INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

Jeanne ZOUNDJIHEKPON

Brazil, 9 - 19 May 2002

Synthesis of West Africa

1.      Regional context and general points

West Africa covers 1/5 of the surface area of the continent and is made up of sixteen (16) countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Twelve of these countries have seacoasts, three are land-locked (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), and Cape Verde is an archipelago of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a geographic area of a vaste plateau at about 300 metres of altitude, with

• in the South, a chain of hard rocks which have resisted erosion: Mount Loma (1947m), Mount Nimba (1854m) the Fouta-Djallon Massif (1550m) and the Atacora.
• in the North, a series of mountainous massifs

The southern part of the subregion has three large rivers which cross it:

• the Niger which is navigable in places
• the Senegal which is a torrent as it descends from the Fouta-Djallon
• the Volta, which   flows into a large lake in Ghana
• To the north of the 16^th parallel is the desert area where there are no permanent rivers.

Four types of climate are characteristic of West Africa:

• the Sahelian climate, with irregular rain fall from one year to the next. These rains do not last for more than three months; there is less than 500mm of rainfall. The temperature often reaches 40°C in May, at the end of the dry season;
• the Sudanese climate, with a dry season that gets longer as you approach the Tropic of Cancer. The drought is accentuated by the Harmattan, the hot, dry wind which blows north-east towards the Atlantic. With this climate, yearly rainfall exceeds 1000mm in the south of Mali but remains under 800mm in the north of Nigeria;
• the humid, tropical climate experienced from the Gambia to Ghana, with an average annual rainfall of 1500mm and two dry seasons, from August until September and from December until March;
• the equatorial climate, the length of the Gulf of Guinea, with rainfall nearly all year round which can exceed 2000mm.

Savannah is the most common environment in West Africa, extending from Senegal to the north of Nigeria. It's a sylvopastoral area characterised by thorny shrubs. Trees do not grow taller than 10m high on savannah shrub-land. Further south, savannah with trees extends from Senegal to Nigeria representing the dominant vegetation in the Sahelo-Sahelian region. The trees do not grow taller than 15m and grow in clumps along rivers. On the coast, mangroves of different sizes are found depending on the country and the subregion. Gallery forests stretch the length of rivers. Tropical forests grow in a belt parallel to the coast, from Sierra Leone to Nigeria, where trees can reach 30m in height, and less densely in Togo and Benin. The economies of the countries in the subregion are built on agriculture, including forestry, animal husbandry and fishing. Export commodities are cocoa, coffee, rubber, cotton, peanuts, fish, palm oil etc.. However, subsistence agriculture is the most important, with food-producing farming specific to each region and each country.

Because of the shortage of information at international level about Francophone countries on the management of genetic resources, the Growing Diversity project focused on the Francophone countries of West Africa. Local organisations and NGOs from eight of these countries took an active part in the process of regional preparation and in the international workshop. These were from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo. The analysis of the experiences documented during this project should result in a regional programme on agricultural biodiversity, to avoid the 'Growing Diversity' project being filed away and forgotten about.

2) The main challenge for agriculture in West Africa - food security

The sustainable management of genetic resources in agriculture has been a major preoccupation of African people for a very long time. Indeed, the survival of these people depends on the products they gather from their immediate environment, land habitats (forests, savannahs, hills, Sahel, desert etc…) or water (sea, fresh water etc…). African people played an active part in developing agriculture from its beginnings, including the domestication of several species still cultivated today. Examples of these species are fonio (acha or ‘hungry rice’), millet, cola, and yam. Where many of these plants domesticated in West Africa are grown as crops, most of them still grow in the wild. Consequently, domestication is still underway for some of these crops. For example, yams in Benin or Guinea would fall into this category.

2.1 Agriculture in its strict sense

Where the economies of most of the countries in the subregion are based on agriculture, especially cash crops, people's survival depends on food-producing crops. The  cash crops industry - peanuts in Senegal, cotton in Benin or Mali, coffee and cocoa in Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire - is  carefully organised by governments  and maintained by multinationals, sponsors and international scientific research institutions, to the detriment of food-producing crops. In general, research institutions or national development organisations run by the department responsible for agriculture provide the seeds for these [latter] crops. Most often, the seeds are provided with an accompanying technological package, which means that there is a risk that farmers and their families can get into debt and be poisoned. Each year, several cases of pesticide poisoning are reported in the subregion.

The areas cultivated with food-producing crops by 60-90% of farmers, are small and rarely larger than a hectare. In addition, numerous varieties and species tend to be planted in the same field. The seeds are inherited from parents, ancestors or exchanged between farmers, without regard for geographic barriers. This is also true of cultural practices and conservation methods for genetic resources. As a result, in the north of Côte d’Ivoire, yams called 'Dahomey' are found because they originated from Benin (Dahomey is the former name for Benin), and in Burkina Faso, a conservation method for millet, sorghum, maize and rice seeds is found, which was introduced from Ghana. In nearly all the countries, food-producing crops are organised in an informal way and it is not at all easy to access markets.

Despite natural constraints relating to drought and sporadic famines, which occur in some countries of the subregion, local communities make the most of traditional knowledge in practising subsistence agriculture. Local communities are therefore able to control food-producing crop seeds. In many countries of the subregion, depending on ethnicity and agroecological factors, the granary made of different materials and shapes serves as a store for cereal harvests (maize, sorghum, fonio, millet etc…) with or without the medicinal plants. The different types of conservation materials used include: variously shaped straw or clay  granaries to conserve stems loose or in sheafs/bales, jars of various sorts made of clay mixed with straw to conserve the seeds only, pots, gourds, bags, calabashes etc… are also used to store harvests destined for consumption or for seed. The selection of seeds is done by the head of the family and is sometimes associated with socio-cultural or religious rituals.

The conservation of vegetables, such as peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, “gombo” as well as fruits, requires drying, and seeds for sowing are conserved away from humidity, in different ways, depending on the region and ethnic groups. In West Africa, plants with tubers, especially yams are conserved using different methods: conservation of the uncut plant on hillocks, conservation in pits, conservation in a straw hut, conservation on vertical lattice frames. Cassava is conserved standing in the field, or stems are cut and conserved under trees.

The use of chemical additives associated with modern agriculture, has changed local community practices. Local people have largely abandoned local technological methods and practices in favour of imported practices, and as a result, traditional expertise is in danger of disappearing in certain regions. Indeed, experiences of local technology is disappearing silently;  one reason for this is that resources are generated by the additives used for the cash crops industry which is itself maintained by governments.

2.2 Fishing, hunting, livestock farming and the use of microorganisms

In West Africa, hunting, fishing and animal rearing are activities which used to be carried out by social groups (cultural groups, ethnic groups, associations…), with strict rules on the sustainable management of genetic resources to respect the balance of nature. The practice of these activities was accompanied by induction and training periods of variable length depending on the village. The groups of traditional hunters or 'Dozos' are very structured in Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, etc… . They hunt to feed themselves while respecting the equilibrium of ecosystems. However, demographic pressure, the expansion of safari hunts and the conversion of old state employees into hunters and traders of game birds, mean that the Dozos are starting to lose control of hunting in certain countries. In Mali, hunting associations are real community organisations with decision-making powers about the management of natural resources they are recognised by the state.

The situation regarding sea fishing varies from country to country according to the size of the coastline, the potential resources available, cultural traditions and socio-political context. From Mauritania to Guinea, the coastal countries are in an advantageous position because of their maritime resources. However, although fishing traditions have favoured one country namely Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and to a lesser extent, Guinea, have allowed their genetic resources to be exploited by foreign fleets to a greater degree. Today, local small-scale fishing is threatened by industrial fishing. In 1999, agreements were in place between the European Union and 15 ACP states, (of the “Access to resources / financial compensation and co-operative measures” type). Seven of these states are in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire. This situation places small-scale fishing by native people in serious jeopardy. In the Gulf of Guinea, with some states with a reduced coastline (Togo, Benin), the different situations mean that one country emerges as the fishing capital: Ghana. Nearly all the coastal West African countries, from Dohi to Benin, the Imragen to Mauritania, have closed fishing seasons, which all fishermen must respect.

As far as inland fishing is concerned,, one land-locked country stands out: Mali, where most fishing is carried out on the interior delta of the Niger (European Parliament, 1999). Fish are caught for local consumption, but sometimes there is enough for neighbouring countries. In the Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger…) where livestock farming is a traditional activity, pastoral farming was done to maintain a natural equilibrium. In the region of the central delta of the Niger, the pastoral code, established in 1821, by Sékou Amadou, the founder of the Peuhl du Macina Empire, is still used as a model today. The seasonal moving of livestock to different regions used to be strictly regulated based on sound knowledge of the natural resources and on a hierarchy of groups of farmers. For a specific period, each group had the right to use some pastures and water sources. In addition, the differential use of pastureland and water sources according to wet and dry seasons meant that vegetation could regenerate. However, this equilibrium, maintained by people who lived in harmony with nature, has been lost because of demographic growth and modern administrative powers. Nowadays, conflicts regularly break out between livestock farmers and crop farmers in nearly all countries because of the over exploitation of natural resources.

Finally, in West Africa microorganisms are used by local people in the preparation of certain foodstuffs. This is the case with cassava meal commonly known as 'attiéké' in Côte d’Ivoire, maize meal (mawê, akassa, etc…) in Togo and Benin, or cassava flour (gari), in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. However, little written information exists about the local management of microorganisms. Now, with modern life and scientific research findings, traditional foodstuffs made from microorganisms are treated to give them a long shelf life. The Ivory Centre for Technological Research (CIRT) in Côte d’Ivoire does this with attiéké and the Faculty of Agronomic Science (FSA) in Benin treat aklui.

3.      A few features of the subregion

3.1      Respect for traditional beliefs and hierarchies

In West Africa, local communities are mainly organised according to ethnic groups or clans and follow well-defined traditional practices. Animism is one of the most important religions with cult gods represented by different elements in the universe, including genetic resources. Beliefs therefore have an important part to play in the daily use of genetic resources, as does respect for taboos and totems. Nature is seen as the place where ancestors live, even though they have disappeared and watch living people. As a result, ecosystems and some of their components are revered.

In the village of Kolonto in Senegal, before a plot of land is cultivated, sacrifices are made on the spot by offering millet or other cereal cakes in the evening. The next day, if the cakes have disappeared, the land can be cultivated. If the opposite happens, the cultivation of the field is abandoned. In Burkina Faso, caterpillars and crickets are tackled by appealing to ancestors. With regard to fishing, in Avlékété, a coastal village in the South of Benin, the Vodoun fetish day is a rest day that must be respected by everyone. Anyone who does not obey this rest day rule must pay a high fine. In Ganvié, a lakeside village in Benin, traditional management of fishing is based in large part on the belief and fear of water gods. The principal gods are Vodoun Anassi Gbegou, Avlékété and Agboé.

The original humid, evergreen tropical forest for West Africa has been replaced by the Taï National Park in the south-west of Côte d’Ivoire, and several patches of forest have survived to this day because they are sacred. The sacred forest of Zaïpobly is one of these patches of forest where plants cannot be taken without prior permission from the Kwi. In West Africa, sacred forests and woods are places of meetings, exchanges and trials of religious chiefs or traditional warriors, to have initiations to secret societies, or are just simply cemetries for individuals who have died in a tragic way. Sacred woods are not woods in the usual sense of the word. In Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Mali, Nigeria, as in other countries of the subregion, sacred woods are often used for initation ceremonies and rituals. According to Loucou (1984), sacred woods created by people are usually found in the immediate vicinity of a village. These woods are circular, small, stretching over 2 to 4 hectares; they are patches of forest in mid savannah. They are sacred places where gods and dead ancestors are thought to continuously visit and where certain village ceremonies take place. According to Coulibaly (1978), sacred woods contain the ancient flora of the region before humans settled. They are places which must not be touched or violated in any way.

The  local strategy for managing the agrobiodiversity has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years thanks to the oral tradition ofsongs, stories, proverbs and riddles which are channels for the transfer of traditional knowledge. In this way, the respect for traditional beliefs and hierarchies is passed down to young people. In nearly all African countries, there are foods which are taboo and this is respected to this day. For example, panthers are revered in Benin by the Houègbonou clan who must not eat nor kill them. This animal is also the most common totem for all habitants of the Lobakouya in Côte d’Ivoire. There are also a number of taboos concerning plants which are imposed by gods or clans. Beyond taboos on food, certain species must not be burnt in some regions or by the followers of certain gods or by mothers of twins or of deformed children. In villages, respect for these taboos contributes significantly to the health of individuals.

3.2      The division of work according to gender, and the strong presence of women

The experiences documented within this project show that women have a dominant role in the local management of agricultural biodiveristy and also that there is a very marked sexual division of labour, particularly in fishing. At Ganvié, while men are busy making fishing boats, capturing fish, making fish holes and developing tree planted parks called Acadja, women are entirely responsible for post fishing operations and housework. This is the same in Senegal, Mauritania and Togo.

In Mali and in Côte d’Ivoire, not only is the growing of foodstuffs in women's hands but so to is the whole food production industry, from making to selling food. In Burkina Faso, a group of women from Karma called Rel-wendé or 'we place our hope in God' was created in 1994 after women became aware of the dangers that monocultures could cause for their food resources. Village people cannot help but admire the dynamism of the group. The women in the group have decided to increase the value of traditional edible plants by using ancestral culinary knowledge and prohibiting the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides when farming. Priority is given to cultivating wild vegetables which add to their subsistence and improve the quality of their diet. In addition, they collect and dry many traditional wild vegetables whose scientific names are not always known, which are at present in the process of dying out. They have created a seed bank of wild vegetables that are rarely cultivated.

In Senegal, a women's organisation, the RFPPN (Women from Popenguine for the Protection of Nature Group), was created in 1987 in order to contribute to the conservation and the reestablishment of the biodiversity of the environment. Following on from this, the women were able to raise the awareness of other women from the seven villages around the natural reserve and this group today is admired by people in the country and the whole of West Africa. In Avlékété (Benin) since 1995, the NGO OFEDI (The Organisation for Women for the Protection of the Environment and Integrated Development) helps women to improve their economic activities based on a better use of genetic resources and at the same time to respect nature and especially traditional knowledge. In order to protect the diversity of mangroves, various interrelated activities have been initiated to prevent women from up-rooting mangroves. These are the creation of an economic base, tree planting, market gardening, awareness raising sessions, and the establishment of a Rural Building and Lending Society (CREP).

Even though women play an important part in the conservation of genetic resources, they are, however, perceived by some decision makers as responsible for the degradation of the environment. This is because in their search for firewood, women put pressure on plant cover. In several countries of the subregion, women's groups have only been called upon to fight desertification (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal) or deforestation (Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria), with improved home-based projects

4. Policies relating to the local management of genetic resources

The local management of agricultural genetic resources in West Africa concerns a number of areas and involves many players in society. In each country of the subregion, an agricultural department agricultural policies incorporate national considerations with a well defined strategy. In 1975, at a subregional level, the sixteen countries of the subregion created the Economic Community of West African States (CEDEAO) with the aim of improving economic performance based on agriculture. This and the other subregional organisations like the Council for Understanding (5 French speaking countries) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA - eight French speaking countries) have each, with an emphasis on their own interests, developed a policy and a strategy for agricultural development. Most of the measures taken promote modern agriculture to the detriment of traditional agriculture, in order to increase agricultural production production. , Events for the farmers' festival are periodically held in nearly all countries of West Africa. Depending on the country, they are called, , 'Farmers' Day' in Burkina Faso or 'National Cup for Progress' in Côte d’Ivoire, and attract prizes for the best farmer. There has even been a Cup organised to choose the best of the five countries of the Conseil de l'Entente (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo).

Many international conventions and treaties about the management of biodiversity in agriculture are signed, ratified and put into place in West Africa. This is the case, amongst others, of the conventions on genetic diversity, on desertification, on humid areas, on climate change. It is also the case of the fishing agreement signed by many countries of the subregion and the bilateral agreements signed in the spirit of technical cooperation.  It must be understood that in West Africa most people are not aware of the agreements signed in their name by national political authorities although many references to local populations, their expertise and local knowledge are made in these international texts. Even if it is proposed that there should be synergy at a national level between the different international conventions, the reality is otherwise. In addition, in most french speaking  countries in the subregion, the Ministry in charge of agriculture is not the one who  has responsibility for putting into place the convention; this is done by the Ministry for the Environment. There is often, therefore,a lack of coordination between the actions of the two ministries and even between departments of the same ministry.

In most African countries, scientifc research concentrates more on agricultural products for exportation, than crops for local consumption, even though most farmers are small farmers who practice subsistence farming. The national institutes for scientific research on agriculture and the universities in the francophone countries do their best to contribute to local management of agricultural biodiversity. But it has to be recognised that they have very limited means and that most of their findings, while positive, do not reach the local communities. At the beginning of the 1990s, thought was given to the possibility of involving NGOs in the management of genetic resources, without knowing exactly what approach to take. Many meetings have taken place: a seminar organised by the IBPGR (which became the IPGRI) on 'Safeguarding the Genetic Basis of Africa's Traditional Crops' in Nairobi (Kenya) in 1992; the regional preparation of the International Technical Conference on Phytogenetic Resources in Leipzig in 1996 (Dakar, Senegal); the subregional meeting in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in December 1996 on 'biodiversity, phytogenetic resources and local food security', by ENDA - Tiers Monde, the international workshop on the genetic resources in the savannahs of Africa, in February 1997 by the Institute of Rural Economy at Bamako (Mali), but all without great success.

These various meetings underlined the lack of real dialogue between political decision makers, researchers, NGOs and local communities in general. At the meeting in Bamako (1997), it was therefore decided that regular meetings would be organised involving the different participants. It was with this in mind that in November 1999, a panafrican workshop was organised on Genetically Modified Organisms (OGM) and Intellectual Property Rights (DPI) at Yaoundé and Mbalmayo (Cameroon) which showed that most french speaking countries in Africa, members of the African Organisation of Intellectual Property (OAPI) signed the revised agreement in Bangui without any prior information from the people of the sixteen member countries. Yet this agreement mortgages the future of small farmers in these countries by protecting the patents on plants to the detriment of traditional edible varieties and medicinal plants. In addition, this agreement prohibits the exchange of seeds between farmers.

Protected areas, national parks, botanic gardens, protected forests and other similar reserves were mostly established by colonial administrations in most of the countries of West Africa, and the way in which they are managed can cause problems with local people. But for more than a decade now, ways and means of involving local people in the management of these protected areas have been sought, using 'participative management'. But in many cases local communities are not convinced by this type of management.

5. Constraints, challenges and a few suggestions

The challenges and constraints relating to the local management of the biodiveristy are many and vary in scale. The following can be cited:

• natural constraints, including:
• problems relating to water: the poor distribution of rainwater, drought, desertification,
• the degradation of soils,
• the reduction of genetic resources,
• the problems of protecting seed,
• genetic erosion

Socioeconomic constraints, including:

• the lack of networks for food crops for local consumption,
• the poor efficiency of farmers' organisations and local communities,
• the difficulty of accessing micro-financing,
• the problems of funding, as many farmers without land only survive by labouring on others' land

Political constraints, including:

• the limited access that local communities have to agricultural information,
• the lack of coordination of programmes between different national and international research organisations,
• the lack of coordination of political activities and decisions of different ministerial departments,
• the isolation of farmers and the use of their groups for political ends,
• the support given by the state and sponsors to cash crops to the detriment of food crops for local consumption,

Amongst the constraints, there is particular concern about the lack of involvement of local communities in decision-making processes, including:

• the current strong centralisation of decision making structures at state level in most countries. Even local community representatives mostly only represent their own interests,
• the overlapping of traditional organisations and modern state administrative structures,
• the poor level of organisation amongst most local associations,
• the weakness of most NGOs, which have multiplied in number in recent years.

To overcome these many challenges, among many suggestions, we propose the following:

• the organisation of continuous information campaigns, of communication and exchange between political authorities, researchers, farming organisations and local groups from villages in the same country, the same region, same continent and even between continents. There is no doubt that local African communities can learn a lot by exchanging information between themselves, but can also do so with their South-American and Asiatic counterparts, especially on an organisational level, to defend their own interests.
• the decentralisation of decision making powers in countries. It is important that local associations are vigilant to ensure that decentralisation is accompanied by a real transfer of power to local communities and not a transfer of jurisdiction to leaders of local political parties.
• the reform of agricultural scientific research at the national and subregional level, with effective participation of civil society organisations (farmers' organisations and NGOs);
• the revision of current participative management of protected areas and genetic resources, so that farmers are no longer used as representatives by politicians and NGOs to their funders / banks;
• education in school, particulary for girls, and functional literacy relating to agricultural biodiversity.

6. Assets

The large number of edible plants which originate from West Africa, together with the multitude of local varieties of plants adapted to local ecological conditions imported from Latin American and Asia, as well as the existence of numerous endemic animal and plant species, are undeniably assets for local management of the biodiversity. In addition, farmers and whole communities are still attached to tradtional seeds and specific animal races and species which they protect jealously. This is the case, amongst others, of some varieties of cassava in Mali and Senegal, some yams in Nigeria, Benin or in Côte d’Ivoire, and millet and sorghum in Burkina Faso. In addition, cultural practice and ancestral conservation methods are still preserved by many farmers or farming associations. As a result, in many countries in the subregion, for example, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Benin, resistance is often seen despite the pressure from the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce improved varieties.

The use of local materials to store seed and to make granaries is also an asset. Indeed, this multisecular practice does not require large expenditure or the employment of specialised workers, and is adapted to local conditions. Elsewhere, the control of subsistence agriculture by the majority of farmers, the diversity of varieties or cultivated species on a same plot of land, as well as women’s and young people’s groups, are equally assets for the local management of genetic resources. In nearly all the countries of the subregion, where there are multiple constraints and challenges to face, women on the one hand and young people on the other group together to find solutions for  their daily survival problems  and  for the local management of agricultural biodiversity.

Finally, local communities often ignore geographic barriers created by colonisation and maintained by the Organisation for African Unity (which became the African Union) and exchange seeds, cultural practices, conservation methods for genetic resources and other information. For example, varieties of yam circulate between farmers from different countries and one can find various agricultural products from Niger, Ghana, Togo or Nigeria in the market in Cotonou. In Kayar, fishing with a seine-net allows the fresh supply of fish to inland villages and towns, and to countries of the subregion like Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Benin. Young fishermen from Togo go to buy their canoes in Ghana to fish in Benin and Togo. Côte d’Ivoire, Malian, Benian, Togolese and Ghanian fishermen also cohabit intelligently. These exchanges between communities from different countries are certainly assets.

7. Subjects to discuss during the international workshop

Some subjects are topical in today's international context. However, it must be understood that these subjects are not often broached in Africa. For this reason, it is hoped that the international workshop can place them on the agenda and make suggestions on strategies for Africa. These topics are Genetically Modified Organisms (OGM) and Intellectual Property Rights (DPI). This is the place to point out that the revised Bangui agreement has just come into force in francophone countries which are part of the African Organisation for Intellectual Property (OAPI), even though it does not protect farmers’ and traditional healers’ interests. Yet a law on access to genetic resources and farmers' and local communities'rights has been proposed from within the scientific and technical departments of the Organisation for African Unity, to serve as a model for the national legislation in each African country.

Furthermore, the international workshop could deal with:

• mechanisms for  the continuous exchange of experiences  of farmers’ organisations from Africa, Latin America and Asia, including  a common strategy and a plan of action;
• the place of culture and religion in the local management of agricultural biodiversity ;
• strategies for involving farmers’ organisations (including fishermen, hunters, traditional healers and animal breeders) in the decision making process relating to the management of genetic resources at all levels;
• possible mechanisms for distributing  land equally;
• strategies for improving the organisation of the food production industryin Africa;
• mechanisms to reinforce the ability of farmers to be successful in their campaigns;
• strategies for farmers’ organisations to attend international meetings concerning the management of biodiversity (FAO, Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention of Ramsar,……);
• mechanisms for the involvement of farmers’ organisations in research programmes at national and subregional level, especially programmes relating to water, soils, genetic resources and integrated systems;
• strategies to encourage cooperation of farmers’ organisations at the international level, and research about financing local initiatives;
• mechanisms for disseminating information and for rapid alert systems at the level of farmers’ organisations and community organisations in a country, a region and between continents.

Finally, the workshop should serve as an opportunity for the West African countries, on the one hand and the whole of Africa on the other, to suggest a realistic follow up to the Growing Diversity project organised by an Association or NGO involved in the project in the last two years. Here is the place to emphasise that during the regional workshop which was held in Cotonou in October 2001, the desire  to pursue the project while remaining in contact within the context of a network, was clearly expressed.

8.      Conclusion

The local communities and the experiences that we have documented in this Growing Diversity project, show that there are a great variety of approaches, strategies and methods used in the local management of biodiversity:  agriculture, fishing, hunting and animal husbandry. This impressive variety of traditional methods of local management of the agricultural biodiversity shows that food security, which is one of the main preoccupations of political authorities of nearly all African countries, is possible if traditional knowledge relating to agriculture is exploited and developed. In October 2001, the governor of the Department of Rural Development of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) declared that spending on food is expensive for West Africa and represents 2/3rds of the cost of servicing the debt of the UEMOA area, which consists of the 8 francophone countries involved in the Growing Diversity project. To meet the challenge of local management of the agricultural biodiversity and food security, local communities and political authorities should combine their efforts to develop traditional knowledge and feed Africa without poisoning it.

References

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INADES - FORMATION :           Comment conserver l'igname et le manioc ?

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