A village dies every week in Zimbab-we, where one in five adults suffersfrom HIV/AIDS, the sexually-
transmitted disease that strips the body of
its immunity to infection. Each week, one
thousand Zimbabweans die from AIDS-
induced illnesses. More than two-thirds of
all new AIDS cases in the world are report-
ed from Africa, where more than 21 mil-
lion people suffer. Across the developing
world, which has 85% of all AIDS cases,
the struggle against its spread receives a tiny
portion–estimated at one-tenth–of the $2
billion that the world spends on HIV/AIDS
prevention.
It is for most people a disease of poverty,
although it can strike anyone indulging in
unsafe sex and–greatest concern of all–the
unborn children of sufferers. In Uganda,
for example, one pregnant woman in three
is affected, and so will be their children. 
Most of the attention on the health
aspects of AIDS is focussed in the North,
but it is above all a social and developmen-
tal tragedy in the South. And, while there
are more infections in towns than in the
country, the impact is greatest in rural areas
since many infected urban dwellers and
migrant labourers return to their villages to
be cared for and add to the number of local
cases.
Rural livelihoods at risk
The impact of HIV/AIDS on households
and communities has significant implica-
tions for the sustainability of rural liveli-
SPORE 82  • PAGE 1
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AIDS and agriculture 
Red-ribbon farming
The red ribbon has become a worldwide symbol for mourning a
death from AIDS, a disease whose impact on ACP agriculture is
terrifying for those who suffer and die, those left behind, and
those yet to come. The talk is of devastation, decimation, and
despair. It is time to respond, to come to terms with the scourge
that may remain with us forever.
AIDS and agriculture
Red-ribbon farming 1
Barter and exchange
Swaps sweep the board 3
Sustainable management of 
coastal zones
Living dangerously on the edge 4
IN BRIEF 6
LINKS 10
PUBLICATIONS 11
BETWEEN US 14
VIEWPOINT
Participatory forest planning
Wanted: all-round negotiators 16
Website: www.cta.nl
Information 
for agricultural 
development 
in ACP countries
Number 82
AUGUST 1999
In this issue
As the development
scenario changes, so
do practices and
perspectives. The AIDS scourge
presents an awesome new challenge
to the agricultural community, from
policy makers to surviving farmers, to
do more with less. 
Another challenge lies in the
dilemma presented by the barter
economy. A powerful motor in
agriculture, yet it is uncontrolled,
untaxable, and thus unmanageable.
Should authorities tolerate it or
integrate it in the formal sector?
Integration is also the key to
satisfying the varying demands of
coastal dwellers and producers. 
These issues are raised by the usual
blend of news, resources, views and
lively readers’ letters. The Viewpoint
on participation in forestry planning
stresses the importance of
information and transparency — a
theme which is also touched upon
with a modest but crisp message 
in the report of CTA’s June 
Advisory Committee. 
AIDS and agriculture •
hoods, according to a recent regional con-
ference on HIV/AIDS and agriculture held
in Harare, Zimbabwe. The two immediate
impacts of an illness and a death are the loss
of an often productive person and loss of
time as family members take off from agri-
cultural work to care for the sick, and to
mourn. Expenses for medicine and funerals
add to a family’s debt burden and eat into
its capital that could otherwise be invested
in agriculture.
Loss of labour affects crop and livestock
production, by reducing the amount of
land under cultivation. Soil fertility and
harvests decline because soil management,
tilling, weeding, mulching, and planting are
neglected. Frequent loss and sale of animals
due to less care lead in turn to less long-
term capital being available for investment. 
Extension services, already overstretched
and under-resourced, suffer from absen-
teeism due to long illnesses, attendance of
funerals, and death of workers; in some
regions of Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Uganda,
for example, more than 10% of extension
workers have died.
Studies by the FAO on the impact of
HIV/AIDS on agriculture in western, east-
ern, and southern Africa repeatedly stress
that, by cutting down large slices of today’s
and tomorrow’s productive generations, the
disease aggravates existing agricultural and
rural problems. Rural women suffer the
most from its impact. The Harare confer-
ence spoke of their triple jeopardy arising
from their roles as mothers, wives, and
farmers. When they have to replace the loss
of a breadwinner by starting or expanding
their agricultural activity, they are hindered
by uncertain access to land, credit, and edu-
cation. 
Innovators, 
your country needs you
Smallholder agriculture has been hit hard
by the first wave of HIV/AIDS since its
emergence in 1981, and it will continue to
suffer for several generations.  Prevention
campaigns are starting to have effect, with
heartening success stories about public
awareness resulting in falling infection
rates. The disease continues to spread, how-
ever, and policies for agriculture and rural
development have to change significantly. 
The challenge is not a new one: “more
from less” is one way to sum it up. The
resources available for expanding agricul-
tural production and rural livelihoods have
diminished: less labour, less capital, lost tra-
ditional knowledge, weakened informal
institutions, shrunken formal institutions.
There is room here for drawing on the well
of innovation of rural communities and
popular institutions, often represented by
village and farmers’ associations and the
nongovernmental sector. Sometimes it is a
case of strengthening existing mutual sup-
port organisations; sometimes new organi-
sations can emerge, as has happened in the
Hay and Mambo villages of Tanzania,
where new savings groups have sprung up
in response to the impact of HIV/AIDS.
Recent advances in microcredit, microen-
terprise, and employment creation could be
refined even further, by being better target-
ed at (even better, by) women, and with a
greater focus on management of financial
resources. Microfinance has become a tool
for empowerment in villages and NGOs,
and it needs to be fine-tuned to the chang-
ing conditions of surviving rural users. 
The same applies to agricultural tech-
nologies, which depend on the creativity of
researchers. According to the Harare con-
ference, a greater role could be played by
low-input systems that require little human
energy, or investment: intercropping to
reduce weeding time, minimum tillage
techniques, use of trap crops to lure pests
away from productive crops and natural
pest management. Appropriate technolo-
gies need to be further developed, such as
animal weeding, mulching, intercropping,
further selection of crop varieties for disease
and drought resistance, equipment for use
by the sick, as well as labour-saving devices
for use in the household and for collecting
water. Agricultural extension also needs to
adapt to working more with clients previ-
ously untargeted: women, youths, and
schools. All these themes will be developed
further at a conference to be held in Accra,
Ghana, in November 1999, which will be
supported by CTA.
You may change your mind
Prevention of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
depends mainly in changes of behaviour
and attitude on the part of the individual.
The same applies to coping with the per-
manent impact of HIV/AIDS on ACP agri-
culture and rural development. To make the
necessary changes in agricultural practice
requires changes in attitudes in the individ-
uals who make up its many institutions.
Informal institutions in villages have start-
ed to change, and the process should be
encouraged by local, regional, and national
governments, the private sector, and donor
agencies. These need to re-invent forgotten
mechanisms of being nonbureaucratic and
supporting small projects. For formal bod-
ies, understanding the changed needs and
nature of the farmer means listening, ask-
ing, and understanding at local level
through more participatory approaches.
Seeking and making solutions, such as
adapting technologies with smallholders,
means establishing genuine partnerships
between institutions.
The real impact of HIV/AIDS on ACP
agriculture has still to be felt, as yet anoth-
er slap in the face in addition to natural and
man-induced disasters of drought, climate
change, changing markets, and structural
adjustment. Perhaps HIV/AIDS, as a disas-
ter that touches individuals so deeply, rep-
resents the ultimate external threat that will
lead to unity in making change.
If not, there will be room for another,
more sombre, innovation that, according to
Andrew Mutwanda, a leading AIDS cam-
paigner and a writer in Zimbabwe’s Finan-
cial Gazette, has caught on in many parts
of the world: the Memory Book. This is
used by a family as part of its grieving ritu-
al to commemorate a person lost to AIDS.
It is a history of important people and
events, a record of their aspirations and her-
itage. The “Memory Book of Agriculture”
is a book we must hope will never need to
be written.
For further information
Responding to HIV/AIDS: Technology Development
Needs of African Smallholder Agriculture.
Conference held in Harare, Zimbabwe, and hosted
by the Southern African AIDS Information
Dissemination Service.
SAfAIDS
PO Box A509, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: +263 4 336195
Email: info@safaids.org.zw
Website: www.safaids.org
The Implications of HIV/AIDS for Rural Development
Policy and Programming: Focus on Sub-Saharan
Africa, by D Topouzis for Sustainable Development
Department, FAO, and HIV and Development
Programme, UNDP
FAO, 1998.
The publication is available on Internet:
Website: www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/wpre0074.html
FAO Sales and Marketing Group, Viale delle Terme
di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. 
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60 
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
Website: www.fao.org/waicent
SPORE 82  • PAGE 2
Rural livelihoods at risk
The impact of AIDS on ACP agriculture is
immediate, and enduring:
• illness and death destroy the major capi-
tal of agriculture – people – and work-
ing capital
• loss of labour affects farm maintenance
and extension services
• women are hardest hit
• more finance and policy support is need-
ed for village-level credit programmes,
self-help groups and the development of
appropriate technologies
• new approaches require new attitudes
from policy-makers
The writing on the wall urges caution
D
R
In the small bustling market town ofNditam, 250 km north of Yaoundé, thecapital of Cameroon, the activities of
women producers show just how deeply
rooted modern trade is in ancient practices.
Grouped together in the “Beyii Ndeng”
association, which means “Women, to the
Fields” in the Tikar language, they help
each other clear land, and sow and harvest
their crops. Their complex system of mutu-
al support goes further: to respect fallow
patterns, they do not all cultivate the same
food crops. This year, those growing sweet
potatoes will give part of their crop to those
growing macabo or taro. Such exchange is
an old tradition with the Tikar people; they
have, since ages, traded with the Bedjang
pygmies, their neighbours in this central
region of Cameroon, without ever using
money. What they barter has changed with
modernity. Nowadays, one party will give
old clothes, salt, soap, lamp oil, and local
alcohol, and receive bamboo furniture,
game, and muscle power for working on
plantations.
Lots of LETS …
Some people in modern societies yearn for
this form of fair trade from the good old
years. Since 1993, dozens of LETS (Local
Exchange Trading System) projects have
been launched in Europe. They started in
Canada in 1983 and have spread far and
wide throughout the West. They cover a
multitude of barters between individuals or
communities, and for all sorts of goods or
services: lessons, food, do-it-yourself hand-
iwork, use of computer equipment, help-
ing hands, baby sitting, and many others.
The Belgian daily Le Matin runs a swap
shop section of small advertisements. In
France, the traditional bric-a-brac traders
have been joined by a new wave of LETS
fairs where nonmonetary exchanges are
traded. And LETS services have set up shop
in cyberspace with such French-language
websites as www.selidaire.org or www.troc-
en-france.com.  English-speaking services
include the International Barter Corpora-
tion, with its website www.ubarter.com. In
Havana, Cuba, swap traders known as per-
mutas have set up another type of web,
where people can exchange apartments as
their family situations change through
deaths and births.
It is hard to quantify these transactions
at macroeconomic level, in part because
national borders–especially those of ACP
countries–are porous, much to the profit of
smugglers. But in the case of Russia, the
IMF has estimated that one-half of all trade
exchanges are through barter. A general
estimate is that such transactions represent
10–12% of the volume of all world trade,
with all that this means in terms of lost
statistics and lost tax revenue. 
Barter trade took off in its present form
in the 1950s in exchanges between Eastern
Bloc countries. In the 1970s and 1980s
they were built into industrial exchanges
and technology transfers, adding a new ele-
ment to North–South relationships. More
recently, in the 1980s and 1990s, they have
taken on the form of financial compensa-
tion through debt conversions and swaps.
One such method, known as “switch”, is a
triangular operation in which two of the
three parties set up an agreement for pay-
ment. The value of goods exchanged is
recorded by the central banks of the coun-
tries concerned, and only the outstanding
balance is paid in hard currency. As for debt
swaps, the debtor country hands over part
of its debt liabilities at a discount, in
exchange for inward investment or pur-
chase of exports from the country. 
Since it became a command economy in
the 1960s, Cuba has been, and still is, a past
master at barter. It has bartered its sugar
production for Soviet and now Russian
petrol (in 1997, it swapped 3.25 million t
of sugar for 9.75 million t of crude oil). In
1995, Fidel Castro’s country set up sugar
swap deals with France (for wheat), with a
British trader, and Iran (for fertilisers). Dur-
ing the 1980s, some African countries such
as Tanzania swapped products like tea for
tractors. Nigeria is well known as the most
adept barterer on the African continent,
swapping its oil for small parts. 
Smuggling and laundering ...
The value of bartering is emphasised by the
French organisation ADEPTA1, the associ-
ation for international exchange of agricul-
tural and food products and technology. It
holds that nonmonetary compensation, or
countertrade, is an important asset for agri-
cultural development in Southern coun-
tries. Similarly, ACECO2, a French body
for countertrade, seeks to maintain a cer-
tain ethical code of conduct in nonmone-
tary exchanges and to “protect” businesses
involved in such trade.  
Nonetheless, countertrade is an area rife
with blows below the belt. It is well known
as a way to get products for a price below
their market value. It is also a way for some
operators to offload surplus production.
And countertrade does not go unchallenged
either. The famous swap between France
and China involving Airbus planes and tex-
tiles and clothes has had a drastic effect on
the French textile sector.  In the early
1990s, Rwanda swapped a good part of its
bean crop for weapons; the result was the
terrible massacre of the ethnic groups. Sim-
ilarly, the ongoing armed conflicts in Ango-
la, Sierra Leone, and ex-Zaire are fed by
barters of arms for precious stones. The
Russian mafia operates in these countries as
well to launder its dirty money. 
But the consequences of countertrade are
not always so dire. In Cameroon caps of
beer bottles marked by the breweries with a
winning symbol can be swapped at any beer
outlet for a free beer. The winning caps are
sometimes accepted as a ticket to ride …
by taxi drivers.
1. The ADEPTA association was set up in 1997 by the
French Ministry of Agriculture. It brings together 210
businesses in sectors ranging from agricultural
development to food processing. Its mission is to assist
its members in identifying business partners and to
promote contacts through trade missions, exhibitions,
and fairs.
2. ACECO is a private French body, specialised in
partnership and advisory services for commercial
negotiation and export finance for countertrade. It
organises training courses and information services by
sector and assists its member businesses for projects,
financial engineering, and seeking opportunities in
countertrade.
SPORE 82  • PAGE 3
D
R
Barter and exchange
Swaps sweep 
the board
Swaps, barters, and nonmonetary exchanges have long been
frowned upon and decried by purist economists. Not that their
opinions count in the thriving world of local exchange trading
systems and international barter networks.
SPORE 80  • PAGE 4
Not that the occupation levels of thecoast are even : there are greatstretches of virtual deserts, such as
in Somalia and Namibia, and other areas
with several hundred people on each
crowded square kilometre.
The rush to the coast is only recent:
coastal settlements, started by fishers, are
relatively new. Then came the towns, fol-
lowed by ports and industries, while peo-
ple left the rural areas of the interior for
the coast. Gradual population growth put
pressure on the use of the many natural
resources; first and foremost on fishing
and farming, but also on hunting, salt
harvesting, shell and shellfish gathering,
sand quarrying, and firewood collection.
The communities undertook different
activities, but as the pressure on resources
grew, their interests began to clash. Other
pressures from tourism, industry, and
aquaculture started to play their part. If
population pressure had been less, these
various activities could have coexisted in
harmony. Wastes discharged by towns
and factories dilute into the sea, up to a
point. The fishing population can grow
without reducing the catch, up to a
point. Aquafarmers can drain off their
ponds, tourists can flush their wastes
Sustainable management of coastal zones
Living dangerously 
on the edge
Almost half of humanity lives near the coast. 
Many people draw their living and livelihood from this narrow
strip of land nudging the ocean. The last two explosive decades
have seen tremendous changes to the fragile ecological balance
of coasts. The pressures of growing populations and their
occupations have seriously damaged the environment, 
sometimes irreversibly. Everyone suffers the consequences, 
some more than others.
Come back fish, 
come back people
Until the 1960s, the delta of the Senegal
river was an area of extraordinary
ecological wealth. This mosaic of dunes,
flood plains, and mangroves was home to
tens of thousands of people living from
hunting, fishing, livestock production, and
handicrafts. The droughts of recent years
have depopulated the region of its
manpower and the main source of income
is now reed mats produced by the local
women who have not moved. The
construction of the Diama dam on the
Senegal river cut down flood levels during
the 1980s, causing gradual salting of the
delta soils.
The Diawling National Park was created on
the Mauritanian bank of the river in 1991.
It did not attempt to oppose development
of human activity and conservation of the
ecosystem, instead it focused on the
interests of all smallholders.  Scientific
observations soon suggested that flood
levels should be restored to those prior to
the construction of the dam (see Spore 80).
Steps were taken to consult the
representatives of all the socioprofessional
groups affected by the creation of the
National Park: fresh water fishers, coastal
fishers, pastoralists, vegetable and fruit
growers, and craftspeople. Local people
were often concerned that the creation of
the park would disrupt their lives. Case-by-
case solutions were found through a
permanent link between the community
and the project team. In the village of
Birette, for example, livestock farmers
whose pastures had been flooded by the
new course of the river were encouraged
to switch to market gardening. In Ziré
Takhredient, local people, who had
traditionally lived from hunting, were
unhappy about switching to what they saw
as demeaning agriculture, so they opted
for fishing, stating that “as long as there is
one fish left in the water, we shall not work
on the land”. Often there was a clash of
interest between groups. Fishers wanted a
certain type of water flow to encourage
fish reproduction. But the Maure women,
who had set up a workshop to produce
traditional mats using leather and rushes,
wanted a slightly different pattern of
water flow so that the rushes could receive
the first rains before being flooded. The
most obvious result of the National Park is
that wildlife has returned in all its diversity.
But the most important result is less visible:
it is the return and the development of
various human activities that are in
harmony with the ecosystem. It all goes to
show that conservation of nature is not
contradictory to human activities; it is
instead a guarantee of their success.
For further information
Olivier Hammerlinck, IUCN, Parc national du
Diawling, BP 3935 Nouakchott, Mauritania
Email: roma@pactec.org
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SPORE 81  • PAGE 5
worsens the phenomena of erosion along
the coast just as it does inland. Rivers
carry down erosion sediments that are
deposited at the mouth. The accumulated
sediments literally suffocate the environ-
ment, changing it almost irreversibly, as
in the case of the Limpopo estuary in
Mozambique.
Development managers in many ACP
countries often underestimate the value of
coastal fisheries in economic and social
development. Its recognition is not just a
solution, it is a prerequisite. The real solu-
tion in most cases requires the involve-
ment of all stakeholders so that they act
together. Participation is a key element at
the heart of integrated coastal zone man-
agement. This is a new approach, but it
should not be seen as just the latest fash-
ion in development concepts.  Never,
since the emergence of systems research,
has the fate of people depended so much
on the challenge this theme poses for
researchers and leaders in development. 
1 M Ducrocq. Premières enquêtes à propos de
l’exploitation des raies et requins par les pêcheurs
Nyominkas du Sine-Saloum (Sénégal). Mission report.
March 1999.
2 Marchés Tropicaux. April 1999. 
For further information
Dossier “Integrated Coastal Zone Management”.
In Agriculture and Rural Development. Volume 6
p 27 No 1, April 1999. ISSN 0343-6462.
Available from CTA
Responsible Fish Utilization. FAO Technical
Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries 7. 1998. 
39 pp. ISBN 92 5 104180 6.
$8.00 • e7.80
Aquaculture development. FAO Technical
Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries 5. 1997. 
40 pp. ISBN 92 5 103971 2.
$8.00 • e7.80
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome
Italy
Shrimps: 
The renewable resource?
Shrimp farming has had a phenomenal
success in Southeast Asia and Latin America
as an important earner of foreign currency.
Shrimps pens are set up in the waters of
mangrove swamps on the mudflats of
coastal strips. Because of the methods used,
shrimp farming destroys the very
environment on which it depends.
Development of shrimp larvae through
intensive raising reduces the swamp’s
resources, and the continuous discharge of
soiled water means that no clean water can
be put into the ponds. Shrimp farming
companies are now turning towards the
African continent and Madagascar as they
are frowned upon in those countries where
they have long operated. In 1996, the
Supreme Court of India even forbade
shrimp farming throughout the country. In
Tanzania, the African Fishing Company has
been working for several years to set up
the world’s largest shrimp farming project
at the mouth of the Rufiji river. The delta
has by far the most extensive mangroves of
the entire eastern coast of Africa, where
numerous species can develop. Almost
30,000 people depend on fishing in the
delta. Meanwhile, the Mombasa Declara-
tion of 6 February 1998 called for a
moratorium on the Rufiji project to allow
for an impartial assessment of the long-
term consequences of the project for the
environment and local people. Signed by
numerous African NGOs campaigning for
sustainable development, the Declaration
reminded the governments of eastern
Africa of the repeated pledges to promote
sustainable development that they made at
the Rio de Janeiro conference in 1992 and
in Arusha in 1993. 
Source
Tanzania Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team
PO Box 12605, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Fax: +255 51 180 842
Email: leat@twiga.com
away in their bungalows, and small farm-
ers can cut down mangroves. Up to a
point, the impact of each group’s activi-
ties on the environment is negligible. But
up to which point? 
After a given point, the richest people
will open other posh hotels elsewhere,
other fish ponds elsewhere. The largest
trawlers will go further away and fish, else-
where. Fishermen who stay behind and go
nowhere will fret about the drastic falls in
their catches, not knowing where all the
fish went.1
Where have 
all the fish gone?
Standing on their frail boats, fishers can
see tangibly that there are fewer and fewer
fish. Catches are down by about 60%
compared with 15 years ago. Take Sene-
gal, a country that relies heavily on fish-
eries both for feeding its people and for
exports; the statistics show a clear drop in
the catches of fish with a high commercial
value (sole, mullet, sea bream, and
grouper). Some species that have grown
popular recently, such as cuttlefish or
octopus, are stable; for others, like hog-
fish, the catches have fallen already.2
On a global level, the FAO has calculat-
ed that some 50,000 coastal fishermen will
lose their livelihood in the next 15–20
years if nothing is done. Their numbers
have increased and techniques have
improved, but the causes of falling catch-
es do not lie here alone. Discharge of
urban, industrial, and agricultural efflu-
ents into rivers or directly into the sea
leads to chronic pollution from bacteria,
industrial waste, and pesticides. Fish are
dying at a time when their value as a
source of income and protein is all the
more important for local people. Another
form of environmental degradation,
deforestation, is a more insidious factor; it
The load on the coast
There are 
many demands 
of different activities on the coast, and 
most of them need a good quality environment (water, fauna, and flora):
fishing • agriculture • gathering • aquaculture • hunting • handicrafts 
• wood cutting • sand quarrying • salt harvesting • firewood collection • industry 
• harbours • tourism.
Ill
us
tr
at
io
n 
Te
rr
y 
A
nd
on
Ph
ot
o 
A
N
T/
Su
ns
et
Fallow but
fertile
n Shortening the fallow period in
the savannah zones of sub-Saharan
Africa poses new challenges for the
protection and improvement of
soil fertility and biodiversity. From
13 to 16 April 1999, almost 200
researchers, scientists, decision
makers, and development workers
from all over Africa and beyond
came together in Dakar, Senegal,
to plan new approaches. 
Among the topics covered were
short-term fallows, soil biology,
vegetation succession, products
(including forage) in traditional
and improved fallows, tree-
improved fallows, hedges, and
rehabilitation of degraded areas.
The underlying and unifying
feature of most recommendations
was partnership and participation,
pointing to the recognition that no
measures to improve fallows will
become sustainable without close
involvement of all stakeholders.
The terms that swept the seminar
and which should appear in poli-
cies and practice in years to come
are ‘integration’ and ‘transfer: inte-
gration of various activities, and
transfer of research findings. 
The seminar was organised and
sponsored by CIRAD, CORAF,
European Union, IDRC, IRD,
ISRA, French Development Coop-
eration, UNESCO, and CTA.
Seminaire Jachère 
BP 1386, Dakar, Senegal
Fax: +221 832 2698
Email: ponpon@ird.sn
Sweet potatoes replace
Vitamin A pills
The International Potato
Centre (CIP) has developed
orange-fleshed sweet potato
varieties that provide a
simple delivery system to
increase the dietary intake of
vitamin A. Farmers in eastern
Africa are currently growing
the new varieties instead of
the traditional types with
low vitamin A content. Sweet
potato flour from dried roots
offers the most efficient way
to increase vitamin intake.
Vitamin A deficiency is a
serious nutritional problem
in many developing
countries. It can cause 
night blindness among other
problems, and prolonged
deficiency can impair the
immune system. 
International Institute for
Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
/International Potato Centre
(CIP)
Pan-African PAN
The 5th international
conference of the Pesticide
Action Network (PAN) – on
Feeding the world
without poisons:
supporting healthy food
and healthy agriculture -
will be held from 18 to 
21 May 2000 in Dakar,
Senegal. It will be preceded
by a regional workshop on
integrated pest management
and sustainable agriculture.
PAN Africa
BP 15938, Dakar-Fann, 
Senegal 
Fax: +221 825 49 14
Email: panafric@telecomplus.sn
International Rice
Research Conference
2000
31 March – 3 April, 
Los Baños, Philippines 
The following seven sessions
are foreseen:
1. Increasing yield potential
in irrigated rice: breaking the
barrier 
2. Exploitation and utilisation
of heterosis in rice 
3. Breeding for abiotic stress
tolerance 
4. Durable host-plant
resistance 
5. Integrated nutrient and
pest management 
6. Water and weed
management in direct-
seeded rice 
7. Impact of technologies on
food security and poverty
alleviation 
Shaobing Peng 
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI)
PO Box 3127
1271 Makati City, Philippines
Fax: +632 891 1292
Email: s.peng@cgiar.org
In brief •
n Radio is the preferred extension
medium for disseminating agricul-
tural information in Fiji and other
Pacific islands, where it enjoys
almost 100% penetration in rural
areas. To enhance the content of
rural radio programmes, a work-
shop was organised in Suva, Fiji,
from 6 to 16 April 1999 by CTA
and IRETA, with a course consul-
tant from Wrenmedia. 
The emphasis of the course was
to increase the “sense of place” in a
programme by bringing the action
closer to the listener. A programme
item can be made more vivid, by
breaking away from the usual prac-
tice of recording interviews in the
studio or in formal settings, and
instead talking to interviewees in
their workplace. 
The course was reported on
national radio in several countries
and was the topic of a “Farming
World” programme broadcast on
the BBC World Service in late April.
Fourteen participants from seven
countries attended the workshop:
Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga
and Vanuatu. Their work really
started after the course: in addition
to using materials produced during
the course for their national broad-
casts, they have the task of produc-
ing two sample programmes and
distributing them to all the other
participants by September 1999.
Better pictures on the radio
On-the-job training for Fijian 
farm broadcasters at a
crop/fish/livestock farm
n Last March 29, the European
Commission banned imports into
Europe of fresh water fish from
countries bordering Lake Victoria:
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Their decision follows an
announcement by the Ugandan
authorities about food poisoning
resulting from consumption of fish
contaminated by pesticide
residues. The ban –
imposed 
until further notice – mainly cov-
ers Nile perch fillets, fresh and
frozen. It will hit export earnings
hard in the countries concerned, in
particular in Uganda where fish is
the third export earner after coffee
and tourism.
Europe bans Lake Victoria fish
SPORE 82  • PAGE 6
Ph
ot
o 
W
re
nm
ed
ia
Illustr
ation
 Hele
n Lar
kins
SPORE 82  • PAGE 7
Huanglongbing has
reached the Central
American region
Huanglongbing (Diaphorina
citri) or greening disease
recently reached the Caribbean.
This bacterial disease poses a
serious threat to citrus crops. It
affects the softer parts of citrus
trees, like leaves, fruit, and
young twigs. Loss of leaves is
followed by the appearance of
new fresh shoots. Fruit show
asymmetrical shapes and remain
green at ripening stage. D. citri
originates in Asia and is also
recorded in Mauritius and
Réunion. In the western
hemisphere, D. citri was found
only in Brazil and Honduras
until recently. How D. citri got
to the Caribbean and to Florida
in June 1998 is currently not
known. 
T Goguey, Cirad-Flhor, March 1999
Saint Vincent trade with
Barbados expanded
Green bananas and plantains
from Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines have entered the
market in Barbados after a
nearly 3-year absence. Barbados
had placed a ban on certain
Saint Vincent produce owing to
the pink mealybug pest. 
A date with destiny ?
The date has long been an
important staple food in oases,
and is often the main cash crop
both in countries on the
traditional desert trading routes
of the Middle East and North
Africa and in the palm groves of
nomads in the Sahel and
eastern Africa. Consumption of
dates is falling though, in
producer and consumer
countries. A recent publication
calls for finding new outlets for
processed date products (syrups,
flours, pastes and vinegar) and
animal feed – a line already
being followed commercially in
some oases. 
Sécheresse, Special issue on
‘Oasis’, vol. 9 no. 2, June 1998 :
“Le marché de la datte, produit de
rente des oasis : enjeux, diversité,
tensions”.
John Libbey Eurotext Limited
127, avenue de la République,
9210 Montrouge, France
Fax : +33 1 40 84 09 99
Slipping out of reach?
Agricultural and biological
journals are becoming even
more expensive. A survey by
the Agriculture and Life
Science College of Cornell
University in New York, USA,
showed that prices of key
publications rose by an average
of two-thirds over the period
1988–1994. Commercial titles
rose by 78% and those
published by societies and
associations by 33%.
• In brief
Better safe than sorry
n The bambara groundnut (Vigna
subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is grossly
undervalued in Africa, according to
Gaebewe Ramolemana, lecturer in
soil fertility at the University of
Botswana. The bambara groundnut,
a relative of the cowpea, is a protein-
rich crop valued for its drought tol-
erance and low demand on soil prop-
erties. The nut is used for home con-
sumption and is sold on local mar-
kets. The crop’s foliage is used as fod-
der for livestock. Nevertheless, very
little research has been done for rais-
ing yields or making the crop com-
mercially more interesting. Ramole-
mana discovered that phosphorous
fertilisers, irrigation, and higher
plant density can increase yields. He
found that the addition of moisture
enhances intake of phosphorus, the
scarcest nutrient in Botswanan soils.
The nutrient is most needed for
growth during the first two weeks
after sowing. So applying moisture
during this critical period makes a lot
of difference. Farmers usually obtain
yields of about 500 kg/ha, but
Ramolemana’s irrigated pilot plots
yielded over 4 t/ha. Even his rainfed
plots produced almost 3 t/ha after
adding phosphorus and increasing
plant density. “You should avoid too
many plants. We are still looking for
the optimum”, says Ramolemana.
His research was part of a 5-year,
EU-funded project, which involved
a comparative investigation of the
potential of the bambara groundnut
in Botswana, Sierra Leone, and Tan-
zania. 
For further information
Botswana College of Agriculture,
Department of Crop Science and
Production
Private Bag 0027, Content Farms 
Sebele, Gaborone, Botswana
Fax: +267 328 753 
Email: gramolem@bca.bw
BAMNET, c/o Information Centre for
Genetic Resources, PO Box 201415,
D-53144 Bonn, Germany.
Fax: +49 228 954 8220
Email: igr@zadi.de
See also Spore 79, the International
Bambara Groundnut Network
(BAMNET).
The hidden potential of the bambara groundnut
n Is your organisation ready for the
year 2000? If you, your colleagues,
your customers, or your suppliers
use computers for any part of your
work, you could be affected by pos-
sible problems.  Most computers in
the world were designed to work on
a system of dates where the year is
expressed in the last two digits of the
number. This year is “99”, and next
year is “00”, which means that a
computer may think that the year is
really “0000”, “1900”, or “2000”,
and things could go wrong.
Computers are used in more
places than most people think. The
press and other media mostly men-
tion possible problems in aircraft,
large hospitals, or electricity power
plants. But computers, or computer
chips, are also used in other places
and equipment near you: irrigation
pumps, cold storage, videos, and
even in motor engines. All of these
could break down at the turn of the
century. No one is quite sure what
will happen, although billions of
dollars have been spent to try to pre-
vent problems.
Organisations such as the World
Bank have provided grants to
national governments to prepare
for these possible problems, largely
in the banking, security, and health
sectors. Little attention seems to
have been paid to agriculture, and,
of course, little has been done for
people who got their computer
software from, let’s say, the infor-
mal sector. If you use a computer
for your work (stock control,
accounting, management of sav-
ings and credit funds, laboratory
tests) or equipment with a chip, it
could be worthwhile to find out if
your system can cross trouble-free
to the next century.
For further information
InfoDev Y2K
World Bank
1818 H Street 
Washington NW, DC 20036, USA
Website:
www.worldbank.org/infodev/y2k
n An original beehive was devel-
oped in Senegal nearly 15 years
ago. The entire design is focused
on the cost of the hive and the spe-
cial conditions of tropical apicul-
ture. It is very different to import-
ed modern hives but is no less
effective. Indeed, all modern hives
are designed in the same way, with
80-litre capacity to store honey,
about 20 frames to make it possi-
ble to remove the combs, sheets of
imprinted wax comb foundation
and an extractor for collection 
purposes. A hive of this kind 
costs African farmers about
CFAF80,000 • e 122!. In contrast,
the horizontal hive costs less than
CFAF5,000 • e 7.60 and it is just
as easy to use as traditional hives.
Its main strong points are that it is
made of cement (cheaper and
stronger than wood), it is horizon-
tal (with no stand) and not verti-
cal, the
frames are
easily
made
from
sticks 
that are very 
cheap and the sheets of imprinted
foundation are replaced by simple
strips of ordinary wax. The honey-
combs are not totally ‘framed’.
They can be extracted using tradi-
tional methods and the purchase of
a modern extractor is not essential.
This kind of hive can easily be
made by beekeepers themselves
and will give the same honey yield
as a modern hive for a very small
investment.
More information from: 
Dr. Alain Vautier
BP 6131
Dakar - Senegal
Fax : +221 821 66 73
Low-cost beekeeping
Ill
us
tr
at
io
n 
H
el
en
 L
ar
ki
ns
Ill
us
tr
at
io
n 
Lo
um
a 
Pr
od
uc
tio
ns
A snappy slogan (Y2K equals Year Two Thousand), but does it mean chaos?
n How to improve agricultural
extension work in sub-Saharan
African countries at a time when
public sector support has shrunk is
the common concern of several
donors and other institutions.
Grouped together in the Neuchâ-
tel Initiative, CTA, NEDA, the
European Union, FAO, GTZ,
DANIDA, DFID, IFAD, SIDA,
USAID, French Development
Cooperation and the World Bank
seek new approaches to the deliv-
ery of extension services. 
One related line of action with
African partners and agricultural
organisations–strengthening pro-
ducers’ organisations–was the topic
of a workshop hosted by the World
Bank, with the collaboration of the
International Federation of Agri-
cultural Producers. It was held in
Washington from 28 to 30 June
1999. Among the issues covered in
the workshop were partnerships
and how they could be developed
between formal, usually statal, agri-
cultural service institutions and
producers’ organisations. 
The workshop highlighted two
revealing trends in key thinking
about cooperation between stake-
holders in agriculture. In the first
trend towards “mainstreaming” of
partnerships with producers, the
focus is extended beyond farmers to
a wider set of actors in rural devel-
opment, including producers in
other sectors (livestock and fish-
eries) and processors of agricultural
products (on the farm or in rural
areas, such as women’s cottage
industries). The second trend con-
cerns transparency and accountabil-
ity: in addition to the usual top-
down talk of expecting these from
grassroots organisations, the work-
shop examined the other side of the
coin. In the words of one paper:
“Partnership implies promoting the
accountability of those who provide
service, so what are the necessary
institutional reforms for agricultur-
al services to be accountable to pro-
ducers’ organisations?”
Rural Capacity Building, The World Bank
Room S8-141
1818 H Street NW
Washington DC 20433
Fax: +1 202 473 8229
Email:
producer_organization@worldbank.org
Website: 
www-esd.worldbank.org/extension 
Expanding extension
n Forty years ago, fishers of the
coastal lagoons of Benin still used
to follow rules handed down from
the time of their ancestors. They
were usually expressed as religious
taboos: do not catch fish when
they are too young, do not fish on
certain days or in certain places.
These rules had been followed for
more than three centuries and
were based on a profound under-
standing of how the fish stock
renewed itself. With the loss of
authority of the traditional chiefs,
the advent of other religions and,
above all, the growth in the num-
ber of fishers, the rules were swept
away. Catches shrank, the fish
caught were smaller, and conflicts
between fishers increased everyday.
In 1992, the government of
Benin decided to set up fishing
committees in 20 villages around
the lagoon of Porto-Novo, with
representatives elected by local
fishers. The representatives were
themselves fishers and not
remunerated; they had the task of
applying the old practices and
providing information about
national fishing regulations and
applying them. Now there are 90
such committees in operation,
working with the Beninese
authorities in fishery management.
Source 
FAO. The State of World Fisheries
and Aquaculture 1998. 
ISBN 92 5 104187 3.
$30.00 • h 29.25
Sales and Marketing Group, 
FAO. Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy.
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
People of lagoon show the way
in sharing water rights 
Benin: Do unto your fish …
SPORE 82  • PAGE 8
Soybean conquers
Nigeria 
It took a long time, but
soybean’s popularity is
suddenly rising. Soybean used
to be considered inferior to
indigenous beans and most
people did not know how to
use it. Nigerian extension
organisations and the
Soybean Utilisation Unit of
the International Institute for
Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
have been promoting the
bean for some time now.
They offer assistance in
building mills, presses, and
extruders and in developing
recipes for traditional foods
from soybeans. IITA also
trained more than 50,000
people in Nigeria, including
30,000 women, on how to
grow and use soybean.
Soybeans are rich in protein
and can be processed into
different products like
soymilk, oil, flour, and curd. 
International Agricultural
Development. (IITA)  
The future of perennial
crops : investment and
sustainability in humid
tropical zones 
February 2000 - Abidjan 
Côte d’Ivoire
Papers can be proposed for
this international conference
on: case studies of replanting
and reconversion; risk analysis
and models for decision-
making; the role of the
political and institutional
framework, and the need for
policy coherence; plantation
management modes;
technical issues in replanting
and the role of the ‘cash
forest’; environmental impact
of starting and producing
perennial crops; market
sector trends; replantation of
perennial crops in temperate
environments. 
Hubert Omont, CIRAD/DRE, 
BP 5035, 34032 Montpellier
Cedex, France
Fax: +33 4 67 61 71 20
Email: hubert.omont@cirad.fr
Expansion of WINFA
The Windward Islands
Farmers’ Association (WINFA)
will be opening its
membership for expansion.
According to WINFA’s
coordinator Renwick Rose, the
expansion of its membership
will increase representation of
various farmers’ groups and
organisations. New members
do not necessarily have to be
the domestic unions. WINFA
was formed by national
farmers’ organisations in
Grenada, Dominica, Saint
Lucia, Martinique, and Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines. 
In brief •
Ph
ot
o 
G
ia
co
m
o 
Pi
ro
zz
i/P
an
os
 P
ic
tu
re
s
SPORE 82  • PAGE 9
Writing annual reports
The annual chore of
producing the annual all-
important report of a
national agricultural
organisation often suffers
from a lack of resources,
including publishing and
writing skills. In April 1999,
CTA and the Agricultural
Research Institute of Guinea
organized a workshop near
Conakry for 19 publications
staff from government
bodies and NGOs from Benin,
Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte
d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea,
Madagascar, Mauritania,
Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and
Togo. Opened and closed by
the Minister for Agriculture,
the workshop covered the
steps of planning,
commissioning, writing, and
producing an annual report.
Participants not only
exchanged their own
experiences but also learned
about those of other
organisations from resource
people from CTA, CIRAD, and
the Sahel Institute.
Caribbean bamboo craft
to Asia
Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines exports $3000
worth of bamboo craft
products to Taiwan. And the
future looks promising. The
bamboo craft project is a joint
venture of the Saint Vincent
Community Development
Department and the
Agricultural Technical Mission
of Taiwan. 
Successful horticulture
in Malawi 
It took 16 years of hard
labour to reclaim land from
swamps and to construct
terraces and a drainage and
irrigation system at Tikondwe
Freedom Gardens, situated at
an hour’s drive to the north
of Lilongwe. The Gardens 
(20 ha) are a successful
example of organic fruit and
vegetable cultivation by the
local population. They are a
place for experimentation
aimed at minimising pressure
on the environment.
Operated by Mr Chikhuntha,
the enterprise is expanding
into poultry and fish farming.
Internships and practical
training courses in irrigation,
permaculture design, and
natural pest management are
planned for the near future.
For further information
Mr Chinkhuntha
The Permaculture Society of
Malawi and the Organic
Farmers Club
PO Box 70 
Dowa, Malawi
• In brief
n Senegal, like many other coun-
tries in Africa, has a high import
bill for much of its food stuffs, with
national production of cereals way
below local demand. Relief may be
hand in the form of fonio (Digi-
taria exilis), a graminate introduced
in the 1950s. It never really sold
well outside its area of production,
largely because of processing prob-
lems. Now it could be making a
comeback on the national market,
occupying an important place in
the country’s agricultural develop-
ment and food security. Work is
needed to stress its positive aspects
and to make it promotable, by
dealing with the memories of when
it was marginalised a few decades
ago. Some recent studies by FAO,
ENDA-GRAF, GRET and others
have listed the cereal’s properties.
Compared with other products
such as white rice or maize, fonio
has much to say for itself. It attracts
few parasites, and can grow in
many soils. Modern medicine
appreciates its qualities in treating
illnesses such as diabetes, and it is
rich in fibres, proteins, iron and
calcium. Just one little drawback:
its production – mainly in the
regions of Tambacounda and
Kolda (north of the Gambian bor-
der) – is irregular because it is lim-
ited to certain ethnic groups. There
is no marketing organisation, it is
hard to harvest and process, and
there is a lack of awareness of its
value as a foodstuff. These and
other weaknesses are being studied
in trials, being conducted in Kolda
to intensify and improve the crop.
The trials aim at reaching produc-
tion levels of between 1.5 and 2 t
per hectare. A huller machine
invented by Samoussi Diakité is
part of the effort to increase out-
put. 
ENDA/GRAF
BP 13065, Dakar, Senegal 
Fax: + 221 827 3215
Email: graf@enda.sn
Fonio returns to Senegal 
Library in a box
n Institutions in developing
countries can now have resources
usually available only to universi-
ties with large libraries. From the
African Crop Science Journal to
World Development, around 130
agricultural journals are now
accessible through The Essential
Electronic Agricultural Library
(TEEAL). This box, with 100
CD-ROMs, contains the full text,
illustrations and graphics, and a
searchable index of all 130 jour-
nals for the period 1993–1996.
The box costs $10,000 • e9,750,
which represents only 2.7% of the
actual subscription cost. Annual
updates will be available at $5,000
• e4,875. TEEAL is available only
to institutions in developing
countries. 
One volume has been supplied,
with CTA support, to the Region-
al Agricultural Information Net-
work (RAIN) that is to operate
under the Association for
Strengthening Research in Eastern
and Central Africa (ASARECA).
A second set is supplied to the
Southern African Centre for
Cooperation in Agricultural and
Natural Resources Research and
Training (SACCAR) for the bene-
fit of researchers in all countries of
the Southern Africa Development
Community. CTA will supply a
third set to a regional institution
in western Africa.
For further information
TEEAL Office
Mann Library, Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Fax: +1 607 255 0318
E-mail:
TEEAL@albert.mannlib.cornell.edu
Website: teeal.cornell.edu
n For the last five years, the French
company JTS (Seeds for Tropical
Gardens) has been trying to set up
distribution networks in developing
countries for vegetable seeds which
are suited to agricultural and climat-
ic conditions, and to consumer
tastes. The company has a humani-
tarian goal, and seeks to promote
family gardens, which it sees as hav-
ing a major role to play
against malnutrition, and
essential leverage in rais-
ing food production in
ACP countries. It believes
that there is a desperate
shortage of quality seeds
in developing countries,
with the key bottleneck
being mainly in local dis-
tribution networks. With
this is mind, JTS high-
lights those seeds which
are easiest to transport, in
terms of their weight, vol-
ume and price. Expand-
ing the networks to
include other food crop seeds is not
without problems, JTS asserts:
“ Public opinion in donor countries
is not yet ready to accept a commer-
cial and industrial approach as being
humanitarian.” Which explains,
they claim, their problems in find-
ing grants from both governmental
and charitable sources (the latter say
it is not their job to help businesses)
and from investors (who will only
invest if there is a significant short-
term return.) And JTS also wants to
set up a communication network.
Anyone want to join them?
JTS, Z.A. des Fousseaux, Avenue des
Carreaux, 49480 - Saint-Sylvain-
d’Anjou, France
Fax: +33 2 41 76 57 70
Email: JME.Cordier@wanadoo.fr
North-South seed supply 
C PAA
1 is the Amazonian
agroforestry research
centre of the Brazilian
agricultural research corpora-
tion EMBRAPA. It was found-
ed in 1989 with the mission to
disseminate scientific knowl-
edge and technologies aimed at
the development of the western
Amazonian region. Several ele-
ments of CPAA ‘s activities
could be of interest to ACP
countries.
CPAA has launched research
programmes on extensive or
“part-time” agriculture, pro-
cessing of regional products,
protection and conservation of
genetic resources, rehabilita-
tion and maintenance of
degraded or abandoned lands,
horticultural and fruit crop
systems, and sustainable fish-
eries and agro-industrial devel-
opment.
CPAA closely collaborates
with universities and interna-
tional organisations, as for its
SHIFT Studies on Human
Impact on Forests and Flood-
plains in the Tropics) pro-
gramme. SHIFT is carried out
jointly with with the German
Max-Planck Institut and
marine research centre ZMT
and their Brazilian partner
INPA, the national Amazonian
crops institute.
A data bank 
on specific crops
CPAA is currently compiling
and disseminating a database
containing information about
specific fruit tree varieties, seed,
and improved plant material.
Research focuses on cupuacu
(Theobroma grandiflorum), a tree
with very aromatic and sweet
fruit used in jams and syrups;
dendezeiro oil palm (Eleias
guineensis Jacq.); guarana
(Paulinia cupana var. sorbilis), a
big liane, whose seeds have
medicinal and energetic proper-
ties; hevea; and cassava. Another
research subject is pupunha
(Bactris gassipaes Kunth), a palm
fruit with a very delicate and
much appreciated taste; it can be
eaten directly, made into flour,
or pressed for extracting oil. 
The Pupunha-Net (www.inpa.
gov.br/pupunha/) brings togeth-
er researchers and entrepreneurs;
it is a source of theoretical and
practical information, including
a detailed introduction to the
production system of this palm.
CPAA is also a well-stocked
centre of information and 
documentation that can be
consulted through Internet:
www.cpaa.embrapa.br/biblio/
sin.htm
1 Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal da
Amazônia Ocidental.
For further information
Embrapa Amazônia Ocidental
Rodovia Am - 010 km 29 
CP 69.011-970 
Manaus, Amazonas- AM, Brazil
Fax: +55 92 622 1100
Email: cpaa@cpaa.embrapa.br
Website: www.cpaa.embrapa.br
SPORE 82  • PAGE 10
Links •
CPAA: agroforestry 
in Amazonia and
elsewhere
The Arid
Lands Infor-
mation Net-
work (ALIN)
is perhaps best
known for its
Baobab journal, but it deserves
wider recognition as a conti-
nental network of development
workers. Launched in 1988, as
a Northern and sometimes
questioned initiative, ALIN is
now well established in its own
right as a resource for grassroots
workers in most dryland coun-
tries–26 at present–of Africa.
The network has recently put
itself through an internal assess-
ment and evaluation, under its
own baobab tree as it were. It
has emerged stronger, stream-
lined, and better equipped to
meet the growing demands on
its services.
ALIN counts about 1600
members, virtually all are full-
time development workers
based in local NGOs and com-
munity-based organisations. It
offers them opportunities for
training, exchange visits, con-
tacts with colleagues in similar
or challengingly different situa-
tions elsewhere, and, of course,
access to information. The
information function is fulfilled
through referrals to the most
appropriate sources, a range of
publications, and the practical
journal Baobab, which is pub-
lished three times a year in
French and English. Baobab is
not only a rare and welcome
forum for exchanging concerns
and contacts between grassroots
workers across the continent, it
also carries practical, clearly
presented information, which is
often used by other journals.
Recent programme themes
include medicinal plants, vet-
erinary services, food process-
ing in villages, soil and water
conservation, pest control,
forestry, and approaches to
community development. A
directory of members is also
produced each year so that pro-
ject workers can network inde-
pendently.
Many transborder networks
in Africa and beyond have start-
ed off with noble intentions but
have rarely progressed beyond
speeches and draft proposals for
capacity building or provided
reliable services to their mem-
bers. They reproduce the fail-
ings of top-down practices of
larger institutions, which the
networks sought to replace.
ALIN has taken a different and
more meaningful approach. Its
modest beginnings and empha-
sis on practical information and
membership exchanges show
that it has a real constituency,
which it truly serves. However,
its sound and reliable informa-
tion service is not its main con-
tribution. No, the real value of
ALIN is that it gives the grass-
roots worker, who is in the
front-line of development, a
sense of belonging and owner-
ship, and the reassurance that
each member is important, but
not alone. 
For further information
Arid Lands Information Network
(ALIN)
CP3, Dakar-Fann
Senegal
Fax: +221 825 4521
Email: ritaalin@sonatel.net.sn
Website: alin.utando.net
You’re never alone 
with ALIN
And now, Cupuacu jam 
from rainforest 
Ph
ot
o 
C
la
ire
 L
an
au
d
SPORE 82  • PAGE 11
If you have a garden 
in Malawi….
n How to grow tomatoes or
amaranthus, what to do
against the woolly whitefly on
citrus trees, or how to make
mango achaar (chutney). All
this kind of information can be
found in the new quarterly
Horticulture in Malawi. It also
has a section on what you need
to do in your garden on a
month-by-month basis.
Horticulture in Malawi. 
PO Box 31131, Lilongwe 3,
Malawi.
Fax: +265 780 413 
Email:
GuenterBaumannGTZ@malawi.net
A feeling for traditions
n In northern Ghana, fertilisers
- the backbone of the
extension programme - are
rarely delivered on time.
Extension workers decided to
turn their problem into an
opportunity. They started to
learn from the farmers how
they dealt with the lack of
fertilisers; they also learned a
great deal more on traditional
intercropping, use of trees for
food and medicine, and much
more. In Zimbabwe, war
veterans, spirit mediums, and
chiefs joined hands to support
endogenous development and
nature conservation. These are
just two examples of articles
picked at random from the first
issue of COMPAS, Newsletter
for Endogenous Development.
The magazine’s main message
is: take indigenous knowledge
seriously and support its
development. Endogenous
development implies
strengthening traditional
institutions and, as such, it is a
political rather than a technical
activity towards better
management of natural
resources.
COMPAS. ISSN 1389-918X 
This six-monthly magazine is free
of charge
Compas, PO Box 64, 3830 AB
Leusden, The Netherlands.
Fax: +31 33 494 0791
Email: compas@etcnl.nl
Regional Implementation
Workshop. Establishment
of an Integrated Land
Resources Information
System for the
Conservation and
Rehabilitation of Land
Resources in West Africa
(WALRIS)
International Soil Reference &
Information Centre (ISRIC). 
1999. 27 pp. 
$7.50 • e 7.30
ISRIC, PO Box 353, 6700 AJ
Wageningen, The Netherlands. 
Fax: +31 317 471 700
Email: soil@isric.nl
Also available on ISRIC’s website:
www.isric.nl
• Publications
Publications
The third Life Sciences and
Technologies for Develop-
ing Countries Programme (STD
3), funded by the European Com-
mission, ran from 1992 to 1995.
This programme encouraged
research institutions of industri-
alised and developing countries to
co-operate closely in multidisci-
plinary projects. In the field of
agriculture and the management
of natural resources, 157 projects
were selected from among the
1,283 proposals submitted to the
Commission. Compared to the
first two STD projects (1983-
1991), the STD 3 projects placed
more emphasis on production sys-
tems and sustainable management
of the environment.
Communication of the results
of such programmes tends to be
restricted to specialised articles
published in scientific journals
and conference proceedings, and
these often remain inaccessible to
non-experts. CTA therefore col-
laborated with the Commission in
order to improve the dissemina-
tion of the results among the ACP
and EU research and development
communities. The Centre pub-
lished summaries of STD 1 and 2
project reports in a series of vol-
umes that appeared between 1989
and 1996. Details of the partici-
pating organisations were includ-
ed, so as to promote contacts and
exchanges between these and
researchers on other continents.
A new approach has been
adopted for STD 3: the sum-
maries, details of organisations
and indexes have been published
electronically, to speed up access
to selected information. The first
50 reports of the STD 3 projects
are now available on-line, in
English or French, on the CTA
Website, www.cta.nl. They are
grouped under six main themes:
production systems; restoration
and conservation of the environ-
ment; improvement of crop pro-
duction; forests; improvement of
animal production; aquaculture
and fisheries; and post-harvest
technologies. About 100 addi-
tional reports will be published in
the course of 1999 and 2000.
European Commission
Directorate-General XII - B
Rue de la Loi 200
B - 1049 Brussels, BELGIUM
Fax: +32 2 296 62 52
Email: info@dg12.cec.be
Results of STD 3 agricultural research projects
summarised on CTA’s website
No more crying about spilt milk
n In Spore 80, a method was
described for keeping fresh milk
three to five hours longer by using
the LP-system. The Animal Pro-
duction Service of the FAO recent-
ly published a clear booklet on the
LP-system. The Manual on the Use
of the LP-system in Milk Handling
and Preservation explains why milk
goes bad within a few hours in a
warm climate, and it describes the
method for extending storage life
of fresh milk. The method is
designed for collecting points, not
individual farmers because the
prepacked chemical activators can-
not be used for varying and small
amounts of milk. The booklet is
therefore meant for people who
want to establish milk collection
points or who work there.
Manual on the Use of the LP-system in
Milk Handling and Preservation.
Animal Production Service, FAO. 
31 pp. ISBN 92 5 104254 3
$8.00 • e 7.80
FAO Sales and Marketing Group,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 
00100 Rome, Italy 
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
“We must relearn how to
live with the reality of
drought as an integral part of our
lives and livelihoods, and not as a
rare or even disastrous event”,
writes Dr Mbuende, Executive Sec-
retary of the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC), in his introduction to this
innovative book and video pack-
age. The package, he says, “is also
an urgent call to better acknowl-
edge the collective wisdom of our
rural communities and households
in defining drought policy and
practice”. A combination of partic-
ipatory learning activities and writ-
ten and visual resources, the pack-
age aims to stimulate participants’
thinking around issues of drought
relief and development and to
enhance their understanding of
drought mitigation as part of sus-
tainable development planning.
The video includes three films
made in Lesotho, Namibia, South
Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The video and the book were
developed and tested through a
series of meetings attended by par-
ticipants from these five countries.
Living with drought. Drought mitigation
for sustainable livelihoods. A von
Kotze and A Holloway. David Philip
Publishers–Intermediate Technology
Publications copublication. 1999. 
217 pp. + video. 
ISBN 0 86486 388 8/1 85339 470 X 
CTA number 923. 40 credit points.
Reducing the impact of drought
Many smallholders cannot
obtain fertilisers when they
need them, and the returns to
farming may be too insecure to jus-
tify such investment. Even if more
fertilisers were used, they may not
be enough to sustain production
on the fragile soils of many humid,
lowland areas. Alley farming–an
alternative low-input farming sys-
tem that has been researched and
promoted in Africa–has been
found to have the best potential in
the humid and subhumid zones. In
this agroforestry system, food crops
are grown in alleys formed by
hedgerows of trees and shrubs. The
hedgerows are cut back at planting
and periodically pruned during
crop growth to reduce shading and
competition with crops for light,
nutrients, and moisture. When
there are no crops, the hedgerows
are allowed to grow freely to cover
the land. Their foliage can also be
used for animal feed. 
This latest addition to The Trop-
ical Agriculturalist series provides
practical guidelines for establishing
and managing an alley farming sys-
tem. It describes its benefits to crop
and livestock production, as well as
its limitations. It also discusses eco-
nomic aspects and addresses the
issues of social acceptance and
adoption.
Alley farming. BT Kang, AN Atta-krah,
and L Reynolds. Macmillan–CTA
copublication. 1999. 120 pp. 
ISBN 0 333 60080 0 
CTA number 918. 10 credit points.
The best low-input farming system?
SPORE 82  • PAGE 12
Harnessing biological
nitrogen fixation in
African agriculture
n The proceedings of the 6th
International Conference of the
African Association for
Biological Nitrogen Fixation
held in Harare in September
1994, have been published by
University of Zimbabwe
Publications with CTA’s support.
270 pp. ISBN 0 908307 58 6 
UZP, P.O. Box MB 203, Mount
Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: + 263 4 333 407/335 249
Email: uzpub@esanet.zw
State of the World’s Forests 
FAO. 1999. 154 pp. 
ISBN 92 5 104193 8 
$40.00 • e 39
FAO Sales and Marketing Group,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy 
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
Regional Workshop on
Pesticide Management
DG Hunter and M Umar. 1998.
18 pp. ISBN 982 175 141 5
Institute for Research, Extension
and Training in Agriculture
(IRETA), University of the South
Pacific, Alafua Campus, Private
Mail Bag, Apia, Western Samoa. 
Fax: +685 223 47
Email: ireta@pactok.peg.apc.org
Feeding the Ten Billion.
Plants and Population
Growth
L Evans. 1998. 264 pp. 
ISBN 0 521 64081 4
£11.95 • e 18.25
Cambridge University Press,
Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury
Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK.
Fax: +44 1223 315 052 
Email:
information@cup.cam.ac.uk
On-farm Research on
Sustainable Land
Management in
SubSaharan Africa:
Approaches, Experiences,
and Lessons. 
IBSRAM Proceedings No. 19.
1998. 254 pp. 
ISBN 974 86559 6 2
$25.00 • e24.35 (excluding
postage) International Board for
Soil Research and Management
(IBSRAM), PO Box 9-109, Jatujak,
Bangkok 10900, Thailand. 
Fax: +662 561 1230
Email: info@ibsram.org
The Potentials of the
Neem Tree in Ghana
GTZ. 1998. 127 pp. 
Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Division
45, Rural Development Pesticide
Service Project, PO Box 5180,
65726 Eschborn, Germany. 
Fax: +49 6196 797 180
Email: peter.foerster@gtz.de
Website: www.gtz.de
Publications •
The Environmental and
Development Agency
(EDA) has been working with vil-
lage groups and small farmers in
South Africa since 1977. On the
strength of this experience, it has
produced a well-illustrated hand-
book that gives practical help for
developing gardens and small plots,
and for looking after farm animals.
The book opens with a description
of the concept and principles of
sustainable farming. The core
chapters cover homestead farming,
tree and crop production, and live-
stock production covering poultry
(chickens), and small (rabbits) and
large (cattle, sheep) animals. The
book includes interviews with
small farmers that illustrate the
ideas and methods described, as
well as a section on farm records
and a useful glossary of southern
African terms.
People’s farming workbook. Second
revised edition. David Philip
Publishers–CTA copublication. 1998.
256 pp. ISBN 0 86486 431 0 
CTA number 939. 20 credit points.
Sustainability in your backyard
n From the moment you wake up
in the morning till you are ready
for your daily activities, you may
have used at least seven products of
the coconut palm. Shampoo, a
toothbrush, soap, a broom, a spoon
to eat your cereals, a glass of
coconut juice and, before you go
out, your doormat. According to
an Indonesian saying, there are as
many uses of the coconut tree as
there are days in a year. Newly
developed uses include cream, milk
powder, and sugar.
Smallholders produce 96% of
the world’s total coconut output,
and the tree is regarded as a social
crop. Coconut farms are usually
family owned and, since the stands
can be productive for more than
50 years, they are passed on to the
next generation. The traditional
commercial coconut products are
copra and coconut oil. Their price
has declined over the years due to
strong competition from the oil
palm and annual oil crops. Given
this situation, the Coconut Genet-
ic Resources Network decided to
organise a workshop to evaluate
current research on coconut pro-
duction and the possibilities and
constraints for coconut by-prod-
ucts. The aim was to increase the
competitiveness of coconut small-
holdings. Promoting Multi-purpose
Uses and Competitiveness of the
Coconut presents the results of this
workshop and provides a useful
overview on this agricultural
industry. 
Promoting Multi-purpose Uses and
Competitiveness of the Coconut. PA
Batugal, VR Rao, and C Bong. 1998.
190 pp. ISBN 92 9043 382 5
IPGRI publications are available free of
charge to libraries, university
departments, research institutions, etc.
Copies for individuals are available on
request. IPGRI’s website has a large
number of downloadable publications.
International Plant Genetic Resources
Institute (IPGRI), Via delle Sette Chiese
142, 00145 Rome, Italy.
Fax: +39 06 575 0309 
Email: p.stapleton@cgiar.org
Publications webpage:
www.cgiar.org/ipgri/publicat/index.htm 
The coconut tree has more to offer
SPORE 82  • PAGE 13
Simple Field Plot
Experiments in
Agriculture. Analysis of
Variance, LSD, Design and
Reporting
J van Lidth de Jeude. 1999. 
107 pp. ISBN 90 5285 061 5 $15
STOAS, PO Box 78, 6700 AB
Wageningen, The Netherlands. 
Fax: +31 317 424 770
Email: int@stoas.nl
Website:
www.stoas.nl/internationaal/
publicaties.htm
The Economics of
Environment and
Development. Selected
Essays
E Barbier. 1998. 470 pp. 
ISBN 1 85898 685 0
$120.00 • £75 • e 115
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.,
Glensanda House, Montpellier
Parade, Cheltenham, 
Glos GL50 1UA, UK.
Fax: +44 1242 262 111
Email: Laura@e-elgar.co.uk 
Village Chicken
Production Systems in
Rural Africa. Household
Food Security and Gender
Issues 
FAO. 1998. 82 pp. 
ISBN 92 51041601 
$20.00 • e19.50
FAO Sales and Marketing Group,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy. 
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
World Hunger: Twelve
Myths
F Moore Lappé,  J Collins, and 
P Rosset. 1999. 280 pp. 
New Edition (see Spore 80). 
ISBN 1 85383 493 9
£12.99 • e19.80
Earthscan, 120 Pentonville Road,
London, N1 9JN, UK. 
Fax: +44 171 278 1142
Email: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk 
Genetically modified
organisms
R Tripp. 1999. ISSN 0140 8682
Free of charge.
Overseas Development Institute
(ODI), Portland House, Stag Place,
London SW1E 5DP, UK.
Fax: +44 171 393 1699
Email: publications@odi.org.uk
Also available on the Internet at:
www.oneworld.org/odi/
A Handbook of West
African Weeds
IO Akobundo and CW Agyakwa.
1998. 564 pp. 
ISBN 978 131 129 0
$35.00 • e34.10
International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), Oyo Road, PMB
5320, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Fax: +234 874 177 2276
Email: IITA@cgnet.com 
• Publications
The green leaf
symbol indicates
p u b l i c a t i o n s
that are on CTA’s
list. Subscribers
to the Publications Distribution
Service (PDS) can obtain them
from CTA. All other publications,
indicated by an orange square,
are available from the publishers
listed, or through commercial
outlets, but not from CTA.
Publications on CTA’s list are
available free-of-charge to PDS
subscribers. Subscribers can
order publications on CTA’s list up
to the value of the credit points
available to them. Subscribers can
only request publications on the
order forms provided.
Non-subscribers who wish to
join the scheme should write to
CTA for an application form.
Applications will be considered
from agricultural and rural
development organisations in
the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and
Pacific) Group of States; individ-
uals resident in ACP countries
may also apply.
If you are not eligible for a free
subscription to the PDS, or if you
need publications beyond your
free credit allocation, you may
buy publications on CTA’s list
from our commercial distributor:
- Triops
Hinderburgstrasse 33
D-64295 Darmstadt
Germany
Fax: + 49 6151 314 048
Email: triops@triops.de
Website: http://www.triops.de
How to obtain these publications
Ash, dead insects, onion
(Allium cepa), mahogany
(Khaya sp.), and tobacco can all be
used in solutions that effectively
protect crops against various pests.
Many other locally available plants
and materials can be used to kill
or deter pests in the garden or
food store. They are described in
the first section of this practical
guide on the use of alternatives to
chemical pesticides. The sections
that follow present aids for identi-
fying pests and diseases, methods
of maintaining or improving soil
fertility, and ways to grow various
vegetables organically. Plant
names are given in Latin, French,
English, Wolof, Serere, Diola, and
Bambara.
Producing food without pesticides. Local
solutions to crop pest control in West
Africa, LJ Fuglie. Church World
Service–CTA copublication. 1998.
164 pp. 
CTA number 927. 20 credit points.
The many ways of 
organic pest control
If you want your article on
taro cultivation methods to
be published in the Journal of South
Pacific Agriculture it should not
exceed 5000 words and be printed
double spaced on A4 sized paper.
The Ahfad Journal welcomes arti-
cles (maximum 2000 words) on
the status of women in developing
countries. The Caribbean Tropical
Fruits Newsletter sets no maximum
length limit, but would like to
receive manuscripts typed in a spe-
cific font and accompanied, if pos-
sible, by an abstract in English,
French, and Spanish.
Some hundred scientific journals in
the field of agricultural and rural
development are described in this
practical guide. It is aimed at ACP
researchers who are looking for
ways to share their findings and
encourages them to do so. 
The guide provides information, in
French and English, on each jour-
nal including its main focus, geo-
graphic coverage, frequency, and
instructions to authors. The jour-
nals selected by the guide cover all
ACP countries. 
Selective Guide to Scientific Journals 
in the Field of Agriculture and Rural
Development. 
Prepared by CIRAD, France, and
CABI, UK, for CTA. 
1999. 203 pp. 
CTA number 8001. 0 credit point.
The publication is also freely 
available from CTA’s 
Website at www.cta.nl
n People who want to direct their
own course of change need knowl-
edge and information, so do farm-
ers who seek to make agriculture
more productive, profitable, and
sustainable. And that requires com-
munication to share and pass on
expertise and experiences in the
right way, at the right time, and in
the right form. Listening to Change:
Paths of Communication is a short
(12 minutes) and powerful
reminder of the forgotten obvious.
That people need a voice, and that
communication is most useful when
it starts by listening to what people
have to say about their knowledge
and their aspirations. With images
and cases from all over the world, it
is a video with a simple message that
goes beyond its own medium.
Listening to Change: Paths of
Communication. FAO. 1999.
Video available in English and
Spanish (PAL or NTSC formats), and
in French (PAL or Secam).
$20.00 • e 19.50 
FAO Sales and Marketing Group,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 
00100 Rome, Italy. 
Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60 
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
Get your 
a
c
r
word 
s
s
Are you hearing me?
T hroughout the first week of June,CTA’s Advisory Committee held itsannual meeting at the organisation’s
headquarters in Wageningen, the Nether-
lands. With Members from thirty ACP
and EU countries, the Advisory Commit-
tee represents all six regions of the ACP
Group and all the European Union Mem-
ber States. According to Prof John Perfect,
Director of the Natural Resources Insti-
tute and the nominee of the United King-
dom government, it is a “unique body”,
whose collective knowledge and experi-
ence represents a major investment in the
work of CTA. 
The task of the Advisory Committee, as
underlined by Mr Colin Bully of Domini-
ca, is to advise the Centre on how to fulfil
its mandate and to ensure that the ACP
farmer is getting a proper service. The
Committee has to do this against a fast-
changing background of ACP agriculture,
and research and development activities
within the European Union. This year, its
works are also marked by the highly com-
plex issue of the renegotiation of the
ACP–EU Lomé Convention. This agree-
ment between the European Union Mem-
ber States and the 71 countries of the ACP
Group is the lifeblood of CTA, which was
established under its provisions. The pre-
sent Convention, together with CTA’s
current mandate, expires in February
2000. It is widely assumed that the agree-
ment will be carried forward in a modi-
fied form; both the ACP and EU negoti-
ating mandates view CTA’s contribution
positively. Outgoing chairperson of the
Committee, Mr Wim van Vuure of
Wageningen University and Research
Centre and the nominee of the Nether-
lands Government, told Spore that contin-
uation was “highly likely”.
Adjusting to change is not new to the
Advisory Committee, which has seen the
Centre move away from its original 1983
role of making available information to
help ACP States in their agricultural and
rural development. It is commonly recog-
nised nowadays that, whilst provision and
management of information remains a core
activity, CTA has become more of a facili-
tator and mediator of information, and
increasingly an actor in capacity building.
The new role is stressed by South and
North alike in the Committee: Mr Colin
Bully talks of CTA’s position as a “gateway
and a conduit”, Prof John Perfect of an
“interface” providing back-up to national
and regional information providers and,
incidentally, of a support to regional fora,
including those in Europe, for coalescing
and pooling their activities. There is also
unanimity about the intended end benefi-
ciary–the ACP farmer–and broad agree-
ment that rather than simply provide infor-
mation to the end-user, the Centre should
increasingly also serve intermediaries and
policy makers particularly by building
capacity. However, there is also general
consensus that it is not CTA’s role to be
involved in the policy-making area but
rather to ensure that policy makers have
the tools for optimal management and
assessment of information.
The growing emphasis on poverty
reduction that is shaping so much of the
general development debate–including
the renegotiation of the Lomé Conven-
tion–was also strongly evident in the
SPORE 82  • PAGE 14
Between us •
Advisory Committee endorses 
CTA’s evolution Mailbox
Fish meals
n Moussa Pouye, a farmer in DeDialo-
coto, near Tambacounda in Senegal,
informs us: “Fish is not only used for
preparing our national dish thiébou
diène, but also for producing milk and
compost. After the women smoke the
fish, they remove the head, scales, and
other inedible parts. The waste is bought
by farmers and breeders to give to cows,
especially milking cows, or to spread on
the millet fields as organic fertiliser. It can
also be used to make a compost that is
richer—and cheaper—than chemical fer-
tiliser”.
Market forces 
n Isah Alhassan of the University of
Abuja, Nigeria, emphasises the importance
of marketing for the farmer: “A knowl-
edge of marketing and its problems will
help the farmer make decisions which are
important to him either in the operation
of his own farm, as a member of a partic-
ular group, or as an intelligent citizen of
his country. The decisions concern what to
grow and how to prepare the produce for
sale, when and where to buy and sell, and
what can be done to expand the market.
Knowledge of the factors that affect con-
sumers and their behaviour can help deter-
mine which action will be most effective.”
Here is a selection of readers’
comments and questions from our
Mailbox:
Ms T. Ngomane, now in charge of the CTA Advisory Committee, and Mr van Vuure, the outgoing Chairperson
deliberations of the Advisory Committee.
It is here that the substantive role of the
Committee becomes most visible. As the
incoming Chairperson, Ms Tsakani Ngo-
mane of South Africa, pointed out, CTA’s
focus on poverty reduction means that
women’s issues will be the centre of atten-
tion. This will, in turn, stimulate the
debate about a new wave of thinking on
who is the actual end-user, who is the
Partnerships
launched
C TA recently signed partnershipagreements with two indepen-dent sector organisations in
Ethiopia and Madagascar for joint ven-
tures in publishing and general informa-
tion work. Emerging from a process of
pilot studies on potential partnerships
between the Centre and nonpublic sector
bodies in several countries, these agree-
ments cover advisory services, copublica-
tion, and training activities. 
In Ethiopia, the NGO Agri-Service
Ethiopia will cooperate with CTA in
strengthening information services pro-
vided by a wide range of national and
local organisations. In Madagascar, the
agreement is with BIMTT (Birao
Iraisan’ny Mpampiofana Tanora Tantsa-
ha), which operates a thriving informa-
tion centre in Antananarivo and in 60
rural training centres throughout the
country.
SPORE 82  • PAGE 15
• Between us
Spore is a bi-monthly publication 
providing information on agricultural 
development for ACP countries. Spore is
available free-of-charge to relevant
organisations and individuals in ACP and
EU countries. Subscriptions may also be
purchased from Triops (see page 13)
Publisher: Technical Centre for Agricultural
and Rural Cooperation (CTA) – ACP-EU
Lomé Convention
CTA: Postbus 380, 6700 AJ Wageningen,
The Netherlands
Tel +31 317 467100
Fax +31 317 460067
E-mail: cta@cta.nl   
Website: www.cta.nl
Email for readers’ letters: 
spore@cta.nl
Compiler: Spore is compiled by a 
consortium formed by Louma productions
and Médiateurs
Louma productions, 3 rue Neuve, 
34150 Aniane, France
Fax: +33 467 570 180
E-mail:redactionspore@louma.fr
Médiateurs, W-Alexanderpoort 46, 
1421 CH Uithoorn, 
The Netherlands
Fax: +31 297 540 514
E-mail: spore-desk@mediateurs.org
Layout: Louma productions
Printer: Imprimerie Publicep, France
© CTA 1999
ISSN 1011-0054
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A woman’s work 
is never done
n Romain Mirindi of Projet Kaliba, BP 136,
Cyangugu, Rwanda, reminds us of the heavy
burden of the African woman farmer: 
“She rises at 5.30 am to prepare perhaps a
breakfast that she will eat with her family
later in the morning. Then she goes to work
on her patch of land that lies an hour’s walk
away. After that she draws water at the
well, again far from her house, with her
baby on her back. She then tills, weeds, and
waters her kitchen plot until about 4 pm,
stopping just to eat some morsels of food
she brought with her.
She now has only two hours before night-
fall, and she will use them to cut some wood
(if she did not do that when she came back
from her plot) and she will gather some
vegetables or tubers for her family. Then
she carries all that back home.
Normally she returns home at nightfall to
prepare the evening meal, which takes at
least two hours. Sunday is devoted to doing
the washing by the river, and she rarely has
time to wait for the clothes to dry before
ironing them.
The husband is indifferent to these hard-
ships and pays scant attention to her sug-
gestions. He only helps to cut trees and burn
bushes so that she can prepare the land for
cultivation, but that is about all he does. 
The (male) African farmer sometimes man-
ages to do a bit of fishing or hunting, but
he spends most of his time in discussion
with other men in the village. If he can
afford it, after several years he will take a
second and younger wife, on whom he will
pour all his affection. His first wife will have
to carry on working as before, until illness
or death force her to stop.”
All in a game 
n Kodja Agnigbangniweke, the manag-
er of GAVAB in Lomé, Togo, thinks that
Spore should feature games for readers. “To
make Spore more interesting and exciting,
I’d like to suggest that you run quiz compe-
titions, with questions covering agriculture.
They could also cover information carried in
earlier issues of Spore, to measure just how
well informed readers are and what impor-
tance each reader gives to certain informa-
tion. We young people must be involved in
the rational management of our natural
resources so that we can assume responsi-
bility for our future. I have noticed that
young people pay more attention to news-
papers that feature games and competi-
tions.”
Large dams not for the poor
n Referring to the “very well done” article
on large dams in Spore 80, Guy Barthéle-
my of Villages sans Frontières in Salies de
Bearn, France, corrects us: “Your arguments
lack conviction when it comes to the large-
scale dams that are being planned in vari-
ous countries. When you talk about their
spinoffs in terms of irrigation and electrici-
ty supply, you fail to recognise that in virtu-
ally all cases these benefits are exclusively
intended for city dwellers and rich
landowners.”
Building capacity 
n Writing from PO Box 2275, Bungoma,
Kenya, Dr E J Mukhwana, Director of the
Sustainable Agriculture Centre for Research
and Development in Africa (SACRED), shares
his organisation’s experience in capacity
building: “SACRED has been working in
western Kenya in implementing participa-
tory capacity building projects with farmers’
organisations for the past five years and has
a lot of information it can share with oth-
ers. Because of the numbers involved, many
organisations fear engaging in training, fol-
low-up, or even exchange activities with
groups. We have supported communities in
paying for the costs of food and in provid-
ing training and meeting facilities and
venues, as well as firewood, water, and
cooks.  In this way, more than 40 groups of
25 people each have been facilitated in
sharing their experiences. The groups pro-
vide collective labour for each other.”
principal client and beneficiary. The
debate is reiterated in letters from two
readers on this page that discuss the “him”
and “her” of the ACP farmer. 
Not that Ms Tsakani Ngoname’s opin-
ion leadership can be open to doubt:
women are the primary clients, and it is
time for affirmative action to help men
move over. The new thrust of genderisa-
tion does not augur a polarisation around
gender, but simply a surge of respect for
clients’ needs and an attempt to provide
proper responses. 
This is clearly not the time to consider
a scenario beyond March 2000 of ACP
agriculture without the kind of the ser-
vices that have been evolving in CTA with
back-up from inputs from the Centre’s
Advisory Committee. Many would argue
that their real work has only just begun.
M ost forestry – policies whichare currently being revisited indeveloping countries – claim
to be based on bringing together the
interest groups that represent the various
users of the forest. Just as in other sec-
tors of society, the notion of participa-
tion has come to dominate thinking on
planning. It is a real novelty in the
forestry world, long accustomed to the
State taking decisions without any con-
sultation.
In forestry, a long term vision is need-
ed with regard to public intervention,
and strategic planning has an essential
role to play. Participation thrust its way
onto the stage in developing countries
during the 1980s, following criticism of
the ineffectiveness of State systems to
slow down the degradation of forest
resources. When studies showed the
importance of the forest for local com-
munities, the idea was born to involve
them in forestry management as a way to
improve protection. Coupled to this was
the need to involve the representatives of
various interests in the formulation of
corresponding political and planning
options. 
Several approaches found favour, vary-
ing according to the country and the
international agencies backing them. In
the beginning, the type of participation
practised was passive, with representa-
tives of interest groups being involved
solely to be informed about options, or
to provide information to the State on
what it could do. In time, this attitude
gradually made way for real, active
involvement respecting the opinions of
each party, and negotiating a compro-
mise on objectives and means between
often antagonistic positions. Slowly, plu-
ralism was accepted in administrative
bodies which had been unwilling to lis-
ten to the points of view of forest users
suspected of degrading forest resources
rather than maintaining them. Now the
tables have turned and today one of the
key conditions of leading international
donor agencies is, alongside an emphasis
on training, that there must be a partici-
patory process of drawing up national
forestry policies and programmes. 
The “mixed model” is a complex pro-
cedure, which has been used in several
ACP countries. It involves organising –
on a nationwide basis – a massive pro-
cess of consultation, discussion and
negotiation from bottom to top on
forestry problems, on how to resolve
them and on how to permit stakeholders
to assume their proper responsibilities.
There are rounds of consultations to
arrive at a common diagnosis of the pre-
sent situation, to agree on objectives to
be met, to elaborate implementation
strategies and related priorities. Series of
regional, then national, workshops are
held so that all participants can state
their preferences, debate them in public
and then negotiate a compromise accept-
able to all parties. The forest service plays
a central technical role in the discussion,
but it is only a non-majority stakeholder.
This process, when conducted with due
rigour, can help a State to affirm its inde-
pendence in decision-making and to
avoid having to follow international pre-
scriptions.
The extent to which this type of direct
democracy is effective depends on many
factors. Firstly, there has to be a free and
full flow of information between partici-
pants, which is not always the case since
holding back information can be used as
a way to maintain power. Participants
also have to be able to properly represent
real social issues, and to avoid restricting
themselves to promoting their own rep-
resentativeness. Further, facilitators have
to have the utmost neutrality. Finally,
there must be a clear commitment on the
part of the public authorities to put into
practice the decisions arising from the
process, not normally an easy task since
most of them entail expenditure. Fur-
thermore, there is a risk involved in the
withdrawal of the State and internation-
al donor agencies from forestry develop-
ment. At a time when sectoral aid is
falling fast and the means of central
administrations are restricted, arranging
the participation of stakeholders can be
a way to pull out of the sector and to
leave local stakeholders to fend for them-
selves alone. Forestry development
would not be any the better for such an
approach.
To involve interest groups in decisions
about forestry policy is a good thing. But
it has to be a reasoned choice, arrived at
on the basis of methods and techniques
proper to democracy. Negotiation has to
be taken – and conducted – seriously,
with the rigour necessary for respecting
the sincerity of all participants. Only
then can the resulting decisions be sure
of having optimal effectiveness, and
equity.
SPORE 82  • PAGE 16
Viewpoint • 
Participatory forest planning
Wanted: all-round
negotiators
Professor Gerard Buttoud is a researcher 
at the French national agricultural
research institute (INRA) and teaches
forestry policy at the national school for
agricultural engineering in forestry
(ENGREF) at Nancy, France. He is a
scientific advisor to several international
organisations in forestry development
providing support to the redefinition, at
national and regional levels, of forestry
policy. 
The opinions expressed in Viewpoint are
those of the authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the views of CTA.
The concept of participation now occupies pride of place in
forestry planning, and has become the key to redefining
policy. Yet it can only work under certain conditions: there
have to be responsible attitudes on the part of participants,
mutual exchange of information between them, commitment
by public bodies, an independent role for facilitators, and a
rigorous approach.
“Serious, rigorous negotiations”