept high in the strategic
Belgian capital, and that the Centre is well
placed to tap into issues which affect ACP
countries. 
Until January this year, when the changes
came into effect, the Brussels office was pre-
dominantly charged with liaising with the
ACP Secretariat and the ACP Group, the
European Commission and the Belgian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But from now
on, the branch will play a much more 
dynamic role. It will act as an antenna, pick-
ing up on developments among the Brussels
actors which affect ACP countries and act-
ing as a link between what is now a rapidly
broadening range of ACP-EU partners and
CTA. In addition, the office will seek to 
foster a greater flow of information with 
key groups, including the ACP Group 
and Secretariat, the ACP-EU Council of
Ministers and Committee of Ambassadors,
the European Commission, the ACP-EU
Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the
European Parliament, civil society groups
and NGOs. An important task will be to
raise awareness of CTA activities within all
these groups. The aim is to ensure that CTA
initiatives work in harmony with those pur-
sued by other organisations, rather than dupli-
cating or overlapping them.
“Brussels is no longer merely a place where
CTA and its sister agency’s plans are 
approved,” said CTA Director Carl
Greenidge. “It can play a pivotal role in
deepening the dialogue. The office has there-
fore to play a more active part in the process
of the movement of ideas and results among
a widening range of actors.”
Mailbox
It’s always a pleasure to receive feed-
back from our readers. It’s good to
know that there are so many of you out
there, reading the fruits of our labours!
But it’s especially heartening to hear
from people who have concrete exper-
iences they want to pass on to others.
May the band of Spore readers contin-
ue to grow.
A blossoming future
Julius Lambi, who writes to us from
Cameroon, works for Community Develop-
ment Volunteers for Technical Assistance
(CDVTA), an NGO which seeks to promote
sustainable development at grassroots level.
He is brimming with enthusiasm for a flow-
er growing initiative in the North West
province of Cameroon, where about 
25 young farmers and school leavers have
found a future in floriculture.
“In order for Africa to stay abreast with the
West as far as farming is concerned, she
must learn to diversify her agricultural pro-
duction. In this rural community where
more than 80% of the population is
involved in food crop farming and where
storage facilities are poor, there are always
problems of supply stampedes and very low
prices for food crops,” writes Mr Lambi.
“Flower growing here is a great revenue
yielding activity for lower income people.
As it does not demand too much attention,
floriculture can be convenient.”
The enterprising young horticulturalists
grow a range of some 250 species of decor-
ative flower-bearing plants such as hybrid
roses, hibiscus, cat’s tail, lilies and morning
glory. The blooms are sold in the nearby
towns of Buea, Limbe and Tiko, though the
biggest share of sales goes to buyers from
Douala, the commercial capital of
Cameroon. Encouragingly, hotels and offices
are starting to buy too. Some young cultiva-
tors report monthly earnings of around
700,000FCFA (€ 1,077), three times what
they could make with food crop farming.
“Floriculture in this locality has been pro-
moted by cheap community water and 
a good road network to adjacent urban
areas,” continues Mr Lambi. “These 
young farmers grow flowers using cheap 
insecticides and locally available fertilisers
such as chicken droppings. Although there
is still no corporative union of any sort for
flower farmers in this locality, the future of
floriculture here is getting ever brighter,
with farmers experimenting on rare and
exotic flower species, and trying their hands
at new flower growing techniques. The suc-
cess of floriculture therefore passes one
message: ‘African farmers, try growing the
unusual while simultaneously cultivating
the usual.’”
Teaching new tricks
In Zambia, meanwhile, former agricultural
lecturer Aswelo Tembo is keen to share his
experiences of an active retirement with
other Spore readers. Instead of taking what
would have been a well-earned rest,
Mr Tembo has been helping peasant farm-
ers at Kacholola, in eastern Zambia. 
“Most inhabitants are peasant farmers. They
mainly feed on maize, combined with veg-
etables and meat. However, the situation is
normally bad after a poor rain season. The
main crop grown is maize, which provides
for food and cash, but they do not have
access to credit, agricultural training and
information,” he explains. With Mr Tembo’s
help, farmers have introduced sunflowers,
whose oil provides income and whose plants
act as a weed-killer in rotation with maize.
Spore magazine 
Spore is the bi-monthly
flagship publication of the
Technical Centre for
Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation (CTA) – ACP-EU.
CTA operates under the
Cotonou Agreement between
the countries of the Africa, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) Group and the European
Union.
© CTA 2004 – ISSN 1011 0054
Publisher: 
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation (CTA) – ACP-EC Cotonou
Agreement.
CTA, PO Box 380,
6700 AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 317 467 100
Fax: +31 317 460 067; email: cta@cta.int
Website: http://www.cta.int
Editorial staff:
Executive editor: Marie-Agnès Leplaideur
Syfia International
20, rue du Carré-du-Roi, 
34000 Montpellier, France
Fax: +33 4 67 52 70 31
Email: redaction.spore@syfia.info
Editor of English version: Clare Pedrick
Via dello Spagna 18
06049 Spoleto (PG), Italy
Email: english_spore@hotmail.com 
Editor of French version: Denise Williams
Syfia International 
(see above for address)
Email: redaction.spore@syfia.info
This issue of Spore was compiled by: 
Nasseem Ackbarally, Taye Babaleye,
Catherine Barnard, Fabrice Boulé, Robert
Huggan, André Linard, Médiascope,
Souleymane Ouattara, Madieng Seck,
Etienne Tassé and with the editorial
support of CTA.
Layout : Intactile DESIGN, France
Printer : Imprimerie Publicep, France
A boost for 
the Brussels office
@
CTA’s revamped DORA programme(this affectionate acronym stands forDistribution of Agricultural Reference
Books) has got off to a head start and is
being further developed this year, with a
wealth of new titles for subscribers to choose
from. 
To recap, the initiative, launched last year,
replaced the old system which offered free
agricultural books to just a handful of insti-
tutions – about ten. 
Under the new rules of the game, no fewer
than 1,250 organisations benefit from the
free books scheme. Those selected have been
chosen from among CTA’s partners and sub-
scribers to its Publications Distribution
Service (PDS). 
The DORA programme has been worked
into CTA’s long-running and highly popular
credit point scheme. This, as many of our
readers will know, offers the chance to 
become a PDS subscriber and to obtain
points which can be used to order publica-
tions on CTA’s list. In order to qualify for
the credit point scheme, applicants – either
organisations or individuals – have to be
based in an ACP country and be active in
agriculture or in rural development. Each
year, subscribers receive a quota of credit
points, which are theirs to spend as they
choose, ordering titles from the CTA 
catalogue, many of which are reviewed in
Spore.
Membership of the DORA programme is
restricted to organisations, and is by invita-
tion only. Priority is given to agricultural 
institutions that have a library and/or are 
familiar with the credit point scheme, 
since a commitment to sharing the books 
provided is one of the conditions for being 
chosen for the scheme. Half the institutions
selected are English-speaking and half are
French-speaking, and CTA has done its best
to choose beneficiaries from a wide range of
ACP countries and a variety of organisations
(including gender-focused organisations and 
women’s associations).
Once invited to take part in DORA, 
subscribers are allocated extra credit points,
which they can use to order publications.
The novelty here is that DORA members
can use their points to order not only books
from the CTA catalogue, but also selected
agricultural reference books produced by
other publishers. Non-CTA titles can be
chosen from a catalogue mailed to 
subscribers each year. The English catalogue
has about 250 publications to choose from
and the French one has about 150.
For 2004, the subscribers chosen to take
part in DORA will remain unchanged. They
are being sent an updated catalogue of 
non-CTA publications to browse through,
as well as a supplement for the CTA 
catalogue, which will include a number 
of new titles. But organisations which have
not been selected should not lose hope.
Although the list of members is closed 
for this year, new subscribers will be sought
for 2005. And in the meantime, the credit
points scheme is still open.
SPORE 110  • PAGE 15
• Between us
DORA 
Books galore from DORA
We have changed our commercial
distributor. See this page for the
new address 
Reader services 
Write to Spore
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PO Box 380
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Publications
How to obtain them 
CTA publications mentioned in Spore are
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He has also helped set up workshops to
teach conservation farming and drip 
irrigation.
“I pioneered an agricultural show in our
area and formed an agricultural coopera-
tive society, which I proudly lead as a 
contact person,” writes Mr Tembo. “One
of my sources of inspiration and know-
ledge is Spore magazine. Thanks Spore,
on behalf of the Kacholola farmers.” 
And thank you Mr Tembo, on behalf of all
of us here at Spore.
Look up your back copies! 
Macodou Sow, a horticultural techni-
cian, writes to remind readers that a
Spore Club/Senegal, which he set up in
1991, is more active than ever. Spore
broke the news of its launch back in issue
33! 
"Today," he writes, “The Club has 
836 members, including 575 women, 
scattered throughout 18 zones in 10 of
the 11 regions of Senegal. Among them
are rural technicians, working women, lit-
erary workers, horticulturalists, craftsmen
and women, herders, computer techni-
cians etc. The only thing holding us back
is the fact that we have no partner to give
us the support we really need. We are
working with next to nothing in the way
of resources. Poverty means that we lack
just about everything needed to carry out
development projects in rural areas,
where peasant farmers lag behind with-
out support. The information you provide
in Spore magazine gives us a great deal
of encouragement.”
"Subscribers to Spore should have the
chance to get to know each other and
develop partnerships. It would be good if
CTA could organise meetings for 
subscribers on a regular basis. We’d like
to see a network of Spore clubs some 
day in the future, which would group
together subscribers from every country." 
Your loyalty and dynamism are an inspi-
ration! We too hope that your enthusiasm
will prove infectious for readers in other
countries and that Spore will therefore
have played a role in putting you in touch
with one another. Unfortunately, CTA
cannot become involved in such initia-
tives, however much we applaud them.
But you do have our full moral support.
Women and decentralisation 
If your husband
listens to you…
Including women in decision-making bodies is no guarantee of
democracy, still less a starting point for real development. If
decentralisation, with all the promise it holds for women, is to
have a real and lasting impact, the first step is to ensure more
dialogue in the home. 
Well-meaning draft laws, declara-tions of principles, praiseworthyintentions… It cannot be said that
African governments haven’t made efforts to
encourage the involvement of women in de-
centralised decision-making authorities. But
these efforts have all failed. In the rural con-
text, women do not get up in the presence of
men and speak out on the future of the 
community. Usually, only 'hard-headed'
women, who are willing to defy the estab-
lished order, will express themselves in 
public. The small number of women present
in decision-making bodies, which are domi-
nated by men, acts as a further brake to the
free expression of women. With the best will
in the world, how can men hope to take the
right decisions on behalf of women? For 
example, they are unlikely to set much store
by the importance of sinking more wells in a
village, for unlike women, they don’t have
the daily burden of having to fetch water,
with the long hours of walking, and the 
exhausting waiting that this task entails. It’s
something we need to be careful about 
because this sense of false participation can
further widen the gulf between men and
women, and halt development at its roots.
Fortunately, there is scope for change. Not
by imposing laws or making declarations,
but by taking local realities into account. A
good example comes from Mali, an associa-
tion which belongs to the Union des femmes
rurales ouest-africaines et du Tchad
(UFROAT), an organisation for rural
women in Chad and West Africa, includes a
number of women members who have been
elected on to parish councils [UFROAT was
set up in 2000 at Bobo-Dioulasso by Rosalie
Ouoba, who was then director general of
CESAO].
Talking out family matters
We’ve always given the following advice:
"When you go back to your respective
homes, try to create space for discussions
with your husband, beginning with the
management of agricultural resources."
Some men will then agree to involve their
wives in discussions about what percentage
of land to use for cotton and food produc-
tion, and what proportion to set aside for the
women to grow their vegetables. These 
exchanges can later continue in local 
decision-making contexts, on other issues,
without taking on the acrimonious tone of a
dispute, because both men and women will
already have learnt how to talk to each other
in the home on issues that are important for
the family. In the past, that wasn’t the case.
If this process gained ground, even in a 
relatively modest way, then a real dialogue
could be set up between men and women.
The main advantages? Higher agricultural
output and better status for the women in
the household. For the more a woman
spends and invests, the greater the level of
admiration she elicits from her husband, and
from society. The first stage on the path to
playing a full role as a citizen is to decide, 
together with one’s wife and children – who
make up the household’s workforce – on a
family plan of action. That’s the best way to
obtain a change of attitude and behaviour
with respect to women. A woman who is
held in high esteem will feel able to express
herself freely. If not, she may say to herself:
“If I speak out, what will others think? What
will they say?” But if her family gives her the
chance to express herself, she will be more
likely to be heard in public decision-making
forums too, and put over her point of view
as a woman and as a citizen. At that point,
she will really be playing an important role
in the affairs of her community.
So dialogue in the home is a pre-condition
for any full and meaningful participation by
women in town affairs. But additional 
measures are needed as well. And a great
many of them. We will be pressing for 
reforms in the laws and for changes in 
training. Today, in order to become a mayor,
or a town or parish councillor etc., you must
belong to a political party. But given that
few women belong to parties, it follows that
they have little chance of being given these
responsibilities. It is vital that the laws are
changed so that civil society organisations,
notably women’s organisations, can put for-
ward candidates with the real hope of a
number of them being elected, so that they
can gain a foothold in the decision-making
structures and defend women’s points of
view. That in turn would lead to a greater
presence of women in the ranks of authori-
ties where decisions are taken.
Learning to take the floor
The more there are of them, the more
women will be encouraged to speak out, to
back each other up and to give their opin-
ions on issues affecting the welfare of the
community. They’ll also be able to consult
with each other and appoint a spokes-
woman. She will be able to express herself
more easily on behalf of other women than
she would have done on her own. Secondly,
women must have training in negotiation
and lobbying skills, so they can master the
issues and understand the major points at
stake in a debate. This will enable them to
put forward proposals and to defend their
interests. For often, women are present, but
they haven’t mastered their subject suffi-
ciently well. And when that is the case, they
are reluctant to open their mouths for fear of
appearing foolish. Even if they are physically
present, they cannot put forward their point
of view, far less defend it. A small revolution
of this kind would not only benefit women
themselves, but would be an advantage to
the whole community, because it would
serve to reduce the divide between men and
women, between adults and the younger
generation.
UFROAT Email: resafra_t@yahoo.fr 
SPORE 110  • PAGE 16
Viewpoint • 
The opinions expressed in Viewpoint are
those of the authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the views of CTA.
A field worker and later director general of
the Centre d’études sociales de l’Afrique de
l’Ouest (CESAO), a centre for social studies in
West Africa, Rosalie Ouoba has spent the past
20 years fighting tirelessly to get the voice of
rural women heard. Today, she is a well
established figure in her own right, heading a
network offering expertise to women in West
Africa and Chad. 
“Dialogue in the home
is an essential 
pre-condition to the
participation of women
in local matters“