Biovision Africa Trust team of Ms. Venancia Wambua, the EOA-I in Africa Project Manager and Mr. Geoffrey Langat, the Accountant during their recent monitoring mission in Benin that took place from 3rd to 7th October 2022, had the pleasure to visit farmers making a difference in Benin. The farmers group called Midokwo means ‘We are together’. The group that started its work in 2021 is being supported by the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative through partners in Benin including Organisation Béninoise pour la Promotion de l’Agriculture Biologique (OBEPAB), the Country Lead Organisation partner: https://www.obepab.org, University of Parakou (LRIDA/FA/UP): http://www.univ-parakou.bj/ , Platform of Civil Society Actors of Benin (PASCiB) http://pascibenin.org/ , and Research and Technical Assistance Centre for the Environment and Agricultural Development (CRASTEDA ONG).
The group has a total of 16 members (5 female and 11 male). The group aims to address the challenges faced by organic farmers in accessing high quality suckers for banana organic farming. The biggest challenge has been farmers accessing poor quality seeds affected by pests and diseases and thus reducing the yields.
The process of organic banana seeds production involves cleaning the suckers organically to get rid of pests and diseases while avoiding use of farm chemicals like herbicides for weeds control. The Chairman of the group Mr. Aviko started the group after benefiting from a Trainer of Trainers training undertaken by University of Parakou on Organic banana seeds production. After the training, Mr. Aviko went back home to his village and formed this group.
Currently the group has set up a communal seed bed where they manage their banana seeds until ready for transplanting. The members of this group benefit from accessing organic banana seeds from the group seed bed.
The farmers have also set aside a piece of land where they have set up banana plantations for demonstrations, extension services and for harvesting the suckers.
Biovision Africa Trust is proud to be associated with life changing ecological organic interventions for farmers under the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Compiled by:
Ms. Venancia Wambua, EOA-I in Africa, Project Manager