Cameroon is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa; 209,905 tons of cocoa beans were produced in 2014. Cocoa is the main cash crop of the Centre region of Cameroon and one of the main export commodities of the country. However, unstable international cocoa prices coupled with weather variability have increased food insecurity and malnourishment among cocoa farmers. Furthermore, even when cocoa prices reached high peaks in international markets, smallholder farmers received only 3.5 to 6.4 % of the final value of the chocolate bar. With highly volatile cocoa prices and … [Read more...]
Vegetable Innovation Platform in Vietnam Bears Fruit – and Vegetables!
With suitable agroclimatic conditions, low labor costs, and good infrastructure, the Northwestern uplands of Vietnam have the potential to move from the production of low value staple crops into the production of high value fruit and vegetables. Vegetable production in the area is increasing, albeit slowly. The change in production systems requires coordinated action on the part of farmers, input suppliers, government agencies, and vegetable traders. In 2014, Humidtropics set up an Innovation Platform on vegetables to promote this process, enhance collaboration, and build trust among the … [Read more...]
Humidtropics’ Innovative Agricultural Practices Change Lives and Bring Hope to DRC Farmers
Like many other rural areas in Walungu sub-district and beyond, across the South Kivu Province in Eastern DRC, Mushinga has been wrecked by various disasters, both natural and human. The most adverse factors that afflict the area is soil impoverishment and inadequate agricultural practices, as deprived populations can hardly count on the small land they own for their livelihood. Research-based approaches and processes were obviously lacking, making it almost impossible to reverse the trends, until Humidtropics and its Innovation Platform partners, notably the International Fertilizer … [Read more...]