Attaining Zero Hunger in any country will be a mirage without a strong extension system. IITA–CGIAR, in partnership with AfricaRice, trained 50 (10 female and 40 male) extension officers from four regions in Togo—Maritime and Plateaux-Est, Plateaux-Ouest, Kara, and Savanes—in August. Twenty-five officers were trained on rice (for Kara and Savanes) and 25 on cassava (Maritime and Plateaux-Est, Plateaux-Ouest) value chains.
They carried out the training in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development (MAEDER), Institut Togolais De Recherche Agronomique (ITRA) and L’Institut de Conseil et d’Appui Technique (ICAT). The focal persons from ITRA and ICAT facilitated the research engagements and mobilization of the extension agents, respectively, while the MAEDER took up the responsibility of overseeing the entire process.
The training content was informed by the result of the Needs Assessment Survey conducted on the extension agents and agreements reached with the national partners.
Gaps identified in the survey showed that most extension officers had no prior training in weed management, varietal identification, digital agriculture, seed production, and Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs), among other subjects. IITA and AfricaRice, in partnership with ITRA focal persons for Rice and Cassava, facilitated sessions on Six Steps to Cassava weed management, weed management in rice, calibration techniques, and the use of digital decision support tools such as the IITA herbicide calculator, RiceAdvice, and Area Calculator for land.
The knowledge of the extension officers was further broadened in classifying herbicides and how and when they are used in weed management. There was a hands-on session on sprayer calibration, measuring, and calculating the quantity of herbicide required for spraying per time. The Extension Officers demonstrated the process of calibrating the sprayer during the practical session to further enhance their understanding of the process.
Improved cassava and rice production yield is one of the project’s major objectives, which cannot be achieved without farmers adopting improved varieties and GAPs. ITRA focal persons took the lead in highlighting good agronomic practices in rice and cassava production, the various classification and morphological features used to identify different varieties, especially improved varieties, and the potential in each variety. A searchlight was also pointed to pest and disease identification and management for both crops.
In their closing remarks, the Zero Hunger Project Togo Country Focal Point appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Kpadenou Anani Kodjogan (Director of Plant Sectors, MAEDER), in the company of Director of Entrepreneurship Kpanté Bouab, Director of Mechanization Kossi Dzifa Hounkali from the Ministry of Agriculture, and Madjoulba Batocfetou, the Director General of ICAT, expressed delight at the goal of the project, thanked IITA and AfricaRice for strengthening the extension System and implored the extension officers to take full advantage of the knowledge that has been imparted and use it to backstop the farmers’ production activities.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager Oyewale Abioye, on behalf of Project Lead Debo Akande and Project Co-Lead from AfricaRice Francis Nwilene, appreciated the efforts of the partner institutions and shared the plan for the next steps with the timelines with the extension officers.
Contributed by Oyewale Abioye
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