(Togo First) - Noel Bataka, Coordinator of value chains of Mifa (incentive mechanism for agricultural financing) visited last Tuesday three of the eight sites selected in the framework of the project’s pilot phase.

The visit’s purpose was to assess progress made under the mechanism’s implementation as well as meet with farmers and agricultural advisors.

The three sites visited were those of Kovié, Agou and Notsè.

“For us, Mifa is a great innovation” 

The first pilot site visited by the coordinator is that of Kovié/Mission Tové (40km from Lomé). Based in the Zio valley, the site which specializes in rice farming already benefited from Mifa’s technical support and will soon get its first check. Mifa should help increase and better regulate rice production in the area, according to Kossi Djifa Adokanou who heads the Zio Valley Rice Farming Area Management Committee. “Up till now, we faced many challenges, the most important being difficulties in selling our yield. The Mifa provides a major solution to this issue as it will provide us many outlets,” he said. “We will start contract-based production which means that even before the farmer produces, he knows the buyer and selling price,” he added. The official continued revealing that in the next two weeks, the valley should benefit from a subsidy of about CFA500 million. This financing will be used to boost output and optimize yield.

356 hectares dedicated to rice and maize farming in Agou

Next, Mifa’s coordinator went to Agou where the following four planned farming zones (ZAAP) are located: Gadjagan (106ha of arable lands), Nitoé and Akplolo (spanning 100ha each and dedicated to rice and maize growing respectively), and Avétonou, (50 ha).

At Gadjagan, there are 212 farmers who received 0.5 ha each. These farmers welcomed the Mifa and said they were impatient to benefit from the initiative. Expressing himself regarding the mechanism, their president, Sédo Koffi Séményo, declared: “The mechanism will change a lot of things and this will help us increase our output and better take care of our families, given that it takes insurance into account ”

For his part, Folly Notchron, a farmer from the Agou farming area, active since 1914, says: “The issues we used to face before as we sought loans or provided guarantee cautions are now history with the Mifa. We, the farmers, are extremely pleased. We are insured on all fronts, even in the event of bad weather that hamper our work”.

Those in charge of the Avétonou production sites congratulated Mifa’s coordinator and said they were pleased to see their challenges, regarding sales and financing, solved. The coordinator, during his field-visit also discussed with advisors who have been helping registered and trained farmers on a daily basis.

Last destination: Notsè and its cassava producers

To end his visit, the coordinator and his delegation were at Agotové, a village situated 10km from Notsè. There he met a group of women specialized in cassava farming and gari production. The women who were told a few weeks earlier about Mifa and its advantages thanked the President for the initiative, but also its coordinator for visiting them personally.

However, Dagnowou Ami (photo), secretary of the Miwoè né gnon cooperative took the opportunity to raise an important issue: conflicts with breeders in the region. “The animals destroy the women’s farms” and their yields, the secretary said, asking for authorities’ help to solve the matter.

“The mechanism sparks in producers’ minds dreams that the implementation must make true, for the good of Togo’s agriculture”

Addressing the press at the end of his visit, Mifa’s coordinator expressed his satisfaction regarding efforts made in the framework of the project. “The president of Kovié’s CGP expressed his desire to improve rice farming in his region ; farmers in Agou were very enthusiastic, due to the opportunities resulting from the mechanism, and said they wished to expand the maize-growing areas. As for the women I met in Notsè, they were reassured by the many advantages of the Mifa and the fact that these would help them better sell their cassava. They also rejoiced over the fact that insurance, which is one of the mechanism’s key pillars, would be effective for them,” Noel Bataka said to sum up his visit.

“The government’s goal is to provide outlets to small producers, allowing them to improve their yield and subsequently their living standards,” the coordinator further indicated.

Officially launched on June 25, 2018, by President Faure Gnassingbé, the Mifa aims at facilitating risk-sharing and improving financing for farmers and other agricultural actors across the country, thus making the sector more professional.

Reportage by Octave A. Bruce