CAR: 7 agricultural inputs shops ready for farmers

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marker icon Central African Republic   
02-12-2019 | di COOPI

CAR: 7 agricultural inputs shops ready for farmers

COOPI has set up 7 shops selling agricultural inputs, veterinary products and other equipment to supply 1,000 Central African farmers in Damara, Begoua, Boali and in the 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th districts of Bangui, thanks to the project to relaunch of the urban and peri-urban breeding industry, financed by the Bêkou Trust Fund of the European Union.

In particular, each shop will:

  • distribute agricultural inputs on a daily demand basis;
  • rent or sell livestock equipment, such as wheelbarrows, feeders, motor pumps;
  • promote the new technologies available;
  • inform and advise small-scale farmers on the use of the means of production.

Members and non-members of the CAR National Association of Poultry Farmers (ANEC), the CAR National Association of Pig Farmers (ANEP), the CAR National Federation of Fish Farmers and Aquaculture Producers (FNPAC) and the CAR National Federation of Farmers (FNEC) will be allowed to access these shops.

Before the outbreak of the recent conflicts in the CAR, these Community associations were a point of reference in the agricultural and livestock sectors, as they supported small local producers. In recent years, however, these associations have partly lost their role of aggregators among farmers and the State, who should have guaranteed the survival of these groups, has not been able to give them continuity.

By establishing a new network of synergies and creating these shops, the associations will be able to relaunch the development of small farms. By allowing farmers to use the shops for free, providing initial stocks and working capital, these structures will become economically self-sufficient in a short time and will allow a gradual handover from COOPI to national associations and federations which, at the end of the project, will be able to coordinate the management of wages, manage maintenance costs and renew stocks.

The relaunch of the breeding sector will be a profitable opportunity for the communities, as it will create and maintain commercial links and strengthen the livestock sector, with a view to peaceful coexistence and food security.

Since 2013, the Central African Republic has been going through an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has led to the collapse of public infrastructure and the socio-economic fabric of the country, thus aggravating the food insecurity of households.

To strengthen the economic and organizational capacities of livestock farmers and improve food security, since 2017 COOPI has been intervening in the prefectures of Bangui, Lobaye and Bimbo with projects to strengthen agriculture and the livestock chain (poultry and pigs), by improving the quality of livestock reared through investment in the genetics sector; reducing production costs; raising awareness of new production techniques and promoting good husbandry practices and specific hygiene.