USAID C4-Cotton Partnership (C4CP) Project · 2020. 10. 5. · Centre international pour la...

INTERNATIONAL FERTILIZER DEVELOPMENT CENTER

PO BOX 2040 | MUSCLE SHOALS, AL 35662 | USA

USAID C4-Cotton Partnership

(C4CP) Project

FINAL REPORT | APRIL 2014 – MARCH 2018

USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-624-A-14-000002 June 2018

C4CP Final Report

April 2014 – March 2018

USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-624-A-14-000002

P.O. Box 2040

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

35662 USA

www.ifdc.org

COVER PHOTOS:

Top left: Extension officers from OBEPAB with extension materials developed by the project in Djidja,

Benin.

Top right: Field visit to Bonza-Pougli, Burkina Faso with a farmer association trained by COPSA-C, one

of the project implementing partners.

Bottom left: Teaching and demonstration farm of organic cotton belonging to Mrs. Adele Tama, member

of the Bepro farmer group in Kandi, Benin.

Bottom right: Observation of an insect attack (Bemissia tabaci) on a cotton leaf in a farm near Bobo-

Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, during the training of extension officers working in partnership with Savana.

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Agency for

International Development or the United States Government.

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 i

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... vii

I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1

II. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY ........................................................................................... 2

III. PROJECT MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................... 4

3.1. Implementation Challenges .......................................................................................... 4

3.2. Staff Recruitment .......................................................................................................... 5

3.3. Granting Subsidies ........................................................................................................ 6

3.4. Monitoring and Evaluation ........................................................................................... 6

3.5. Communication ............................................................................................................. 7

IV. PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS .............................................................................. 7

4.1. Intermediate Result 1 (IR 1): Support for increased agricultural productivity promoted

through regional and national actors and stakeholders ............................................... 10

4.1.1. Development of Training Modules and Tools for Advocacy and Policy

Dialogue ........................................................................................................ 10

4.1.2. Promote Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Post-Harvest Technologies

(PHTs) to Process and Add Value to Rotational Crops ................................ 14

4.1.3. Carry out a Three-Year Study on Soil Health ............................................... 17

4.1.4. Decision Support Tools for Farmers ............................................................. 20

4.1.5. Improving Ginning Operations ..................................................................... 22

4.2. Intermediate Result 2 (IR 2): Partnerships that support the development of the cotton

sector are strengthened ................................................................................................ 28

4.2.1. Enhanced Coordination, Capacity Building and Strategic Relationships

among Stakeholders ...................................................................................... 32

4.2.2. Strengthening UEMOA’s Regional Coordination Capacities in the Cotton

Sector ............................................................................................................. 40

4.3. Intermediate Result 3 (IR 3): An enabling environment for the social and economic

empowerment of women producers and processors is promoted ............................... 46

4.3.1. Gender Initiatives at Continental Level ......................................................... 47

4.3.2. Sharing Best Practices and Lessons Learned ................................................ 49

V. LESSONS LEARNED ............................................................................................................. 53

VI. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................... 55

ANNEXES .................................................................................................................................... 56

Annex 1. Technical Datasheets or Technologies Developed by the Project and Its Partners 56

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 ii

Annex 2. List of Partner Structures of the Project with Indication of Resource Persons and

Partnership Mechanisms ............................................................................................. 58

Annex 3. Questions/Issues Discussed at the Learning Event ................................................ 66

Annex 4. Roadmap ................................................................................................................ 74

Tables

Table 1. Selected Implementing Partners .............................................................................. 10

Table 2. List of 18 IP Beneficiaries of Grant Agreements in 2015 Fiscal Year.................... 11

Table 3. Distribution of Tools Produced by the Project and Disseminated among

National and Regional Partners ............................................................................... 14

Table 4. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 1 during the Project Life ... 25

Table 5. Evolution of the Number of Events Organized by the Project and Its Partners ...... 31

Table 6. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 2 during the Life of the

Project ...................................................................................................................... 43

Table 7. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 3 during the Life of the

Project ...................................................................................................................... 51

Figures

Figure 1. Geographic Situation of C-4 Countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad) ...... 1

Figure 2. Links between the Different Levels of Implementation of the USAID C4CP

Project ........................................................................................................................ 4

Figure 3. Results Framework of the USAID C4CP Project ..................................................... 9

Figure 4. Modules Development Summarized in 10 Steps .................................................... 12

Figure 5. Diagrams of Project Tools Distribution among C-4 Countries and Regional

Partners .................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 6. Increase in the Number of Humidifiers ................................................................... 22

Figure 7. Constellation of USAID C4CP Project Partners ..................................................... 29

Figure 8. Dynamics of Building Network of Partners ............................................................ 30

Figure 9. Diagram showing the Evolution of the Number of Events Organized by the

Project and Its Partners during the Life of the Project ............................................ 32

Figure 10. Number of Farmers from UNPC-B Trained on Composting Using “Compost

Plus” of GREEN CROSS ........................................................................................ 40

Figure 11. Areas of Collaboration with Partners ...................................................................... 42

Figure 12. Women’s Participation in Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) of Cotton and

Rotational Crops ...................................................................................................... 47

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 i

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acronyms/ Abbreviations

English French

ACA African Cotton Association Association Cotonnière Africaine

AFD French Development Agency Agence Française de Développement

AfDB African Development Bank Banque Africaine de Développement

AEZ Agro-Ecological Zone Zone Agro-Ecologique

AGRHYMET Regional Center for Agriculture,

Hydrology and Meteorology*

Centre Régional d'Agriculture,

d’Hydrologie et de Météorologie

AIC Cotton Interprofessional Association* Association Interprofessionnelle du

Coton

AICB Burkina Faso Cotton

Interprofessional Association *

Association Interprofessionnelle du

Coton du Burkina Faso

AIFO Oleaginous Sector Industrialists’

Association *

Association des industriels de la

filière oléagineuse

ANADER National Agency for Rural

Development*

Agence nationale pour le

développement rural

ANaF Benin National Association of

Women Farmers *

Association Nationale des Femmes

agricultrices du Benin

AProCA Association of African Cotton

Producers*

Association des Producteurs de

Coton Africains

ATT Agriculture Technology Transfer Transfert de Technologie Agricole

AUC African Union Commission Commission de l’Union Africaine

C-4 Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali Bénin, Burkina Faso, Mali et Tchad

C4CP Cotton Partnership Program Partenariat pour le Coton dans les

pays du C-4

CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture

Development Programme

Programme Détaillé pour le

Développement de l'Agriculture

Africaine

CBN Capacity Building Needs Besoins en Renforcement des

Capacités

CCRFA Regional Consultative Committee for

Agricultural Sectors

CEMAC Central Africa Economic and

Monetary Community

CILSS Permanent Inter-State Committee for

Drought Control in the Sahel

Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de

Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le

Sahel

CMDT Malian Company for Textile

Development*

Compagnie Malienne pour le

Développement des Textiles

CoP Community of Practice Communauté des Pratiques

CoP Chief of Party Chef de Projet

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 ii


English French

COPSA-C Cooperative of Agricultural Service

Providers – COOBSA*

Coopérative de Prestation de Services

Agricoles- COOBSA

CORAF/

WECARD

West and Central African Council for

Agricultural Research and

Development

Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour

la Recherche et le Développement

Agricoles

COTIMES

Afrique

Cotton and World Industries Africa Coton et Industries du Monde

CotonTchad SA Chad Cotton Company* Société Cotonnière du Tchad

CP Cultural Practice Cultural Practice

CRA-CF Center of Agricultural Research-

Cotton and Fibres *

Centre de Recherches Agricoles

Coton et Fibres

CRS Catholic Relief Services Service de secours catholique

CRS RECOLTE Catholic Relief Services Revenue

through Cotton Livelihoods, Trade

and Equity project

Service de secours catholique Projet

« Revenus grâce aux moyens de

subsistance du coton, au commerce et

à l'équité »*

DICAF Directorate of Agricultural

Counseling and Operational

Training*

Direction du Conseil Agricole et de la

Formation Opérationnelle

DQA Data Quality Assessment Evaluation Qualité des Données

DRAAH Regional Directorates of Agriculture

and Hydraulic Infrastructure*

Direction Régionale de l’Agriculture

et des Aménagements Hydrauliques

DREA Department of Rural Economy and

Agriculture

ECCAS Economic Community of Central

African States

Communauté économique des États

d’Afrique centrale

ECOWAS Economic Community of West

African States

Communauté Economique des Etats

de l’Afrique de l'Ouest

EU European Union

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions Questions fréquemment posées

FerWAM Fertilizer Recommendation for West

Africa Map

FNZ NIAN ZWE Federation* Fédération NIAN ZWE

FSALS Food, Agriculture and Land Security

Section

FTF Feed the Future

FTFMS Feed the Future Monitoring System Système de Suivi de FtF

FUPRO Federation of Union of Producers

Benin*

Fédération des Unions de

Producteurs du Bénin

FY Fiscal Year Année Fiscale

GAP Good Agricultural Practice

GBC Gender-Based Constraints Contraintes Basées sur le Genre

GCB Green Cross – Burkina Faso

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 iii


English French

GIMAC Gender is My Agenda Campaign La campagne Genre est mon agenda*

ICRA International Center for Agricultural

Research for Development

Centre international pour la recherche

agricole orientée vers le

développement

ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute

for the Semi-Arid Tropics

Institut International de Recherches

sur les Cultures des Zones Tropicales

Semi-Arides

ICT Information and Communications

Technology

Technologie d'Information et de

Communication

ICT4D Information and Communication

Technology for Development

Technologies de l'Information et de la

Communication au service du

Développement

IER Institute of Rural Economy* Institut d’Economie Rurale

IFDC International Fertilizer Development

Center

Centre International le

Développement des Engrais

IITA International Institute for Tropical

Agriculture

Institut international d'agriculture

tropicale

ILRI International Livestock Research

Institute

INERA National Environment and

Agricultural Research Institute*

Institut de l’Environnement et de

Recherches Agricoles

INGIA-VC Promoting Gender Equitable

Opportunities in Agricultural Value

Chain

Intégration de la problématique du

genre dans les chaines de valeur

agricoles

INRAB National Agricultural Research

Institute

Institut National des Recherches

Agricoles du Bénin

INSAH Sahel Institute* Institut du Sahel

IP Implementing Partner* Partenaire de Mise en œuvre

IPM Integrated Pest Management Gestion Intégrée des Ravageurs

IR Intermediate Result Résultat Intermédiaire

ISFM Integrated Soil Fertility Management Gestion Intégrée de la Fertilité des

Sols

ITRAD Chadian Institute of Agronomic

Research for Development*

Institut Tchadien de Recherche

Agronomique pour le Développement

LoA Letter of Agreement Lettre d’Accord de Collaboration

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation Suivi et Evaluation

MoBioM Malian Biological Movement* Mouvement Biologique Malien

MoU Memorandum of Understanding Protocole d’Entente

NA Need Assessment

NAC National Advisory Committee Comité Consultatif National

NARS National Agricultural Research

System

Services Nationaux de Recherche

Agricole

NCC National Consultative Committee

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 iv


English French

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s

Development

Nouveau Partenariat pour le

Développement de l’Afrique

NGO Non-Governmental Organization Organisation Non Gouvernementale

NUTMON Nutrient Monitoring Suivi des Nutriments

OBEPAB Beninese Organization for the

Promotion of Organic Agriculture*

Organisation Béninoise pour la

Promotion de l'Agriculture

Biologique

OHVN Office of the “Haute Vallée of

Niger”*

Office de la Haute Vallée du Niger

OM Organic Manure Fumure organique

ONDR National Office of Rural

Development*

Office National de Développement

Rural

ONDR National Office of Rural

Development*

Office Nationale de Développement

Rural

OPICT Professional Organization of Cotton

and Textile Industries in WAEMU

Countries*

Organisation Professionnelle des

industries Cotonnières et Textiles des

pays de l’UEMOA

OSC Civil Society Organization* Organisation de la Société Civile

PAFST Chad Soil Fertility Improvement

Project*

Projet d’Amélioration de la Fertilité

des Sols du Tchad

PCRM Pan-African Cotton Road Map

PH Post-Harvest Post-Récolte

PHT Post-Harvest Technologies

PIRS Performance Indicator Reference

Sheets

PMP Performance Monitoring Plan Plan de Suivi des Performances

PRASAC Regional Research Center Applied to

the Development of Savana Areas of

Central Africa*

Pôle Régional de recherche

Appliquée au développement des

Savanes d'Afrique Centrale

PROPAC Regional Platform of Farmer

Organizations of Central Africa*

Plateforme régionale des

organisations paysannes d'Afrique

centrale

PR-PICA Regional Integrated Cotton

Production in Africa Program

Programme Régional de Production

Intégrée du Coton en Afrique

TFP Technical and Financial Partners Partenaires Techniques et Financiers

RAC Regional Advisory Committee Comité Consultatif Régional RAIS Regional Agriculture Information

System of UEMOA Système d’Information Agricole

Régional de l’UEMOA

RAO Regional Agreement Officer Responsable du Programme régional

RC Regional Coordination Coordination Régionale

REC Regional Economic Community* Communauté Economique Régionale

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 v


English French

RECOLTE Revenue through Cotton Livelihoods,

Trade and Equity

Revenus grâce aux moyens de

subsistance du coton, au commerce et

à l'équité*

RISING Research in Sustainable

Intensification for the Next

Generation

RITD Regional Integration and Trade

Division

ROPPA Network of Farmers’ Organizations

and Agricultural Producers of West

Africa*

Réseau des Organisations Paysannes

et des Producteurs Agricoles de

l'Afrique de l'Ouest

SHS Soil Health Survey Etude Santé des Sols

SMS Short Message Service

SOCOMA Cotton Company of Gourma* Société Cotonnière du Gourma

SOFITEX Textile and Fibers Company* Société des Fibres et Textiles

ST Senior Trainer

TCB Training and Capacity Building Formation et Renforcement des

Capacités

TDF Training and Demonstration Farm Champ Pédagogique de

Démonstration

TFP Technical and Financial Partner* Partenaire Techniques et Financiers

TOGUNA Input Distributor* Distributeur d'intrants

ToR Terms of Reference

ToT Training-of-Trainers Formation des Formateurs

UCC WAEMU’s Cotton Competitiveness

Project

Projet de compétitivité du coton de

l'UEMOA

WAEMU/

UEMOA

West African Economic & Monetary

Union

Union Economique et Monétaire

Ouest Africaine (UEMOA)

UGCPA/BM Union of Groups for the Marketing of

Agricultural Products of Boucle du

Mouhoun*

Union des Groupements pour la

Commercialisation des Produits

Agricoles de la Boucle du Mouhoun

UNDP United Nations Development

Program

Programme des Nations Unies pour

le Développement

UNECA United Nations Economic

Commission for Africa

Commission Economique des

Nations Unies pour l’Afrique

UNPC-B Burkina National Union of Cotton

Producers*

Union Nationale des Producteurs de

Coton du Burkina

USAID United Stated Agency for

International Development

Agence Américaine pour le

Développement International

USAID/WA United Stated Agency for

International Development/West

Africa

Bureau de l'Afrique de l'Ouest de

l'Agence des Etats-Unis pour le

Développement international

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 vi


English French

USDA United States Department of

Agriculture

Département de l'Agriculture des

Etats-Unis

WACIP West African Cotton Improvement

Program

Programme de Renforcement des

Capacités du Secteur Coton en

Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre

WAEMU West African Economic & Monetary

Union

Union Economique et Monétaire

Ouest Africaine (UEMOA)

WAFP West Africa Fertilizer Program Programme Ouest Africain des

Engrais

WASCAL West African Science Service Center

on Climate Change and Adapted

Land Use

Centre de services scientifiques de

l’Afrique de l'Ouest sur les

changements climatiques et

l'utilisation adaptée des terres*

WCA West and Central Africa Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre

WeCAPSoil West and Central Africa Partnership

for Soil Fertility Management

WTO World Trade Organization

N.B.: Translations with * are not official

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 vii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The USAID C-4 Cotton Partnership Project (USAID C4CP) is a four-year project funded by the

United States Government to improve food security by increasing the incomes of producers and

processors (men and women) of cotton and its rotational crops in targeted areas of the C-4 countries

(Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali). This project is implemented under the Cooperation

Agreement No. AID-624-A-14-000002 between IFDC and the United States Agency for

International Development/West Africa Mission (USAID/WA), dated April 2, 2014. The initial

project budget amount of $14.8 million was reduced by 16% to $12.4 million in July 2017. This

change made it necessary for the project team to develop a communication plan with its regional

partners and other stakeholders, to prioritize activities, and to achieve planned objectives in order

to capitalize on the knowledge generated beyond the life of the project. This was the second project

funded by USAID following the West and Central Africa Cotton Improvement Program (USAID

WACIP), also implemented by IFDC from November 2006 to December 2013.

The strategic objective of to the USAID C4CP project is to increase the incomes of cotton

producers and processors (men and women) in targeted areas of the C-4 countries, with the aim of

sustainably increasing food security in these areas. Three intermediate results (IRs) contribute to

the achievement of this strategic objective:

• IR 1: Supporting increased agricultural productivity in targeted areas of C-4 provided.

• IR 2: Strengthening partnerships supporting the development of the cotton sector.

• IR 3: An enabling environment is created for the economic and social empowerment of

women producers and processors.

The following is an overview of activities carried out and results achieved for each IR.

IR 1: Supporting increased agricultural productivity in targeted areas of C-4 provided

During the life of the project, the major activities under this component focused on: (1) the

selection of project implementation partners (IPs); (2) the development of tools (data

sheets/technologies, innovative gender-sensitive training modules, advocacy materials, training

posters, etc.); (3) the implementation of a pilot activity using Ignitia’s technology to provide

rainfall forecasts via Short Message Service (SMS) to cotton producers; (4) the dissemination of

agricultural technology packages and other tools developed by the project; (5) the completion of

the three-year Soil Health Study in seven West and Central African (WCA) countries, including

the C-4 countries; and (8) capitalization studies on the achievements of the USAID WACIP project

in the areas of ginning and standardization of WCA cotton.

The project selected 37 IPs and worked with about 20, to which 23 grant agreements and contracts

were awarded. A total of 79 senior trainers were directly trained on Good Agricultural Practices

(GAPs) and Post-Harvest Technologies (PHT). Seven innovative gender-sensitive training

modules on GAPs and PHT were also developed. These were grouped into three manuals, and

1,100 copies were printed. Also, 7,900 copies of technical data sheets on GAPs and PHT and 1,000

copies of policy briefs and advocacy manuals were printed for distribution. A total of 22 training

and demonstration farms (TDFs), mostly led by women, were set up to test the different

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 viii

agricultural technology packages developed and the recommended approaches. The project has

strengthened the capacity of 2,036 people, including 96 women from public and private

organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society. Thus, the partners who

have been trained have, in turn, provided training to 13,724 producers, including 1,236 women, on

the agricultural technologies developed. Regarding Ignitia’s ISKA technology, 7,070 producers,

including 56 women, were trained to use this decision support tool. Through the Soil Health Study,

researchers from the National Agricultural Research Services (NARS) have developed two new

fertilizer formulas to control soil acidification under cotton and rotational crops. More than 10

researchers and 20 field workers have enhanced their capacities in farm inventory and monitoring

and in the use of the “Nutrient Monitoring” (NUTMON) decision support tool; they have, in turn,

strengthened the capacities of about 300 other actors in nutrient management.

IR 2: Strengthening partnerships that support the development of the cotton sector

Partnering was the backbone of the USAID C4CP project implementation strategy. Therefore, this

approach was cross-cutting to all project components. Under this pillar, the following major

activities were carried out: (1) the establishment of several mechanisms to develop and strengthen

partnerships, including 12 National Advisory Committee (NAC) sessions, a Regional Advisory

Committee (RAC) session, 11 Letters of Agreement (LoA), a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) and three revised MoUs with leading regional partners, and 20 grants awarded to

implementing partners; (2) the establishment of a network of partnerships with more than 40

structures, including farmer associations and their apex organizations, and regional economic

communities – Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African

Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA/WAEMU); (3) several forums, workshops and meetings

with stakeholders of the WCA cotton sector; and (4) close collaboration with UEMOA’s Cotton

Competitiveness Project (UCC) funded by USAID/WA.

The results achieved under this main pillar include: (1) partnership mapping; (2) building a

partnership network to facilitate regional coordination among cotton stakeholders; (3) holding

more than 10 fora and regional workshops on various themes; (4) participation of the project team

in more than 150 events; and (5) organization of the end-of-project regional workshop for sharing

results achieved and lessons learned (Learning Event) in Ouagadougou on March 20-21, 2018.

IR 3: Promoting an enabling environment for the social and economic empowerment of women producers and processors

This pillar was also cross-cutting since any activity carried out by the project had to take into

account gender. During the life of the project, the following gender-specific activities were carried

out: (1) a study on country-specific gender strategy in the C-4 countries; (2) gender and value chain

analysis for organic cotton and conventional cotton with two rotational crops in each of the C-4

countries (carried out using the “Promoting Gender Equitable Opportunities in Agricultural Value

Chain” approach [INGIA-VC]); (3) development of a directory (a country-specific database) on

women entrepreneurs in the C-4 countries; (4) organization of regional forums on gender issues;

and (5) establishment of a Community of Practice (CoP) on gender, cotton and security with 150

members and the participation of delegates from the project (18) and CoP partner structures (11)

in pre-summit meetings organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) and “Gender is My

Agenda” Campaign (GIMAC) on gender mainstreaming in agricultural activities. The project also

strengthened its collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 ix

(UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the West and Central African Council for

Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD).

A key result is the participation of 250 delegates in two forums organized in Bamako and Abidjan

on the themes “Women’s Access to Productive Resources (land, credit, equipment)” and “Women’s

Access to Appropriate Agricultural Technologies,” respectively. Other key results include the

production of advocacy materials and policy briefs about women and two documentary films on

Women, Cotton and Food Security: (i) “Access to Agricultural Extension Services” and (ii)

“Access to Productive Resources.”

In terms of prospects for development in the WCA cotton sector, the relevant recommendations

made by the external evaluators of the project and those formulated during the Learning Event

helped to identify possible solutions leading to the development of a roadmap to be implemented

under the regional coordination of UEMOA.

C4CP Final Report | April 2014–March 2018 1

I. INTRODUCTION

Sub-Saharan Africa is the fifth largest cotton

exporter in the world. Cotton is grown by 3.4 million

smallholder farmers and more than 20 million

people on the continent depend, directly or

indirectly, on cotton for their livelihoods. Therefore,

cotton is widely considered a strategic crop for

poverty reduction, food security and economic

development.

In four of the largest cotton-producing countries in

WCA, known as the C-4 countries (Benin, Burkina

Faso, Mali and Chad), cotton provides livelihoods to

over 10 million households (Figure 1). A study

carried out by IFDC in 2012 (“Linking Cotton and

Food Security in the C-4 Countries”) showed that in

these countries, where the agricultural sector

accounts for 30% to 40% of the economies, the share of cotton varies considerably, from a

substantial proportion in Burkina Faso (20%) and Benin (13%) to a minor proportion in Mali (4%)

and Chad (1%). Cotton companies employ about 4,000 permanent workers and 8,000 seasonal

workers, while official statistics show that about 900,000 farms produce cotton annually, providing

employment for 7-8 million adults. Moreover, in WCA, cotton is not grown in isolation, but rather

as part of integrated and dynamic agricultural production systems that include rotational crops,

such as cereals (maize and sorghum) and legumes (cowpea, groundnut and soya). Thus, as a cash

crop, cotton plays a key role in the fight against poverty and makes a major contribution to

household food security. However, smallholder farmers have not always been able to fully exploit

this potential to improve their livelihoods, as they face many challenges, such as low productivity,

fluctuating world market prices, and inadequate infrastructure.

In the 2000s, the African cotton sector went through an unprecedented crisis following the collapse

of cotton prices in 2001/02, mainly due to market distortions resulting from subsidies granted to

cotton producers in industrialized countries. To tackle this situation, the C-4 Trade Ministers

launched the Sectoral Initiative for Cotton in 2003 within the framework of the agricultural

negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round. The aim was to obtain

compensation for income losses due to low world prices resulting from U.S. and European cotton

subsidies. The political pressure exerted by the countries carrying this initiative has drawn attention

to the negative impact of these subsidies on producers in developing countries. In addition,

recognition of the crucial importance of cotton in agricultural development and food security in

the C-4 countries prompted USAID to launch its first project to support WCA cotton producers in

December 2006. Implemented by IFDC, USAID WACIP provided U.S. $18,987,800 in support to

the C-4 countries, with limited activities in Senegal, from December 2006 to November 2009.

USAID WACIP was extended for four years until the end of November 2013, for a total cost of

U.S. $31,360,092.

USAID WACIP demonstrated that with GAPs, including the use of improved cotton seeds and

inputs, farmers could increase cotton yields by 39% as well as the yields of crops grown in rotation

Figure 1. Geographic Situation of C-4 Countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad)


with cotton by up to 25% for maize and 5% for cowpea. Similarly, investments in increasing the

efficiency of ginning operations through the introduction of better data management and decision-

making systems and humidifier equipment have had dramatic impacts in terms of improving fiber

quality, reducing costs and mitigating risks to human health and the environment. This has

prompted several cotton companies to adopt these measures spontaneously without the assistance

of USAID WACIP.

Capitalizing on the achievements made over these years of investments in cotton research and

extension services, the evaluation report of WACIP in 2010 recommended strengthening linkages

between the projects and Feed the Future programs/projects. Based on this and additional

recommendations, the United States Government agreed to provide U.S. $12,430,722 in funding

for the USAID West Africa Cotton Partnership, known as the USAID C4CP Project. Also

implemented by IFDC, this four-year project (April 2014 – March 2018) aimed at improving food

security by increasing the incomes of cotton producers and processors in the targeted areas of the

C-4 countries. It has developed and strengthened numerous partnerships with several West and

Central African cotton sector stakeholders at the continental, regional and national levels with a

view to mobilizing resources, enhancing synergies and increasing the dissemination of

technologies and other tools developed.

This final report is a summary of the activities carried out and major quantitative and qualitative

results achieved throughout the implementation of the project. It comes after the final evaluation

of the project and the regional workshop “Learning Event” held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,

March 20-21, 2018, to share the achievements and lessons learned from WACIP and C4CP, two

projects funded by the United States Government in the last 10 years in the WCA cotton sector.

This report provides an overview of the USAID C4CP project implementation methodology, which

was based on developing and strengthening partnerships among stakeholders in the cotton sector.

It presents the regional vision and objectives of the project, describes its activities, highlights major

results and achievements and draws lessons learned.

II. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

The project implementation strategy was designed to support the efforts and priorities of regional

partners to maximize impact on the overall project goal. This strategy focused on: (1) gender

mainstreaming across the cotton value chain; (2) knowledge development and sharing;

(3) leveraging resources through strategic partnerships; (4) improving communication through

education, extension and awareness-raising; (5) facilitating advocacy and policy dialogue;

(6) expanding large-scale interventions; and (7) ensuring sustainability of achievements. The

components of this strategy are described below:

a. Gender mainstreaming or “Genderization” along the cotton value chain: A key component of

the USAID C4CP implementation strategy was gender mainstreaming in all activities.

Moreover, a number of project activities were specifically aimed at improving the social and

economic conditions of women, including their access to productive resources (land, credit,

equipment) and agricultural extension services. These activities were developed under project

pillar 3.


b. Knowledge development and sharing: The project activities allowed for the development and

sharing of information useful to regional and national organizations related to agricultural

producers in the C-4 countries and beyond.

c. Leveraging resources through strategic partnerships: The project partnering strategy consisted

of creating partnerships between the cotton sector stakeholders, which through collaborative

activities, developed synergies, pooled resources and ensured co-financing. Partnership is the

central mechanism for scaling up project activities with a greater emphasis on regionalization.

Strategic partnerships that are vital for the development of the sector at the regional level were

anchored in the collaboration of the project with WAEMU, ECOWAS, Permanent Inter-State

Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) through its specialized institutions

(INSAH and AGRHYMET), CORAF/WECARD, and the African Union.

d. Improving communication through education, extension and awareness-raising: For the

USAID C4CP project, promoting the use of technologies and practices to sustainably increase

agricultural productivity was a strategic goal that required the deployment of an effective

communication system at both national and regional levels.

e. Facilitating advocacy and policy dialogue: Another important element of the project

implementation strategy was to provide leadership to facilitate advocacy and policy dialogue.

The project provided informed leadership on technical issues and key themes for the cotton

sector at the regional level.

f. Expansion of interventions across borders: To capitalize on the United States Government

investments in the WCA cotton sector during the last decade, the project relied on partner

institutions within C-4 countries and beyond.

g. Ensuring sustainability of achievements: To ensure sustainability of achievements, the project

developed a strategy to facilitate outreach and dissemination of the tools developed. This

enabled the project not only to share project achievements with partners but also to work with

them to develop their own plans for disseminating these tools beyond the life of the project.

Thus, partnering was at the heart of the USAID C4CP implementation strategy, which involved a

wide range of actors and stakeholders with a particular focus on regional institutions, such as

regional economic communities (WAEMU and ECOWAS); intergovernmental organizations such

as CILSS; regional agricultural research structures (CORAF/WECARD, PR-PICA, PRASAC,

etc.); apex farmer associations such as ROPPA and PROPAC at the regional level and ACA,

AProCA, etc., at the continental level; NGOs such as CRS, GREEN CROSS Burkina; private

companies such as SAVANA, etc. In addition to these organizations, National Advisory

Committees (NACs), one in each of the C-4 countries, and a Regional Advisory Committee (RAC)

have been set up. These committees include representatives of the various links in the value chain

of cotton and its rotational crops. Through the guidance and counseling services provided by these

various bodies, it was possible to target and involve a wide range of farmer organizations, research

institutes, private companies and public and private extension/advisory service providers.

Thus, the project’s strategy aimed at facilitating the collection and sharing of information common

to the C-4 countries among national partners and then transmitting this information to relevant

stakeholders at the regional level. Figure 2 shows the links between the different levels of project

implementation.


Figure 2. Links between the Different Levels of Implementation of the USAID C4CP Project

III. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

3.1. Implementation Challenges

The USAID C4CP project has experienced a number of challenges. These include:

• One challenge was the withdrawal of the prospective Project Leader (Chief of Party [COP]),

Dr. Jean-Francois Guay, followed by the recruitment of an Interim COP, Dr. Vas Aggarwal,

and a Consultant Start-Up Manager, Dr. Ibrahim N. Sourabie, to start the project at the end of

April 2014.

• The project has undergone several changes in top management (see the staffing section below),

exacerbated by changes in leadership at IFDC at the regional level and at the level of

USAID/WA concerning the Regional Agreement Officers (RAOs) assigned to the project.

These changes have disrupted the smooth-running of the project.

• Insecurity: Insecurity in the sub-region has kept the C4CP team from USAID constantly on the

alert. Events include the popular uprising of October 30-31, 2014, and the coup of September

16, 2015, in Burkina Faso. There were also concerns about jihadist attacks in Chad, Mali and

Burkina Faso.

• In June 2016, a USAID/WA visiting mission recommended that IFDC and the project should

enhance their presence at the regional level to reach beyond the local and farm levels, in

compliance with the regional vision of the project. According to the recommendation, “You

must remove your boots and wear ties.”

• The decrease of over U.S. $2 million from the initial budget in July 2017 led the project into

financial difficulties that forced the termination of agreements, grants and contracts in progress

and the cancellation of planned activities that had not yet started.

These challenges have been overcome thanks to a competent, supportive project team committed

to the successful implementation of the project.

Continental

Strategies/Synergies

AU/CAADP

Regional Strategies/

Synergies

WAEMU/Donors

Benin Cotton Sector

Burkina Faso

Cotton Sector

Mali Cotton Sector

Chad Cotton Sector


3.2. Staff Recruitment

Dr. Vas Aggarwal was the first Interim Project Manager from April 30 to July 20, 2014. He was

replaced by Mr. Mustapha Niang, recruited by IFDC effective July 14, 2014. Following the

resignation of Niang and his replacement Mr. Bruno Ouedraogo (Acting COP who also resigned),

Dr. Sarah Gavian, Chief Economist at IFDC served in the position from March to July 2015. IFDC

then launched the process of recruiting a new COP, which led to the hiring of Dr. Michael J. Simsik,

who assumed office on July 1, 2015. He resigned on July 23, 2017, and on July 24, Dr. Ibrahim N.

Sourabie was appointed Interim COP and will lead the project to its end on March 31, 2018.

For the implementation of the project, IFDC through its North and West Africa regional office in

Accra, Ghana, hosted the project's Regional Coordination (RC) team on the premises of its Burkina

Faso Representation in Ouagadougou. IFDC partnered with two sub-contractor organizations,

Cultural Practice (CP), an American company specializing in gender and the International Centre

for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA). The RC team consisted of an Integrated

Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) Specialist and Project Coordinator, Dr. Sansan Youl, a Gender

Specialist, Dr. Christiana George, a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist, Mr. Ousmane

Ouedraogo, a Specialist in Training and Capacity Building (TCB), Mr. Christophe Kinha, an

administrative and financial manager, serving as grants manager, Mr. Epifane Tougma, and a

bilingual assistant, Madam Lise Ella Samboue. In each of the C-4 countries, a National

Coordinator was based in the IFDC country office, except in Chad where the coordinator had an

office at the National Agency for Rural Development (ANADER), formerly the National Office

for Rural Development (ONDR). The National Coordinators MM. Amadou Ouadidje for Mali,

Honore Moyenga for Burkina Faso, Moïse O. Adégnika for Benin and Prosper Gassinta for Chad

were responsible for all activities implemented in their country, including partner management.

To better meet the project's regional objectives, some adjustments were made at the staff level

during the 2016 budget year.

a. The collaboration of the project with ECOWAS has been strengthened by the secondment of

an IFDC staff member (Mr. Amadou Sagnon) to ECOWAS to support efforts of both USAID

C4CP and USAID WAFP at the regional level.

b. Recruitment of Mr. Abey Meherka Woldesenbet as Consultant and Liaison Officer at the

Women, Gender and Development Directorate of the African Union Commission (AUC) to

facilitate partnership on gender with the AU.

c. Recruitment of a Communication Specialist (Mr. Daniel Mensah), on a full-time basis, for

greater visibility of the activities and results of the project, based at IFDC’s Directorate in

Accra, and whose costs are shared by several other projects.

d. Employment of a staff member of IFDC Senegal (Dr. Bocar Diagana) (one to two months per

year) to support the project in building and strengthening partnership relations with

CORAF/WECARD.

e. Extension/adaptation of the activities of key project staff, Gender, M&E, ISFM and TCB

specialists, to ensure the implementation of activities are in line with the regional strategy of

the project.


3.3. Granting Subsidies

During its first two years of implementation, the project team focused on developing tools, such

as training manuals on good agricultural practices and post-harvest technologies, building on those

developed by USAID WACIP and improving them with gender mainstreaming. This was done

mainly in collaboration with project partners in the various C-4 countries that benefited from

implementation grants, as well as resource persons from research institutes and universities. The

request of implementing partners was also required for carrying out studies on agricultural value

chains and the gender strategy of the project. The choice of these collaborators and the

contractualization of services for carrying out planned activities were based on an iterative process,

which will be explained in the next chapter. A total of 23 grants and service contracts were

awarded, totaling U.S. $1,283,033 and representing 10.3% of the revised cooperation agreement

budget.

3.4. Monitoring and Evaluation

The Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) developed in the first year was reviewed in the second

year to better reflect the emphasis placed on regionalization. In fact, the indicators of impact on

gross margins and yields were removed since the project was no longer active at the farm level.

Documents, including the PMP, Annual Work Plan, and Mitigation and Environmental Monitoring

Plan, are developed annually and subject to prior USAID approval. In addition, the project is bound

to submit quarterly and annual progress reports. In the same way, the project is responsible for

publications and communications on all achievements and results in the form of success stories,

data sheets or brochures, etc.

To ensure the quality of the data collected, a training program was organized for the M&E officers

of the project partners as well as the national project coordinators. This training covered themes

such as project performance indicators, their definitions, collection methodologies, and also data

quality control issues. This was aimed at better involving partners in the M&E process.

The financial managers of partner structures also participated in this regional workshop in order

to benefit from the training on grant administrative and financial management procedures, to

ensure better implementation of the budget for planned activities.

The project has also:

a. Regularly supplied the Feed the Future Monitoring System (FTFMS) with information on the

following three FTF indicators: (i) Indicator 1.3: Number of people having received short-term

training on productivity and food security, funded by the United States Government; (ii)

Indicator 1.4: Number of people using climate-related information or implementing risk-

mitigating actions to improve resilience to climate change, with support from the United States

Government; and (iii) Indicator 1.6: Number of non-profit private enterprises, farmer

organizations, water user associations, women groups, trade associations and community

organizations that apply improved technologies or management practices at the organizational

level with the assistance of the United States Government.

b. Carried out internal missions on data quality assessment (DQA) and created workbooks for

each of the 20 project indicators, each workbook containing the Performance Indicator

Reference Sheets (PIRS).


As part of the pilot activity with Ignitia, the project was to work with Ignitia’s M&E manager to

design data collection tools and develop an M&E tracking system to measure the effects and

impacts of the weather forecasts provided. Following the suspension of activity with this partner,

the project had to develop a data collection sheet for a mini-survey to measure the degree of

satisfaction of producers with this technology. The survey was conducted during the first quarter

of the 2018 fiscal year, and a success story was developed to document the pilot experience.

3.5. Communication

As a partnership-oriented project, communication has been put forward at all levels of activity

achievement. For this purpose, the project team started by adapting USAID’s Branding & Marking

strategy and action plan to its specific situation and developed its own communication strategy. In

developing this communication strategy, USAID C4CP and its partners had two objectives:

a. Promote, share and disseminate information gathered and lessons learned through the

implementation of the USAID-funded project in the cotton sector of the C-4 and WCA

countries.

b. Develop, through a series of products and other communication materials, an identity that is

distinct and recognizable for USAID C4CP, a project working to improve food security in the

target areas of C-4 countries.

To this end, the project developed the following products:

a. USAID C4CP Project Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

b. A project brochure (factsheet) and country-specific brochures for each of the C-4 countries,

which are updated periodically.

c. A newsletter on the project (News Flash), of which 17 issues have been published.

d. Several success stories on various project results and related events. e. The creation of a digital library containing 18,163 digital photos and two film documentaries

classified according to the level of activity covered, national or regional.

f. Regarding C4CP’s online presence, the following sites have been created and can be visited:

• www.ifdc.org/usaid-c4cp

• https://www.facebook.com/usaid-c4cp

• https://twitter.com/USAIDC4CP

g. Project contract reports and documents published on a regular basis include:

• Quarterly and annual reports, annual work plans and PMP.

IV. PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

The strategic objective assigned to the USAID C4CP project was to increase the incomes of cotton

producers and processors (men and women) in targeted areas of the C-4 countries, with the aim of

sustainably increasing food security in these areas. The project implementation strategy was based

on three pillars:

• Pillar 1: Supporting increased and sustainable agricultural productivity through national and

regional actors and stakeholders.

• Pillar 2: Strengthening partnerships that support the development of the cotton and rotational

crops sectors.


• Pillar 3: Promoting an enabling environment for the socio-economic empowerment of women

producers and processors.

These pillars or sub-objectives (Intermediate Results [IR]) were critical to the achievement of the

project strategic objective. The project IRs are defined as follows:

• IR 1: Support for improving sustainable agricultural productivity is encouraged by regional

and national actors and other stakeholders.

• IR 2: Partnerships that support the development of the cotton sector are strengthened.

• IR 3: An enabling environment for women’s social and economic empowerment is promoted.

These project objectives are aligned with the strategy and goal of development and economic

resilience promoted by USAID/WA among its West African partners. Figure 3 summarizes the

roadmap to achieve the project results. This roadmap is based on a development hypothesis with

three components, all related to each IR, as follows: (i) if farmers in the targeted areas of the C-4

countries have access to the appropriate and affordable technologies and services required to

improve the productivity of cotton and its rotational crops on a sustainable basis; (ii) if

collaboration and partnerships between public and private stakeholders at the local, national and

regional levels are strengthened to advance sector- related priorities; and (iii) if intensive efforts

are made to ensure that women farmers achieve equitable benefits from their cotton and food crops

efforts; then, men and women producers, ginners and other value chain actors will increase their

incomes and advance the goal of increasing food security in the targeted areas of the C-4 countries.


Figure 3. Results Framework of the USAID C4CP Project

This final report summarizes activities and results achieved by the project during its four-year

implementation. These activities and results are presented by intermediate results.


4.1. Intermediate Result 1 (IR 1): Supporting increased agricultural productivity through regional and national actors and stakeholders

Activities implemented under IR 1 aimed at achieving the project objective of improving food

security through the sustainable increase of agricultural productivity by strengthening national and

regional institutions on the following key components: 1) improving yields of cotton and its

rotational crops through the application and use of sustainable technologies and improved post-

harvest practices by an increased number of farmers; (2) meeting farmers’ demands for information

and support in agriculture-related techniques; and (3) improving the quality of agricultural

extension service delivery, thereby increasing farmers’ satisfaction with these services.

4.1.1. Development of Training Modules and Tools for Advocacy and Policy Dialogue

During its first two years, the

project developed and tested

gender-sensitive training

modules in collaboration with

implementing partners (IPs).

IPs were the direct

beneficiaries of this project

pillar while the indirect

beneficiaries or “end beneficiaries” were those who received support through IPs. The rigorous

selection of IPs was based on an iterative process that began with an inventory of 79 structures or

institutions in the four countries according to the types and various areas of activities, such as: (i)

farmer organizations; (ii) organizations of processors of agricultural products; (iii) public and

private extension, support and counseling organizations; and (iv) public and private research and

development institutions.

From this list, the project selected 37 IPs whose activities were most related to its intervention

rationale. These partners have been the subject of an assessment of capacity building needs and a

study on “Gender and Value Chain Analysis.” The purpose of this study was to identify gender-

based constraints that hamper the development of value chains in order to define specific measures

to alleviate these constraints. These measures were at the center of the project intervention

approach in the targeted value chains.

The box below outlines the importance of gender issues and gender mainstreaming in all project

activities.

IPs Benin Burkina Chad Mali Total

Private 5 8 3 8 24

Public 4 4 3 2 13

Total 9 12 6 10 37

Table 1. Selected Implementing Partners


Table 2. List of 18 IP Beneficiaries of Grant Agreements in 2015 Fiscal Year

IPs

C-4 Countries Total C-4 Benin Burkina Faso Chad Mali

Private sector SOCOMA CotonTchad CMDT

(Centre) 3

Farmer Organizations /

Civil Organizations

ANaF

FUPRO

OPEBAB

COPSA-C FNZ

UGCPA/BM

UNPC-B

— MoBioM 8

Public Offices DICAF — ITRAD OHVN 3

NARS INRAB INERA ONDR IER 4

Total 5 6 3 4 18

Of the 37 selected IPs, 18 were awarded grant agreements (Table 2) after a prior assessment of

their ability to manage USAID funds (Pre-Award Assessment). These included four National

Agricultural Research Services (NARS) from the C-4 countries. These NARS were responsible

for carrying out the soil health research activity.

To develop the modules, two forums were held simultaneously in Cotonou during January 12-16,

2015. The forum brought together 34 experts for the GAPs Forum and 19 experts for the Post-

Harvest Technology (PHT) Forum. The first forum focused on five thematic areas: (i) improved

seeds; (ii) ISFM; (iii) Integrated Pest Management (IPM); (iv) organic cotton; and (v) seed cotton

quality. The second forum focused on two thematic areas: (i) storage and conservation of

agricultural products and (ii) processing agricultural food products.

To Better Address Gender Issues in the Framework of the Study

a. Identifying the lack of a gender strategy as a capacity building need is not enough.

Our goal is to ensure that IPs work for and with women. This may entail strengthening

their capacities to better identify these women’s needs, to develop tools/modules for

women, or to deliver specific services to women.

b. Try to understand the “why?” We want to understand the challenges IPs are faced with

in working with women in the cotton and rotational crops sectors and particularly for what

reasons. And when the challenge is explained, always ask the “why” question.

c. Be as detailed as possible in the diagnosis. During the interviews, IPs explained the

challenges/difficulties they have encountered in identifying women’s needs or in

providing appropriate services to them. During the test phase, the IPs stated that they have

difficulty working with women because they are not heads of farms. This detail is very

relevant since it explains their need in capacity building to improve their work with

women.

d. Try to identify specific activities for women.


The two forums, which initially aimed at developing innovative and gender-sensitive training

modules, ultimately developed only a series of technical datasheets (see the list in Annex 1), which

form the basis of the corpus and technical contents of the training modules. This shift was guided

by the facilitators based on the duration (five days) of the forums and the profile of the participants,

the majority of whom were researchers and not trainers. Thus, in total, 56 technical datasheets

were developed: 39 on GAPs and 17 on PHTs.

The development of these training modules was a long process. Various steps in the development

are shown in Figure 4. This included:

• Training 79 senior trainers (Training of Trainers) in two sessions on GAPs and PHTs. These

senior trainers who have been trained in the C-4 countries know each other and meet each other

in the course of their work in the sub-region. They have taken ownership of all the project

modules and are capable of providing training in any other country.

• Setting up 22 Teaching and Demonstration Farms (TDFs) in the four countries. This provided

the project and its partners with an approach to testing, promoting and disseminating the

innovative and gender-sensitive tools and modules developed by the project.

Approach & Development Stages of Training Modules

Figure 4. Modules Development Summarized in 10 Steps

10. Formatting, editing, and printing

9. Finalization of modules 8. Evaluation and use of

modules

7. Testing of modules by 14 IPs on 22 TDFs

6. Harmonization workshop with 39 focalized STs

5. ToT Development of a training manual with 79 senior trainers (STs)

4. Finalization of technical datasheets

3. Experts/Development of technical datasheets

2. Need Assessment with 37 IPs

1. Identification, analysis and selection of 37 IPs in the C-4

Participative, holistic, iterative and inclusive approach based on the assessment of capacity building needs and adult learning styles


A total of seven innovative gender-sensitive training modules on GAPs and PHTs were developed

and tested by the 14 IPs during the 2015/16 crop year and were finalized during the first quarter

of the 2017 fiscal year. They have been organized and published in the form of three manuals:

a. Training manual on good production practices for conventional cotton

and rotational crops. This manual contains four innovative and

gender-sensitive training modules including:

▪ 1 module on improved seeds

▪ 1 module on ISFM

▪ 1 module on IPM, crop diseases, deficiencies and control

methods

▪ 1 module on seed cotton quality

▪ Training posters on GAPs

b. Training manual on good production and marketing practices for

organic cotton.

This manual contains a single training module and training posters on

good agricultural practices in organic agriculture.

c. Training manual on post-harvest technologies contains two gender-

sensitive training modules, including:

• 1 module on product storage and conservation

• 1 module on agri-food processing

• Training posters on post-harvest technologies

Other tools were also developed by the project including:

• Posters to raise awareness among cotton sector actors (men and women) on the social and

economic well-being of cotton-producing households when women are considered and

involved in farm management and organization.

• Policy briefs for advocacy with policymakers.

• Advocacy brochures for advocacy with Technical and Financial Partners for policy dialogue.

• Two documentary films on:

o “Women, Cotton and Food Security: Women’s Access to Training and Extension Services.”

o “Women, Cotton and Food Security: Women’s Access to Land, Inputs, Credit and

Equipment.”

• USB drives containing the files of all project tools developed.


4.1.2. Promote Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Post-Harvest Technologies (PHTs) to Process and Add Value to Rotational Crops

Once the tools were developed and tested, they needed to be widely distributed among regional,

national and cotton stakeholders for dissemination to end users (producers and processors) in the

cotton and rotational crops sector. For this purpose, 1,100 copies of the manuals were printed.

From the 56 fact sheets, which make up the three manuals (39 on GAPs and 17 on PHTs), a series

of posters have been developed to serve as training material for field agents and extension workers.

These training posters were printed (7,900 copies, including 2,500 copies on GAPs and 5,400 on

PHTs) for dissemination and sharing purposes (see Table 3 below for details).

Table 3. Distribution of Tools Produced by the Project and Disseminated among National and Regional Partners

Co

un

try

No

. o

f E

xte

nsio

n

Ag

en

ts a

nd

Sen

ior

Tra

ine

rs

No

. an

d

Typ

e o

f

Part

ne

r

GA

P M

an

ual

PH

T M

an

ual

Org

an

ic C

ott

on

Man

ual

Seed

s P

oste

rs

ISF

M P

oste

rs

IPM

Po

ste

rs

Org

an

ic C

ott

on

Po

ste

rs

Co

tto

n Q

uality

Po

ste

rs

PH

T P

oste

rs

US

B D

riv

es

Po

lic

y B

riefs

Ad

vo

cac

y M

ate

rials

Na

tio

na

l

Re

gio

na

l

Benin 139 18 5 103 115 54 101 113 99 71 85 691 262 35 52

Burkina 150 27 5 139 96 142 154 204 154 105 115 1,051 370 80 145

Mali 155 29 1 91 97 51 7 23 16 18 35 387 400 30 19

Chad 34 18 1 33 30 16 31 21 10 17 30 336 125 10 15

Other Regions

n/a n/a 6 34 62 37 207 139 271 189 285 2,935 1,043 345 269

TOTAL 478 92 18 400 400 300 500 500 550 400 550 5,400 2,200 500 500


Figure 5. Diagrams of Project Tools Distribution among C-4 Countries and Regional Partners

The dissemination of training manuals, posters and advocacy tools was done in accordance with

the dissemination strategy of the project during dissemination workshops. As a first step, a regional

dissemination workshop was organized with regional partners. It was followed by four national

dissemination workshops conducted in all C-4 countries to involve national partners in the

dissemination process. (Photos of these meetings are below).

Benin, 1160

Burkina, 2021

Mali, 537

Chad; 491

Others Regional

4063

Benin, 262

Burkina, 370

Mali, 400

Chad; 125

OthersRegional

1043

Advocacy materials and policy briefs

Distribution of USB sticks containing the files of all tools developed

Distribution of posters

0

500

1000

Advocacy Materials and Policy Brief

Distribution of training manuals


Mr. Delphin Olorounto Koudande (middle), Minister of Agriculture of Benin, delivering the opening speech of the regional workshop; (left) Mr. Christophe Hynak, Head of Financial

Management at USAID/Benin; and (right) Dr. Oumou Camara, Deputy Director of IFDC North and West Africa

Group photo of participants in the regional workshop on the dissemination of tools developed by the project

Cotonou, Benin, March 30-31, 2017


From right to left: Messrs SIMSIK Michael, USAID C4CP Project Leader; Jim Parys, Representative of USAID-Burkin; RAMDE Tinga, Technical Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, Chairman of the opening ceremony of the National Tool Dissemination Workshop; YOUL Sansan, Representative of IFDC-Burkina and Project Coordinator;

TRAORE Ouola, cotton expert at UEMOA; and Pierre Guinko, Permanent Secretary of Monitoring the Liberalized Cotton Sector of Burkina Faso (May 4-5, 2017, Ouagadougou,

Burkina Faso)

To promote the use of GAPs and PHTs, the project has trained more than 2,000 people (extension

agents and senior trainers). Through the cascading process, the extension agents of the project

implementing partners have, in turn, trained 13,724 farmers, including 1,236 women farmers out

of a forecast of 15,706, the deficit being mainly due to the non-implementation of the grant

agreement with CORAF. The Teaching and Demonstration Farms (TDFs), which were set up and

managed mainly by women, served as showcases in which the technologies promoted were applied

and taught to producers. These TDFs also served as forums for discussion on the identification of

gender-based constraints and the implementation of corrective measures.

4.1.3. Carry out a Three-Year Study on Soil Health

In sub-Saharan Africa, farmers are faced with low crop yields due to low soil fertility, among other

causes. The latter is caused by natural factors (land degradation, climatic variations and other

natural phenomena) but also by anthropogenic factors (population growth, human activities, etc.).

ISFM technologies have been developed by IFDC and made available to farmers. As part of its

efforts to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, the USAID C4CP project led a three-year

soil health survey (SHS) in cotton production systems.


This soil health

study aims at

developing site-

specific fertilizer

recommendations

and improved soil

fertility management

practices in cotton

production systems.

The study started in

July 2015 and was

initially carried out

by the Cotton

Programs of C-4

countries’ research

institutes, which

have benefited from

project grants. Over

the following two

years, the SHS was

piloted by the Regional Program for the Integrated Protection of Cotton in Africa (PR-PICA),

which has also benefited from a project grant in the framework of the partnership between this

regional institution and USAID C4CP, sealed by the signature of the Letter of Agreement with

IFDC. The study area was extended to seven countries, including the C-4 countries, Cote d’Ivoire,

Togo and Senegal.

Workshops to evaluate the results of research carried out during the first and second year were

held in Lomé, Togo, August 18-19, 2016, and in Bamako, Mali, June 6-8, 2017. Organized by the

project in collaboration with PR-PICA, these workshops brought together national and regional

stakeholders (UEMOA, CORAF/WECARD, AProCA, CILSS/INSAH), a private company

(TOGUNA Agro-Industries SA, which supplies fertilizers for different trials), and strategic

partners of the project (CRS/RECOLTE, GREEN CROSS), in line with the regional approach of

USAID C4CP.

At the end of the Bamako workshop, the participants issued strong recommendations and a

resolution (see box below).

Group photo of participants in a workshop to evaluate the SHS second year results (June 6-8, 2017, Bamako, Mali)


The soil health study carried out in partnership with the national and regional actors of the WCA

cotton sector resulted in numerous achievements, including the following:

• More than 10 researchers and 20 field workers have strengthened their capacities in farm

inventory and monitoring and in the use of the NUTMON decision support tool to reinforce

the capacities of around 300 farmers on soil nutrient management.

• More than 500 soil and plant tissue samples were collected and analyzed in the laboratory of

the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Niamey,

Niger.

To the Governments of PR-PICA Member Countries

• Facilitate access to organic fertilizers for farmers through a suitable mechanism in the

medium and long term.

To PR-PICA

• Advocate with governments to assist farmers in sustainable soil fertility management by

investing in the recapitalization of land fertility.

• Carry out a study on the use of organic manure as an alternative fertilizer source.

• Carry out a study on the relationship of pH to exchangeable aluminum content.

• Organize guided tours of pre-extension trials on new fertilizer formulas with reallocation

of funds for soil analyses in the third year of the SHS budget.

• Carry out an economic evaluation of fertilizer formulas using the services of an agro-

economist.

• Develop a monitoring and evaluation plan specifying the tasks, implementation periods and

expected results.

To Researchers

• Organize as soon as possible the re-training of agents responsible for NUTMON surveys.

• Update the protocol of field activities for the 2017/2018 campaign.

To Farmers

• Fence (enclose) their farming plots to preserve post-harvest residues.

To the USAID C4CP Project

• Bring together researchers to harmonize data processing and present the results of the third

year of the SHS, two days before the SHS workshop.

• Make available to partners a NUTMON notice in French.

• Set up a program for the dissemination of GAPs, including the combined use of organic

fertilizer and chemical fertilizer, in collaboration with GREEN CROSS/Regional Africa

Program.

Resolution

• Researchers involved in SHS pledged to evaluate, in different countries (without additional

funding), the contribution of cotton to food security through conducting trials on the carry-

over effects of new cotton fertilizer formulas on cotton rotational crops.


• Through field activities, two new fertilizer formulas were validated in research stations in

different agro-ecological zones (AEZ) in the seven countries and in 300 plots delineated in

farmers’ fields. The two new fertilizer formulas, 14-18-18 + 5S + IB + 2.5CaO and 15-15-15

+ 5S + IB +2.5MgO + 2.5CaO, help to correct soil acidity. For the third and last year of the

SHS, these formulas were compared with the popularized formula in each of the seven

countries. The reduction of the project budget led to the termination of the grant agreement

with PR-PICA, which had to look for other funding to complete the work in progress.

At the regional level, a forum was co-organized during April 11-13, 2016, in Lomé by USAID

C4CP, the USAID West Africa Fertilizer Program (WAFP) and the Agricultural Technology

Transfer (ATT) project funded by USAID Bureau for Food Security (BFS) in Ghana. These three

projects share the common objective of improving fertilizer recommendations for crops. The

purpose of this forum was to build on the previous work of USAID WAFP and USAID C4CP in

compiling and mapping fertilizer recommendations for crops in eight West African countries (in

short “FeRWAM”): (i) to provide fertilizer recommendations that will help maintain better crop

yields and returns on fertilizer investments, especially for smallholder farmers, and (ii) to explore

some of the best methods for collecting new information to update fertilizer recommendations in

the West African region. Many collaborative relationships have been established at the regional

level, giving rise to the West and Central Africa Partnership for Soil Fertility (WeCAPSoil). This

network aims at coordinating knowledge development, brokering and strengthening soil fertility

and dissemination among policymakers, researchers, extension services and the private sector

(dealers, importers, mixers) to advance the existing vision, tools and technologies.

The achievements of this project implemented in close collaboration with USAID WAFP deserve

to be shared with other IFDC projects and stakeholders involved in soil fertility management. The

same applies to the book entitled “Improving Crop Nutrients’ Profitability, Sustainability and

Efficiency, through Site-Specific Fertilizer Recommendations in West African Agro-Ecosystems,

Volumes 1 and 2.”

Through IFDC, USAID C4CP has concluded with the Chadian Ministry of Production, Irrigation

and Agricultural Equipment a Memorandum of Understanding to extend the scope of

implementation of the soil health study in Chad within the framework of its new project

"Improving Soil Fertility in Chad” (PAFST).

4.1.4. Decision Support Tools for Farmers

The project has identified and tested several decision support tools and agricultural data

management tools using new information and communication technologies, which can contribute

to achieving IR 1 “Increasing Agricultural Productivity.”

Ignitia’s ISKA Technology: Ignitia is a Swedish high-tech company which provides seasonal,

monthly and daily rainfall forecasts that are accurate to 84% and very localized (a radius of 3

kilometers). Information is provided via SMS on the mobile phones of farmers whose fields have

been first geo-referenced. Two grant agreements signed by USAID C4CP and Ignitia enabled this

company to carry out a pilot activity to bring the technology to an initial target of 5,000 agricultural

producers of the Malian Company for Textile Development (CMDT) and 5,000 other producers

in Burkina Faso, including 4,000 from the Burkina Faso Textile Fiber Society (SOFITEX) and

1,000 from the SOCOMA Cotton Company. The text message or voice message is customized and

delivered in the Bambara language in the case of Mali. A farmer receives information at the same


time every day announcing if there will be low, medium, heavy rain or no rain on his farm over

the next 48 hours. In spite of poor performance due to the cessation of funding on July 20 following

the USAID C4CP budget cut, this service was highly appreciated by farmers since the technology

meets real needs for building resilience in Africa in terms of adaptation to climate change. This

tool enables farmers to make more informed decisions and plan agricultural activities based on

rainfall, which is the most important factor in a dry culture. With access to accurate rainfall

forecasts, farmers can reduce risks and costs, increase yields, and optimize input use. To measure

these results, a mini-survey was conducted by the project during the first quarter of fiscal year

2018. This survey confirmed the beneficiaries’ satisfaction with the use of the technology and its

effectiveness. In the sample of pilot farmers surveyed, 98% said that technology helped them to

better plan their activities or better use inputs; and 90% felt the technology was reliable. See below

the testimony of Mr. Tiendrebeogo Kader, member of the Tegwende farmer group of Koare near

Fada N‘Gourma in Burkina Faso, who during the evaluation of the pilot activity declared:

“This technology has personally helped me a lot in my farm business this

campaign. Unlike other campaigns, I did not have to re-sow thanks to the weather

information I received. The cotton plants germinated readily because I sowed at

the right time. My treatment also was successful, and I had less pest attacks in my

farm. Before, the fertilizers that I applied in my field were most often carried away

by the runoff of rainwater. Last year, I lost about eight bags of fertilizers washed

away by a heavy rain right after application. I’ve been growing cotton for six

years, but I think this campaign may be the one where I will get the best cotton

yield. I had to share weather information with my neighbors. Every morning, my

neighbors would phone me to ask information on rainfall. Some would come to

my home to get this information. Even employees of the agricultural research

station INERA/Koare near my farm used to call me every day at 9 a.m. to learn

about the forecasts of the day. This technology has allowed us to better organize

ourselves for our farming operations. It is profitable and has allowed us to

improve our incomes. We farmers are ready to contribute to continue benefiting

from this technology.”

Giving Ignitia the opportunity to bring its technology to farmers provided farmers with access to

a decision support tool that can improve cotton production and rotational crops while strengthening

farmers’ resilience to climate change.

Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D): The National Union

of Cotton Producers of Burkina (UNPC-B) is a partner of USAID C4CP and has received U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding through the project Revenue through Cotton

Livelihoods, Trade and Equity (RECOLTE) implemented by Catholic Relief Service (CRS). The

overall objective of the project is to develop the organic cotton value chain in order to improve

incomes, economic opportunities and food security for smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso.

CRS conducted an experiment with UNPC-B technical staff using an online system for agro-

economic, commercial and organizational operations. This system, called “ICT for Development

(ICT4D),” has been the subject of a collaboration with USAID C4CP for the scaling up of the

technology, as part of the collaboration between two projects funded by the United States

Government. The system uses iPads for the collection of digital data in the field by agents

connected to an online database that they feed via an Internet connection.


USAID C4CP intended to capitalize on this experience with CRS and share it with other cotton

sector partners in the C-4 countries or beyond. Unfortunately, the work plan established between

the two partners has not been implemented due to various factors including the delay by CRS in

implementing the technical part of the system and financial difficulties which no longer allowed

the project to pursue this activity.

4.1.5. Improving Ginning Operations

The USAID WACIP project proved that by providing some complementary equipment and

management software to the ginning facilities of cotton companies in WCA, ginning losses could

be transformed into gains. USAID C4CP commissioned a study from the private consulting firm

Cotton and Industry of the World Expertise and Services (COTIMES-Africa) to assess United

States Government investments in cotton ginning in WCA countries, to analyze the potential for

cotton accreditation, certification and traceability, and environmental mitigation in this region of

Africa. The relevant conclusions of this evaluation are that United States Government’s

investments in improving cotton ginning productivity were replicated by direct and indirect

beneficiaries since cotton companies that have tested pilot activities within the framework of

WACIP (2006-2013) not only are pursuing them but also contributing to their extension (see

Figure 6). The study also showed that other cotton companies that participated in the Open Days

organized by the project to share the results of these experiments have also adopted them.

Figure 6. Increase in the Number of Humidifiers

The study showed that the number of humidifiers in C-4 countries increased by 650% from two at

the end of the WACIP project in 2013 to thirteen in 2016. The United States Government support

has had a considerable positive impact on cotton companies in the C-4 countries and Senegal and

has been highly appreciated by all ginners in the region.

Through this activity, USAID C4CP has facilitated the sharing of best practices in ginning

operations, to promote these achievements in collaboration with strategic regional partners such

as UEMOA and the African Cotton Association (ACA) with the view of reaching a wider range

Number of Humidifiers Purchased


of practitioners and broadening the experiences of the C-4 and other countries in the region with

the technical assistance of COTIMES Africa.

The study also noted the lack of universal standards and mechanisms for cotton accreditation,

certification and traceability in Africa, in line with international trade standards. When these

standards were applied in other parts of the world, they had a significant impact on the

competitiveness of the large world cotton industry. The cotton sector in the C-4 countries remains

marginalized from the essential solutions to be competitive in the international market. In addition,

almost all the fiber produced in the region, until now, has been sold without any added value. In

this regard, the external mid-term evaluation of the project, carried out by Mr. Mark Wentling,

Senior Agriculture Consultant, from November 28 to December 16, 2016, stressed that “Because

of their inclusive nature, the implementation of these concepts in West and Central Africa will

require the organization of a policy dialogue that will bring together key regional and national

stakeholders to share their experiences in cotton accreditation, certification and traceability.”

These conclusions led the project to propose capacity building activities in fiscal year 2017 to

encourage stakeholders of the WCA cotton sector and address these issues through the adoption

of universal standards to create added value for the sector.

To this end, USAID C4CP concluded a second contract with COTIMES Africa to pursue the

activities aiming at improving cotton quality and to hold a policy dialogue workshop on cotton

accreditation, certification and traceability. The workshop was expected to bring together the

General Directors of C-4 cotton companies (plus Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo), as

well as their Directors in charge of quality, classification and marketing. COTIMES Africa and

the project began the awareness-raising tour of the leaders of the cotton companies in eight

countries (C-4 plus Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo). The tour has been suspended

and the workshop will not be organized due to the financial difficulties encountered by the project.

However, the project encouraged COTIMES Africa, UEMOA, cotton companies, donors and other

stakeholders to combine resources to make this event a reality.

In addition to the activities and results contributing to the achievement of IR 1, the project had

planned to carry out two other activities, namely the promotion of climate-tolerant rotation crop

varieties and the best mechanisms to facilitate access to non-cotton inputs for smallholder farmers

producing rotational crops, particularly women. Both activities were discontinued due to funding

shortfalls resulting from the budget cut. For the same reason, the draft grant agreement developed

with CORAF/WECARD and other agreements planned with regional partners, such as

CILSS/INSAH, CILSS/AGRHYMET, PRASAC and ROPPA, could not be finalized. This had a

significant impact on the results, primarily concerning the indicators related to the dissemination

of the tools developed (see Table 5): (i) Indicator 1.1: Number of modules/technology packages

promoted thanks to the support of the United States Government; (ii) Indicator 1.2: Dissemination

of best practices to sustain increased agricultural productivity; (iii) Indicator 1.3: Number of people

having received a short-term training on productivity and food security funded by the United States

Government; (iv) Indicator 1.4: Number of people using climate information or implementing risk

reduction actions to improve resilience to climate changes with the support of United States

Government; and (v) Indicator 1.5: Number of methods/channels used by the project or its partners

for the dissemination of modules/technologies/packages with the United States Government

assistance, by type.

Notwithstanding these financial difficulties encountered by the project from the fourth quarter of

the fiscal year 2017 that marked a sudden stop to ongoing activities, the results evaluated by the


external project final evaluation mission (November and December 2017) have shown impressive

progress in achieving its objectives (over 80%). The project monitoring system was transparent,

accountable and in line with the reporting requirements of USAID. Among the negative factors

that impacted the project’s achievements, the evaluators stressed, among other things, changes in

project leadership, reorientation of project interventions (reorientation of the project strategy), and

the reduction of the budget, which disrupted the dissemination of training modules and

technologies.


Table 4. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 1 during the Project Life

Indicator

Ty

pe

Un

it

FT

F/

Cu

sto

m

Disaggregated by FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 LOP

Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e

(%)

Comment

Indicator 1.1: Number of

modules / technology

packages promoted with the

support of the United States

Government

Ou

tput

Sta

ge

Cu

sto

m

Stage 1: Developed 9 2 2 0 13 18 -28

The project initially identified

several technologies to be

developed / updated and then

scaled up. These are the 5 GAPs,

2 PHTs, 3 Gender (film,

advocacy material and policies

brief / posters), 1 IGNITIA, 2 soil

health technologies, 1 non-cotton

input, 1 tolerant variety, 1

international cotton grading

standards, 1 traceability of fiber

and 1 ICT4D (CRS Harvest). But

finally, 5 technologies were

partially developed (the 2

technologies of the soil health

study) or were not developed at

all (1 non-cotton input, 1 tolerant

variety and ICT4D) for reasons

mainly related to the budgetary

problem of the program; the

technologies developed were

shared during different events

(workshops, forums, etc.) and / or

disseminated.

Stage 2: Under field

testing 7 9 3 0 2

Stage 3: Finalized 7 0 0

Stage 4: Shared 7 14 8 14 18 -22

Stage 5: Disseminated 7 14 8 14 18 -22

Indicator 1.2: Dissemination

of best practices to support

increased agricultural

productivity by stage

Ou

tput

Sta

ge

Cu

sto

m

Stage 1: Identify

partners 4 0 0

This indicator was also affected

by the project's budgetary

difficulties. The implementation

of the dissemination strategy

had to go through an

institutional setup with the

regional actors (PRASAC,

CORAF, ROPPA, CILSS, etc.)

through technical meetings, the

organization of a round table

and the elaboration of an action

Stage 2: Contact the

lead partner 18 0 0

Stage 3: Meetings held

on core issues with the

lead partners

29 23 0 52 93 -44


Indicator

Ty

pe

Un

it

FT

F/

Cu

sto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e

(%)

Comment

Stage 4: Organize

round table or regional

forum

4 3 0 7 11 -36

plan for the dissemination of the

achievements of the program.

For the most part, this could not

be carried out.

Ou

tco

me

Stage 5: Elaboration of

action plan 4 6 0 10 16 -38


people who have received

short-term training on

productivity and food

security with funding from

the United States

Government

Ou

tput

#

FT

F #

EG

.3.2

-1

Total by type of

individual and by sex 631 1,421 11,672 0 13,724 15,706 -13

The deficit is mainly related to

the non-implementation of the

grant agreement with CORAF

under which a number of

training sessions for national

actors were planned as part of

the dissemination of project

achievements. The draft grant

agreement drawn up for this

purpose by the two parties was

finally not concluded.

Producers 0 825 10,863 0 11,688 11,945 -2

Men 220 10,232 0 10,452

Women 605 631 0 1,236

People in government 270 239 54 0 563 692 -19

Men 225 200 41 0 466

Women 45 39 13 0 97

People in private

sector firms 165 119 738 0 1,022

Men 156 114 708 0 978

Women 9 5 30 0 44

People in civil society 196 238 17 0 451 1,616 -72

Men 154 181 16 0 351

Women 42 57 1 0 100


people using climate

information or

implementing risk reduction

activities to improve

resilience to climate change,

with support from the

United States Government

Ou

tco

me

#

FT

F#

EG

.11

-6 Total 7,070 0 7,070 7,000 1

Men 7,014 0 7,014

Women 56 0 56


Indicator

Ty

pe

Un

it

FT

F/

Cu

sto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e

(%)

Comment


methods / channels used by

the project or its partners for

the dissemination of

modules / technologies /

packages with the United

States Government support

by type

Ou

tput

#

Cu

sto

m

Total 38 7 45 117 -62

This gap is also related to the

cessation of scaling up activities

of the project that had to go

through innovation platforms,

workshops / forums, and other

dissemination channels.

Innovative platform 0 0 0 8 -100

Forum/workshop 25 1 26 55 -53

Multi-media 3 0 3 40 -93

Website 1 1 2 7 -71

Others (Email, courier,

etc.) 9 5 14 7 100

Total 6 3 6 5 20

New 3 0 0

Continuing 3 6 6 5 20


private for-profit

enterprises, producer

organizations, water user

associations, women’s

groups, trade and business

associations and community

organizations that applied

improved technologies or

management practices at the

organizational level with

support from the United

States Government

Ou

tco

me

#

FT

F #

EG

.3.2

-20

Total 11 11 13 10 14 14 0

Private enterprise 3 3 3 1 4 4 0

Women’s groups 1 1 1 1 1 1 0

Trade and business

associations 0 2 1 2 2 0

Producers

organizations 7 7 7 7 7 7 0


4.2. Intermediate Result 2 (IR 2): Partnerships that support the development of the cotton sector are strengthened

Project activities have been implemented in collaboration with about 40 cotton sector partners at

the international (African continental or beyond), regional, national and intranational levels. The

project has thus established and strengthened linkages among stakeholders in the sector at all levels

of the value chain of cotton and rotational crops: input suppliers, farmers and farmer associations,

public and private extension and consulting service providers, research institutes, cotton

companies, ginners, interprofessional associations and exporters of cotton fiber. A list of these key

partners of the project is in Annex 2. The project heavily relied on strategic regional partners, such

as UEMOA, ECOWAS, AU, CORAF/WECARD, ROPPA and CILSS.

From the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015, the project team worked to establish or strengthen

contacts and collaboration with regional organizations and other partners identified during a

partnership profiling exercise or partnership mapping. Activities aiming at strengthening

partnerships to support the development of the cotton sector included mainly: (i) harmonizing

activities in the cotton sector; (ii) developing national and regional agricultural strategies including

cotton; (iii) improving coordination and collaboration among donors; and (iv) strengthening and

sustaining partners’ capacity to implement strategic development. In addition to numerous

technical meetings with IPs already identified for the implementation of IR 1 activities, several

other meetings were held in the region to identify opportunities and strategies to strengthen

partnerships. The project’s partnership framework, therefore, includes both regional and sub-

regional projects, as well as other United States Government-funded projects, such as

CRS/RECOLTE and USAID WAFP (West Africa Fertilizer Program). The network of USAID

C4CP project partners was built gradually, as shown in Figure 7 on the constellation of partnerships

and Figure 8 on building dynamics.

Figure 7 shows: (i) at the national level, implementing partners grouped by type: research,

extension, farmer organizations (FOs), private stakeholders, NGOs, and other projects and

development programs; (ii) at the regional level, regional economic communities (UEMOA,

ECOWAS, Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community [CEMAC]), intergovernmental

organizations (CILSS), regional research institutions (CORAF, PRASAC, PR-PICA), farmer

associations and their apex organizations and agricultural professionals (ROPPA, PROPAC), and

private stakeholders, and (iii) at the international level (AU, ACA, AProCA , SAVANA, ICRISAT,

ICRA, CP, TFPs, CRS/RECOLTE, ADB).


Figure 7. Constellation of USAID C4CP Project Partners

Figure 8 shows the increase in the number of project partners from about 20 in the first and second

years, mainly IPs, NARS, UEMOA, CILSS, ECOWAS, ADB, AU, CP, ICRA, to about 30 at the

end of the third year and about 40 regional and international partners at the end of the project. This

progress was achieved through mechanisms creating legal frameworks for collaboration (11 LoAs,

four MoUs, 20 grant agreements and three service delivery agreements) but also through multiple

meetings.


Number of Partners

Figure 8. Dynamics of Building Network of Partners

Several of these regional organizations involved in the cotton sector are working in specific areas,

such as UEMOA with its cotton agenda; CILLS in the area of harmonizing seed policies,

biosecurity, certification and pesticide control, climate-smart research, food security, natural

resource management and regional cereal marketing; ECOWAS in the area of regional fertilizer

regulations, regional agricultural policies and biosecurity; CORAF/WECARD in the area of

research on agricultural technologies, their dissemination and adoption, biotechnology and

biosecurity, gender mainstreaming in agricultural bodies and entities; and ROPPA in the area of

advocacy. Moreover, through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme

(CAADP), the AU is committed to making agriculture the engine of economic growth by

improving agriculture sustainability, food production, and access to markets, and by the

dissemination of agricultural technologies. The USAID C4CP project has worked strategically

with all these structures to strengthen coordination, build capacities and develop relationships

among these major stakeholders, with emphasis on assisting regional partners in fulfilling their

mandates vis-à-vis the cotton sector.

50 39… COTIMES

39 SOCOMA… CMDT, SOFITEX

35 IGNITIA33 33 PROPAC32 ROPPA31 31 AProCA30 CORAF29 PRASAC28 28 ACA27 27 SAVANA26 CRS/RECOLTE25 GREEN CROSS24 PR-PICA22

20

18

16

14 SNRA, 12 PMO's10

8

6 Cultural Pratice5 ICRA4 UA/BAD, ECOWAS, CILSS, UEMOA

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

AprJuly Oct Jan Apr July Oct Jan Apr July Oct Jan Apr July Oct Jan

24

FY'15 FY'16 FY'17 FY'18FY'14


Thus, during its implementation, USAID C4CP structured and organized the actors of the cotton

and food security sector in West and Central Africa, created and facilitated dialogue and exchanges

among these actors, through various mechanisms including a variety of meeting opportunities,

frameworks for dialogue, collaboration, and exchange, thematic forums, regional and national

workshops, trips and exchange visits and many other activities. Table 5 and Figure 9 show the

number of events organized by the project or its partners to which the project team participated.

Through the development of partnerships, the project has achieved positive results, including

networks of non-formal actors that could be strengthened to ensure the sustainability of the

project’s achievements. These include the senior trainer system on GAPs and PHTs in the C-4

countries, the community of practice for advocacy on women’s issues, regional forums, the

platform of actors for the soil health study, National Consultative Committees (NCCs) and the

Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). It is estimated that just over 1,000 people have been directly

involved in these different networks and activities within the framework of the project. Much has

been achieved in terms of the number of sessions and participants in NCCs and RACs, the number

of experts in the sub-region who are involved in project activities, and the number of farmers and

researchers involved in the soil health study.

Table 5. Evolution of the Number of Events Organized by the Project and Its Partners

Years USAID C4CP IP Total

2014 10 1 11

2015 12 5 17

2016 11 10 21

2017 58 35 93

2018 4 11 15

Total LOP 95 62 157


Figure 9. Diagram showing the Evolution of the Number of Events Organized by the Project and Its Partners during the Life of the Project

4.2.1. Enhanced Coordination, Capacity Building and Strategic Relationships among Stakeholders

The following mechanisms have been implemented to develop and/or strengthen partnerships with

the various players in the cotton sector of WCA.

National Advisory Committees (NACs)

NAC is a consultative framework for stakeholders of the cotton sector and rotational crops at the

national level. Its main role is to guide the implementation of the project through advice on

strategic direction and to encourage the development of linkages within the cotton sector. As a

national body, the Committee is responsible for ensuring that USAID C4CP activities are in line

with the priorities and perspectives of the major players in the country’s cotton industry. As the

name implies, it is an advisory body that accompanies the implementation of the project and

advises the USAID C4CP Regional Coordination on strategies and priorities in the country. Its

members vary in number from one C-4 country to another (between 10 and 15) and are

representatives of: (i) cotton producer organizations (conventional or organic) and other rotational

crops (cereals, legumes); (ii) cotton processing industries (ginners and cotton companies); (iii)

public services, regional economic communities and intergovernmental organizations of the sub-

region (CORAF/WECARD, WAEMU, CILSS, ROPPA, PROPAC, etc.); (iv) specific service

providers for rotational crops (non-cotton input supply and post-harvest techniques); and (v)

financial institutions supporting farmers, the cotton industry and input suppliers.

The first annual NAC meetings served as a springboard for the official launch of the project in the

C-4 countries. They were held in the last quarter of 2014 on the following dates: October 21 in

N’Djamena, Chad; October 23 in Bamako, Mali: October 25 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and

October 28 in Cotonou, Benin. During the life of the project, these NACs held three sessions in

Number of Events


each country, a total of 12 sessions with the participation of 480 people. They have created in each

C-4 country, a network for sharing experiences, information and communication between actors

of the same sector and those of different sectors. From this experience arose the idea of

regionalizing the committee, which gave rise to the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

Regional Advisory Committee (RAC)

RAC networks NAC’s members and thereby contributes to strengthening coordination between

the actors of the cotton and rotational crops sector in the C-4 countries. It serves as a platform

linking national and regional stakeholders in the cotton sector to gather and capitalize on existing

knowledge on the sector. Only one session of RAC was held in Cotonou, on the sidelines of the

13th Day of ACA. This session allowed fruitful exchanges on cross-cutting issues, such as cotton

parasitism, seed cotton ginning, standards and standardization problems, cotton processing, input

supply, stagnant yields, declining prices, soil fertility and the effects of climate change.

Maintaining RAC would have facilitated policy dialogue between the states and actors of the

sector, thus allowing an in-depth approach to the issues of standardization and cotton processing.

As part of the collaboration of the project with UEMOA, it was decided to federate the RAC’s

objectives to one UEMOA’s consultative bodies, namely the Regional Advisory Committee of

Agricultural Sectors (CCRFA).

Regional Forums to Address Common Issues

The project organized several regional forums. The first forum was held in September 2016 in

Lomé, Togo, on the theme “Cotton and Food Security in Countries of West and Central Africa.”

This event gathered 180 participants from 13 countries of West, Central and East Africa, and

France, representing RECs and intergovernmental organizations (UEMOA, ECOWAS, CILSS),

research centers at the regional and national level (CORAF/WECARD, PRASAC, WASCAL,

IITA, NARS, etc.), universities, producers and breeders organizations at the regional and national

level (AProCA, ROPPA, PROPAC, etc.), cotton companies, cotton inter-branch organizations

(AICB, AIC, etc.), women’s organizations, and NGOs.

A second forum was held in Bamako, Mali, in December 2016, on the theme “Women's Access to

Productive Resources in the C-4 Countries.” This forum attracted 133 participants representing

the private and public sectors, sub-regional integration organizations, donor institutions, technical

and financial partners, research and agricultural extension institutes and NGOs.

A third forum was held in June 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on the theme “Access of Women

to Appropriate Technologies.” This forum was organized by the project and the Community of

Practice (CoP) on the issue of gender, cotton and food security, in collaboration with the African

Union, the African Development Bank and CORAF/WECARD. As a spin-off from the

collaboration between AU and IFDC, this forum aims at advancing the AU’s campaign on

“sending the hoe to the museum.” The objective was to exchange on ways to facilitate better access

to and adoption of appropriate agricultural technologies and innovations by women farmers and

processors in the region.

Other forums brought together expert groups, regional actors in the cotton and rotational crops

sector at regional and continental levels, regional farmer organizations (PROPAC, PRASAC),

regional community organizations (UEMOA, ECOWAS) and continental organizations (AU,

ADB), etc., to reflect on various topics. All these forums were effective platforms for sharing

knowledge and information, leading to the formulation of recommendations to be implemented by


the actors and/or organizations concerned. Each forum brought about the need for actors and

organizations to set up exchange networks and even committees for monitoring the

implementation of resolutions. Thus, at the Lomé forum, the virtual platform “Community of

Practice on Gender, Cotton and Food Security” was created. This community, at its meeting held

on the sidelines of the Abidjan forum, took the important decision to merge with the Gender

Community of the African Development Bank “Gender in Practice” whose task is also to advance

the position of women in agriculture and agribusiness. This act aims at scaling up interventions at

the continental level while promoting greater participation of women and ensuring more visibility

on the actions to be taken.

Community of Practice (CoP) on Gender, Cotton and Food Security

To contribute to the improvement of the social and economic well-being of women, the project

initiated the creation of the USAID C4CP CoP on gender, cotton and food security. The CoP is a

platform for both virtual and concrete (face-to-face) exchanges of physical persons willing to be

part of a community of practices to give and receive (learning) practical lessons on issues related

to the participation of women in the sector of cotton and rotational crops: production-related issues,

processing of agricultural products, marketing, access to land, access to inputs, women’s access to

appropriate technologies, credit and equipment, etc. This community was born with a membership

of 150 people (men and women) from more than 15 countries at the Lomé forum. In addition to

facilitating the forums organized by the project on gender issues, CoP representatives participated

in the Addis Ababa pre-summit of the African Union on Gender during January 22-27, 2017.

Within the framework of this pre-summit, the Bamako recommendations were translated into an

action plan, leading to the initiative of creating incubation centers for women and girls around

target crops (organic cotton, groundnut, cowpea and maize). CoP members also participated in the

30th meeting of GIMAC in Addis Ababa on June 27 and 28, 2017, during which they developed

multiple relationships. This platform could have become an effective network for learning,

information sharing and innovation if the project had been able to benefit from all the funding

initially planned for its support.

Research Platform on Soil Health

USAID C4CP funded a major three-year study on soil health. In the first year, the project had

contracted the services of C-4 NARS for carrying out the study. However, from the second year

the coordination of the study was entrusted to PR-PICA with an extension of project coverage

from four to seven countries (C-4 plus Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo). The study is now

conducted through a network of national and regional actors. The platform involves various actors,

including national research institutes, cotton companies, farmer organizations of the seven

countries, regional institutions such as UEMOA, CORAF, CILSS/INSAH, CRS/RECOLTE,

GREEN CROSS, and a private fertilizer blending company, TOGUNA SA. The flagship results

of this platform include the update of two less acidifying fertilizer formulas, which have been

validated through trials carried out in the seven countries during the 2017/18 campaign, namely

(14-18-18 + 5S + IB + 2.5CaO) and (15-15-15 + 5S + IB + 2.5MgO + 2.5CaO), the existence of a

network of about 30 members (researchers, technicians) using appropriate tools for farm

monitoring and management and about 10 recommendations on good soil fertility management

practices. This platform enables the pooling of soil fertility research in West and Central Africa

and the strengthening of linkages among researchers in the sub-region. During the three years of

research through this platform, 500 farmers and 50 researchers and research technicians in seven

WCA countries were involved.


Various Partnerships Developed

Project partners funded by the United States Government

The USAID C4CP project has strengthened synergies with two other projects funded by the United

States Government. The first is the CRS/RECOLTE project, funded by USDA in Burkina Faso.

This project provides technical and financial support to the National Union of Cotton Producers

(UNPC-B), which is another strategic partner of USAID C4CP. RECOLTE is a five-year project

of $14 million seeking to improve the livelihoods of 12,000 vulnerable smallholder farmers

growing organic cotton, at least 30% of whom are women. After several meetings between the

management teams of the USAID C4CP and CRS/RECOLTE projects, CRS and IFDC formalized

their collaboration with the signing of a LoA on January 8, 2016, which sets out the areas of interest

of the two parties and jointly plans collaborative activities.

The second project USAID C4CP has partnered with is the West African Fertilizer Program

(WAFP) funded by USAID. The two projects have mainly partnered in the area of soil analysis,

particularly through the soil health study. The cooperation areas were articulated in the LoA

concluded in February 2016. Both project teams had a proactive stance to align the two USAID

C4CP Soil Health Studies and USAID WAFP fertilizer recommendations. In addition to the joint

planning of meetings for collaborative activities, both projects took part in various events and

training meetings. Thanks to the letter of agreement concluded between USAID C4CP and PR-

PICA, the WAFP team was invited to the annual meeting of PR-PICA, to which the USAID C4CP

project was regularly invited in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Strategic partners at regional and continental levels

The Regional Program for Integrated Protection of Cotton in Africa (PR-PICA) is a scientific,

technical, apolitical and non-profit program that addresses regional issues related to cotton

production and the mitigation of environmental risks. PR-PICA includes members (cotton farmers,

researchers and cotton companies) from six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali,

Senegal and Togo. After several meetings, USAID C4CP and PR-PICA agreed to establish a

formal collaboration through the signing of a LoA on January 27, 2016. Subsequently, as

mentioned above, the project has provided a grant to PR-PICA for the coordination of the soil

health study in the second and third years.

 West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development

(CORAF/WECARD) is a pan-African institution which focuses on coordinating agricultural

research efforts. The USAID C4CP project, after several meetings, obtained the signature of a

MoU between IFDC and CORAF/WECARD at the Lomé Regional Forum in September 2016.

This framework document laid the foundation for collaboration between USAID C4CP and

CORAF/WECARD. The project proposed the terms of reference (ToR) entrusting

CORAF/WECARD with the task of ensuring a wide dissemination, through its regional

operational mechanism, of the tools and technology packages developed by the project. A grant

agreement was to provide CORAF/WECARD with the necessary funding for: (i) promoting the

use of training modules on good agricultural practices and post-harvest technologies; (ii)

strengthening the regional coordination of the soil health study; (iii) promoting the use of climate-

tolerant seed varieties for rotational crops; and (iv) coordinating the community of practice on

gender in the cotton sector, created by the project. The reduction of the project budget in July 2017

put an end to this contracting process.


 The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on the USAID C4CP project

to support the organization and financing of the first meeting of a Task Force on cotton in West

Africa. The objective of the meeting was to define practical guidelines for the promotion of the

cotton value chain in West Africa but also the mechanisms of cooperation and coordination of all

interventions in the sector in line with the Pan-African Cotton Roadmap (PRGF). The project team

finalized the terms of reference initiated by Mr. Alain Sy Traore, Director of Agriculture of

ECOWAS. A line of communication was established with the commissions in charge of

agriculture at ECOWAS and UEMOA to finalize the ToRs of the meeting originally scheduled for

February 23 and 24, 2017. This platform of players in the cotton sector and food security in the

pipeline should strengthen the regional coordination of actors including the economic communities

(ECOWAS, UEMOA), intergovernmental organizations (CILSS), donors, professionals of the

cotton sector and regional farmer organizations. Concertations to finalize the date of the first

meeting were underway when the activity was suspended following the reduction of the project

budget. USAID C4CP also supported ECOWAS by participating in the COS-Coton meetings held

in Brussels in November 2016 and in Ouagadougou in March 2017.

Permanent Inter-State Committee for Combating Drought in the Sahel (CILSS): The project team

met with CILSS officials to discuss the revised MoU draft and collaboration with its specialized

institutions, such as the Institute of the Sahel (INSAH) based in Bamako, Mali, and the Regional

Center for Agriculture, Hydrology and Meteorology (AGRHYMET) in Niamey, Niger. The

following areas of collaboration with INSAH were identified: (i) disseminating results and scaling

up activities in the regionalization framework and the development of strategic partnerships; (ii)

improving access to improved seed varieties of drought-resistant rotational crops that are adapted

to the agro-pedo-climatic conditions of the C-4; (iii) disseminating GAPs and PHTs; and (iv)

improving the situation of women in the agricultural sector to enable them to benefit from

increased incomes. With AGRHYMET, two activities were proposed: (i) sharing regional climate

data, agro-meteorological information and forecasts and (ii) improving and disseminating climate

information to facilitate adaptation to climate change. The MoU was being finalized when the

project encountered financial difficulties. CILSS through INSAH participated in several events:

the regional workshop in Lomé in April and the SHS workshop held in Bamako in June 2017.

INSAH and the project had planned to update the web tools “ModCartoFertSoil” developed by

CILSS while taking into account the good agricultural practices developed by USAID C4CP.

African Cotton Producers Association (AProCA): The USAID C4CP project signed a LoA with

AProCA on December 28, 2016. The agreement provides for collaboration in a number of areas,

including: (i) sharing and disseminating produced tools, production of agricultural technology kits

and related materials (e.g., posters, reports, success stories, films) through farmer networks; (ii)

joint organization of events and activities on topics of importance to the cotton sector and its

rotational crops; (iii) connecting USAID C4CP national coordinators with AProCA technical staff

working in C-4 countries; (iv) supporting advocacy efforts in support of farmers’ interests,

particularly those related to the improvement of the social and economic situation of women; and

(v) collaboration in M&E activities on the application of technologies generated by the project and

AProCA network members.

USAID C4CP also discussed collaboration with AProCA on its project to strengthen women’s

leadership capacities and women’s participation in cotton farmer organizations. AProCA was

asked to organize a meeting/training/policy dialogue on accreditation, certification, instrumental

measurement and traceability of WCA cotton.


African Cotton Association (ACA): ACA is a long-standing strategic partner of IFDC. From the

start of the USAID C4CP project, contacts have been established with this association through its

Permanent Secretary Mr. Adeyemi Achamou Fahala. More formal meetings took place with the

visit of the Project Manager and the National Project Coordinator to the Permanent Secretariat of

the association. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss collaboration issues between the two

structures. These visits led to the signing of a LoA by ACA and IFDC on August 16, 2016. By this

agreement, ACA agreed to: (i) disseminate the technical supports (innovative and gender-sensitive

modules, posters, study reports, films, success stories, etc.) developed by the project; (ii) support

USAID C4CP through advocacy, publication on its website, and engagement in lobbying at the

national and/or regional level; (iii) support the project in the organization of forums on topics of

importance to the cotton sector of the C-4 countries; and (iv) link ACA members with USAID

C4CP National Coordinators in C-4 countries. ACA also invited the project to participate in the

13th Annual Days and training workshops organized on the following topics: (i) “Calculations of

production costs and pricing of seed cotton” on December 15-16, 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya, and (ii)

“Gender in African cotton sectors: What roles do women play? What roles can they play to

contribute to the competitiveness of African cotton?” during September 28-30, 2016, in Accra,

Ghana. ACA was identified by the project as its main partner for the implementation of the WCA

cotton standardization activity.

Network of Farmer Organizations and Agricultural Producers of West Africa (ROPPA): USAID

C4CP signed a LoA with ROPPA on December 30, 2016. The agreement provides for

collaboration in a number of areas, including: (i) sharing and disseminating agricultural technology

packages generated by the project and related materials (e.g., posters, reports, success stories,

films) via farmer networks; (ii) joint organization of events and activities on topics of importance

to producers of cotton rotational crops; (iii) linking USAID C4CP national coordinators to ROPPA

contact points in C-4 countries; (iv) supporting advocacy efforts that promote farmers’ interests,

particularly those related to the improvement of the social and economic situation of women

farmers; and (v) collaborating in the monitoring and evaluation by ROPPA network members of

the application of project-generated technologies. Within the framework of this agreement,

ROPPA participated in the regional workshop for the dissemination of project tools in March in

Cotonou, Benin, and received the tools and advocacy materials for dissemination.

Regional Pole of Research Applied to Central Africa Savannah Development (PRASAC):

PRASAC is a specialized institution of CEMAC based in N’Djamena, Chad. PRASAC has been

visited several times by the USAID C4CP team to develop a partnership with this Central African

agricultural research institution. A collaborative framework was established with the LoA signed

on September 23, 2016. A meeting between the USAID C4CP national coordinator in Chad and

PRASAC, held in the week of February 27, 2017 for the operationalization of the LoA, helped to

identify collaborative activities and propose ToRs for their achievement. However, these activities

have not been carried out due to the financial difficulties that the project encountered at the

beginning of the fourth quarter of the 2017 fiscal year.

Regional Platform of Central African Farmers’ Organizations (PROPAC): PROPAC is the

regional apex organization which promotes the interests of the farmer organizations of 10 countries

of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), based in Yaounde, Cameroon.

It plays a role similar to that of ROPPA in West Africa. A LoA was signed with PROPAC in

February 2017 aiming at mutually reinforcing the capacities of technicians and producers on the

use of improved agricultural technologies in the USAID C4CP project areas (Chad) as well as in


the cotton-producing areas of the PROPAC Member States (in particular Chad and Cameroon,

which are the largest cotton producers in ECCAS). The link between ROPPA and PROPAC is

essential to enable the project to broadly extend project achievements in West and Central Africa

and to ensure sustainability.

African Union Commission (AUC): In December 2016, a USAID C4CP delegation met several

officials at the AUC to exchange with them and establish partnerships that will expand project

activities at the continental scale. These AUC officials included Ms. Mahawa Kaba Wheeler,

Director of Women, Gender and Development, to whom a member of the project staff will be

seconded; H.E. Ms. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and

Development (DREA); H.E. Ms. Mary Beth Leonard, U.S. Ambassador to the AU and ECA; Ms.

Taisha Jones, USAID Representative to AU; Mr. Nassirou Ba, Economic Affairs Officer, Regional

Integration and Trade Division (RITD), ECA’s Food, Agriculture and Land Security Section

(FSALS); Dr. Peter Thorne, Research Project Coordinator of the research project on Sustainable

Intensification for the Next Generation (RISING) in Africa; and Dr. Kindu Mekonnen, Researcher

on Crop and Livestock Systems at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The

USAID C4CP project organized several events related to AU’s Gender Directory, which allowed

the project team and representatives of selected partners as well as members of the project

community of practice to participate in some events in Addis Ababa. The MoU concluded between

AU and IFDC on June 28, 2010 served as a legal framework for collaboration with the various AU

services.

 African Development Bank (AfDB): Contacts have been established with AfDB, during the

Bamako forum, in which Ms. Nathalie Gahunga, Gender Officer at the Department of Agriculture

and Agro-Industry at the AfDB participated. Ms. Gahunga ensured follow-up on the forum

decisions in close collaboration with the project gender specialist. The communication thus

established allowed for exchange and collaboration with other project initiatives related to the

activities of IR 3 “Improving the Social and Economic Situation of Women in the Agricultural

Sector.” Thus, AfDB collaborated in the organization and running of the Abidjan forum in June

2017.

Public-private partners SAVANA, GREEN CROSS and IGNITIA

Ignitia is a Swedish high-tech company that the project contacted to make its technology available

to the producers of cotton and rotational crops of CMDT in Mali and SOFITEX and SOCOMA in

Burkina Faso. Through its collaboration with this company, the USAID C4CP project carried out

a pilot activity to strengthen producers’ resilience to climate change by providing them with a

powerful decision support tool. This led to the conclusion of two contracts between IFDC and

Ignitia, one for the benefit of CMDT producers and the other for the benefit of the farmers of

SOFITEX and SOCOMA. Within the framework of these contracts, Ignitia has provided extremely

accurate weather forecasts to farmers via mobile devices as described in previous chapters.

SAVANA is a private company engaged in the supply of goods and services, operating in the area

of agri-pharmaceutical products and specialized agricultural equipment, with representation in

WCA countries. This company approached the project to benefit from the GAP tools that have

been developed. This led to the conclusion of a LoA on May 25, 2016. Under this agreement,

SAVANA has helped the project to disseminate GAP and PHT training modules and posters

through its agents in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Togo, Niger, Senegal, Gabon, Democratic

Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The USAID C4CP project supported the training of SAVANA


field workers in the C-4 countries while SAVANA assisted the project in gathering information

and feedback on the use of the GAP and PHT modules and posters that have been provided. At the

request of SAVANA, the project strengthened trainers’ capacities on the GAP “Integrated pest

management with a gender perspective,” during a workshop held from September 27 to 29, 2016

in Burkina. This training was extended to SOFITEX and GREEN CROSS partners and gathered

24 participants (23 men and 1 woman), including trainers/technicians and/or sales engineers of

SAVANA West African subsidiaries from Togo, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso, and

senior trainers of SOFITEX and GREEN CROSS. Thus, IFDC and SAVANA joined forces to

form pools of technical expertise in SAVANA’s intervention countries and provide them with

adequate technology transfer tools to effectively and sustainably contribute to increasing

agricultural productivity.

Observation of pest attack in a cotton farm to determine the threshold of the

nuisance

Group photo at a training session for trainers of SAVANA

GREEN CROSS Burkina (GCB) is a National Environmental NGO affiliated with GREEN CROSS

International. As part of its collaboration with the CRS/RECOLTE project, GCB has provided

technical support to UNPC-B. To establish a legal framework for their collaboration, IFDC GCB

concluded a LoA dated June 27, 2017. Under this agreement, GCB and IFDC supported each other

in developing and maintaining a partnership to strengthen the capacities of farmers and technicians

in the production and use of organic manure (OM), which is badly lacking in the cultivated soils

of the areas covered by the USAID C4CP project. Based on the experience of GCB, the use of the

“Compost Plus Activator” and the windrow composting technique can produce organic manure in

less than two months, which allows for increasing the supply of this agricultural input. At the end

of the training sessions on OM production with the use of Compost Plus, the following data were

shared with UNPC-B.


Figure 10 shows the number of

farmers trained, about 300 in

the seven areas of UNPC-B.

The project team provided

support in organizing and

implementing a training activity

involving the dissemination of

agricultural modules generated

by the project. GCB was invited

by the USAID C4CP project to

all meetings with themes of

interest to this organization

(Forum on soil fertility, Lomé

Forum, annual workshops to

evaluate the results of the soil

health study).

4.2.2. Strengthening UEMOA’s Regional Coordination Capacities in the Cotton Sector

From the start of the project in April 2014, contacts were made with the Department of Agriculture

of the UEMOA Commission. At that time, UEMOA was negotiating with USAID/WA with the

view of concluding a cooperation agreement to directly fund activities under its cotton agenda. In

the meantime, the project had made limited progress in developing a strategic partnership with this

regional economic community. Nevertheless, five potential areas of collaboration were identified:

(i) soil health; (ii) the development of innovative training modules on GAP and PH technologies;

(iii) ginning in the framework of UEMOA’s cotton contamination prevention project (financed by

the European Union); (iv) organizing and/or facilitating regional workshops on common themes

(such as improving cotton quality); and (v) strengthening the ginners’ capacities.

The USAID C4CP project held about 30 meetings with UEMOA, participated in several

workshops at its invitation and co-organized several forums under UEMOA’s sponsorship (Lomé

Forum and regional workshop on the project’s Learning Event). Among these, the following are

notable:

a. UEMOA-USAID C4CP Technical Meeting on February 11, 2016, at IFDC offices for the

identification and planning of 19 collaborative activities during the 2016 fiscal year.

b. At the request of UEMOA, the project team had a working session on February 25, 2016, with

the international consultant responsible for developing a pan-African strategy for cotton: The

Pan-African Cotton Road Map (PCRM). This led to a joint note proposing the participation of

USAID C4CP in the working group for finalizing the strategy and identifying the tools,

technologies and specific products developed by the project to take into account among the

instruments and mechanisms of the proposed strategy.

Figure 10. Number of Farmers from UNPC-B Trained on Composting Using “Compost Plus” of GREEN CROSS

Training on Composting


c. Participation, at the invitation of UEMOA, in the workshop to validate the Regional Action

Plan of the Professional Organization of Cotton Industries and Textiles of the UEMOA

Countries (OPICT) April 7 and 8, 2016, in Ouagadougou.

d. Participation, at the invitation of UEMOA, in the meeting of the Regional Advisory Committee

on agricultural sectors (CCRFA) extended to the professional agricultural organizations, May

17-19, 2016, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which aimed to strengthen the involvement of

professional agricultural actors in the implementation of AU’s Agricultural Policy (AUP).

e. Participation in the USAID/UEMOA/USAID C4CP meeting of June 9, 2016, on

(i) development of a monitoring and evaluation plan; (ii) deliverables of UEMOA’s Cotton

Competitiveness Project for the 2016 fiscal year; and (iii) the administrative and financial

procedures of the two institutions (USAID/WA and UEMOA).

f. Participation, at the invitation of UEMOA, in the training of textile technicians of Member

States, in automatic classification, quality control and spinning of cotton fiber June 14-17,

2016, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

g. Participation in the signing ceremony of the USAID/UEMOA Cooperation Agreement dated

June 27, 2016, at UEMOA’s headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

h. Participation, at the invitation of UEMOA, in the training of the actors of the cotton-textile

sector: “Strengthening the capacities of operators and technicians on the different trades of the

cotton-textile sector,” July 15-19, 2016, in Niamey, Niger.

i. Co-organization and sponsorship by UEMOA of the forum on the theme “Cotton and Food

Security in the countries of West and Central Africa,” held in Lomé, Togo, September 14-16,

2016.

j. Participation in the USAID C4CP-UEMOA Technical Meeting for the identification and

planning of 13 collaborative activities for the 2017 fiscal year, February 15, 2017, at the project

headquarters, with representation of IFDC-Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou.

k. Participation in the launching workshop of UEMOA’s Cotton Competitiveness Project June

14-16, 2017, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

l. Co-organization and sponsorship by UEMOA of the Regional Workshop (Learning Event) on

“Ten Years of USAID Support to the Cotton Sector in West and Central Africa: Learning and

Lessons Learned from WACIP and C4CP Projects,” March 20 and 21, 2018, in Ouagadougou,

Burkina Faso. Fifteen recommendations were made by the project final evaluation team, one

of which called for the strengthening of WAEMU’s capacity in terms of human capital. Based

on these recommendations, the project team identified five key issues for the Learning Event

(see Table in Annex 3). The fifth crosscutting theme was the mobilization of resources to

finance the proposed actions at the end of the Learning Event (see roadmap in Annex 4).

The partnership pillar was the backbone of the implementation of the USAID C4CP project. As

shown in Figure 11 below on collaboration areas, partnership efforts focused on activities aiming

at the development and dissemination of agricultural technology packages (31%), gender activities

(30%), soil health research and development (15%), and knowledge sharing and others (26%).


Figure 11. Areas of Collaboration with Partners

Products generated by the project through the network of partnerships developed include:

• Four Forum Proceedings: “Cotton and Food Security,” “Women's Access to Productive

Resources,” “Soil Fertility in Cotton Production Systems in C-4 Countries” and “Women’s

Access to Appropriate Agricultural Technologies.” The first two proceedings have been edited

and published. The other two have been disseminated in electronic format.

• A network of women leaders of the sub-region is active in bringing women’s issues to the

highest level: African Union and AfDB.

• A regional research platform involving public and private actors, both at national and regional

levels to pool resources and knowledge on soil fertility in West and Central Africa.

• A database of actors of the cotton and food security sectors in West and Central Africa (to build

from the lists of presence at the various meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences, fora)

organized by the project and/or partners.

As shown in Table 6, the project achieved considerable success in terms of partnership with regard

to the rates of success against the intended targets for two of the indicators: 105% for indicator

2.6: Number of regional or national actors collaborating with the project (USAID C4CP) to address

challenges and create an enabling environment in the cotton sector (by area and duration); and

17% for indicator 2.7: Number of meetings and events at the national or regional levels in which

the project has participated and contributed by zone. The weak performance for the other indicators

resulted from the reduction of funding, which did not allow for the completion of certain activities

with partners.

Gender31%

Dissemination of Agriculture

Technology Kits32%

Soil Health Study15%

Others 11%

Knowledge Sharing

10%

Market Linkage1%


Table 6. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 2 during the Life of the Project

Indicator

Typ

e

Un

it

FT

F/ C

usto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e (

%)

Comment

Indicator 2.1: Number

of awareness-raising

documents and

product policies for

creating an

environment conducive

to the improvement of

food security as a result

of assistance of the

United States

Government

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

5 2 7 7 0


of organizations having

received the modules /

equipment developed

by the project as a

result of the United

States Government

assistance

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

Total 14 94 201 209 209 274 -24

Due to the cessation of

the scaling up of project

achievements

New 80 107 8

Continuing 14 94 201 209 274 -24

Indicateur 2.3: Number

of public and private

institutions and civil

society organizations

(CSOs) participating in

regional conferences

which are of interest to

the cotton sector thanks

to the assistance of the

United States

Government

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

122 540 206 0 868 1,020 -15



achievements


Indicator

Typ

e

Un

it

FT

F/ C

usto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e (

%)

Comment


of private companies

involved in food

security (for-profit),

producer organizations,

water user associations,

women's groups,

business and trade

associations and

community

organizations

Ou

tpu

t

#

FT

F #

EG

.3.2

-4

Total 11 12 13 0 13 13 0

Private enterprise 3 3 4 1 4 4 0

Women’s groups 1 1 1 0 1 1 0

Trade and business

associations 1 1 0 1 1 0

Producers

organizations 7 7 7 0 7 7 0

Total 11 12 13 13 13 13 0

New 11 1 1 0 0

Continue 0 11 12 13 13 13 0


of institutions trained

by regional partners as

part of the

intensification

component of project

achievements

Ou

tco

me

#

Cu

sto

m

10 0 10 211 -95

Gap related to the non-

implementation of the

financing agreement

with CORAF with the

numerous training

sessions that were

planned


of regional or national

actors collaborating

with the project

(USAID C4CP) in

addressing challenges

and creating a favorable

environment in the

cotton sector (by area

and duration).

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

Total 32 66 162 2 164 80 105 This indicator, related

to partnership building

and relevant issues,

provides information on

the success achieved by

the project, particularly

in terms of partnership;

describing the level of

enthusiasm of the actors

of the cotton and food

security sectors in

forging partnerships

with the project team,

Soil health study 4 10 23 1 24 12 100

Dissemination of

technical packages 14 22 52 0 52 25 108

Gender issues 14 21 48 0 48 24 100

Market linkages 2 4 0 4 2 100

Knowledge

brokering/sharing 5 16 1 17 8 113

Others 6 19 0 19 9 111

Total 18 27 32 32 32 30 7


Indicator

Typ

e

Un

it

FT

F/ C

usto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e (

%)

Comment

New 18 9 5 0 0 but also the relevance of

the themes addressed by

the project in relation to

their needs Continuing 18 27 32 32 30 7


of meetings and events

at national or regional

levels the project has

participated in and

contributes, by zone

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

Total 32 9 41 35 17 An indicator of success

which informs about

partner’s adhesion to

the strategy of the

project as well as on the

skills of the project

team relating to the

themes addressed, by

inviting its staff to come

and contribute to the

events they organize.

Soil health 4 3 7 6 17

Gender issues 5 1 6 8 -25

Market linkages 3 1 4 2 100

Ginning operation 0 0 0 3 -100

Agricultural policy 15 2 17 13 31

Others 5 2 7 4 75


of training requests or

support requested by

the project from

partners with which

agreements have been

concluded for the

scaling up of project

achievements

Ou

tco

me

3 0 3 5 -40



achievements


of actions undertaken

by national or regional

actors using project

outputs in the context

of policy dialogue or

advocacy

Ou

tco

me

2 0 2 4 -50



achievements


4.3. Intermediate Result 3 (IR 3): An enabling environment for the social and economic empowerment of women producers and processors is promoted

During the first project staff retreat, June 8-25, 2014, the subcontracting partners CP and ICRA

were asked to inform the project team about their methodological approaches. CP focused on its

gender approach presenting: (i) the criteria for selecting project partners without neglecting

vulnerable groups, particularly women; (ii) the methodology and tools for assessing needs; and

(iii) the process of mainstreaming gender issues in agricultural value chains: how to address gender

issues, gender analysis and how can gender issues affect or influence agricultural value chains?

This session provided USAID C4CP team members with the tools necessary to undertake, under

the guidance of CP experts, the development of the project’s gender strategy and the analysis of

gender issues and value chains of cotton (conventional and organic) and rotational crops (maize

and soybean in Benin, maize and cowpea in Burkina, sorghum and groundnut in Chad and maize

and groundnut in Mali).

As explained in 4.1., the project relied on local implementing partners to carry out certain

activities. Regarding IR 3, the following results were achieved:

• Twelve partner organizations use innovative gender-sensitive modules, namely Benin (3),

Burkina Faso (5), Chad (2) and Mali (3).

• Fourteen partner organization beneficiaries of project grants have adopted gender-sensitive

service delivery mechanisms, including public and private extension systems and NGOs.

• Creation of a directory (C-4 country database) on women entrepreneurs.

• Seven approaches to building capacities in gender-sensitive techniques corresponding to seven

GAP and PH modules implemented and being tested by 14 IPs through demonstration farms

reserved for women.

• Fifteen studies on gender and value chain carried out: 1 report on gender strategy by each C-4

country and a synthesis report; 4 reports (one per country) on gender analysis and conventional

cotton value chain analysis; 3 reports (Benin, Burkina and Mali) on gender analysis and organic

cotton value chain; 3 reports (Benin, Burkina and Mali) on gender analysis and maize value

chain; 2 reports (Mali and Chad) on gender analysis and groundnut value chain; 1 report

(Benin) on gender analysis and soybean value chain; 1 report (Burkina) on gender analysis and

cowpea value chain; and 1 report (Chad) on gender analysis and sorghum value chain.

These studies allowed the project to explore the general data available on the gender issue in

relation to cotton production and target rotational crops, to conduct a quantitative and qualitative

assessment of gender in the target value chains, to identify gender-based constraints and to make

recommendations suggesting actions and indicators to overcome these constraints to the

development of cotton and rotational crops value chains. These studies were carried out using the

“Promoting Gender Equitable Opportunities in the Agricultural Value Chain” approach, better

known as “Integrating Gender Issues into the Agricultural Value Chain” (INGIA-VC).

As shown in Figure 12, although women contribute up to 50% to the production of conventional

cotton and 100% to the production of organic cotton, they are virtually absent in the processing of

both types of cotton. They virtually do not benefit from conventional cotton and only 50% from

organic cotton. By contrast, they achieve maximum profit with rotational crops. These women


would be able to improve their incomes if they had access to agricultural information (extension

services) and productive resources (land, equipment, credit, etc.).

Figure 12. Women’s Participation in Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) of Cotton and Rotational Crops

This information will guide the project team in adopting the Training and Demonstration Farm

(TDF) approach for women or women-dominated associations/groups to facilitate women’s access

to agricultural extension services and exchange of experiences among women in the cotton sector

in the C-4 countries and in WCA and their access to productive resources.

From the 2016 fiscal year, with the reorientation of the project’s intervention strategy towards

regional partners, the activities identified in IR 3 will be focused on gender-related initiatives at

the continental level and linkages to regional efforts and on sharing best practices and lessons

learned about the effective participation of women in the cotton sector.

4.3.1. Gender Initiatives at Continental Level

Organization of Forums: A forum in Bamako during November 22-25, 2016, on women’s access

to productive resources drew more than 100 participants, and more of 120 people attended a forum

in Abidjan during June 7-9, 2017, on women’s access to appropriate agricultural technologies. A

regional forum organized in Lomé during September 14-16, 2016, on the theme of cotton and food

security in West and Central Africa attracted 170 participants. During this forum, the 150-member

Community of Gender and Food Safety Practices was set up and held its meetings as side events.

These regional forums have always seen the participation of representatives of the African Union,

the African Development Bank, CORAF/WECARD, ACA, AProCA and many other

organizations at the African continental and international level. They provide an opportunity to

exchange and share experiences on the role and place of women in the agricultural sector in general

and in the cotton sector in particular.

Production Processing Profitability

Conventional cotton value chain Organic cotton value chain Rotational cotton value chain

INGIA-VC Approach

“Integrating Gender Issues into Agricultural Value Chains”


Participation in Pre-Summits on Gender at the African Union: Collaboration with the AU was

established with the conclusion of a MoU dated June 28, 2010, which aims at integrating USAID

C4CP’s activities into regional agricultural policies.

In this context, AU’s Women, Gender and Development Directorate invited the project to

participate in gender-related meetings held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first meeting was the

pre-summit on gender held on the sidelines of the Summit of African Heads of State during January

22-27, 2017, and the second was the 30th pre-summit consultative meeting Gender is My Agenda

Campaign (GIMAC) on gender mainstreaming in the African Union, June 27-28, 2017. The

project sponsored the participation of a delegation of 18 and 11, respectively, including women

farmers, experts from the Community of Practice on Gender, Cotton and Food Security, experts

from gender ministries in C-4 countries, and two members of the project team. Farmers, project

partners, presented the recommendations of the Bamako Forum of November 2016 and asked that

their concerns about access to land and other productive resources be seriously taken into account.

In addition to the AU Director of Gender, interviews were held with the leaders of GIMAC, the

Executive Secretary of the Mano River Union, UNDP Project Coordinators and the Executive

Director of the African Leadership Forum.

Group photo of participants in GIMAC at AUC headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During the roundtables of the GIMAC meeting, the USAID CACP team presented the project

achievements and invited partners to join hands to ensure the sustainability of these achievements.

The project took advantage of the presence of young women and girls to present its initiative on

agribusiness incubation centers for women. The interest generated among the participants in the

Incubation Center Initiative led to the adoption of a recommendation calling on all parties,

particularly governments, to support the establishment of agri-food incubation centers for women


and girls across the continent. GIMAC is also committed to working with the project, through the

Empowering Women in Agriculture/Kilimanjaro Initiative, to intensify the incubation center

initiative. Moreover, the organizers of GEVIAC, as well as AU’s Gender Directorate, expressed

their appreciation of the support and partnership with the USAID C4CP project and looked forward

to further collaboration in the future.

Collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB): A delegation of the USAID C4CP

project attended a meeting with AfDB representatives at AfDB’s headquarters in Abidjan on

February 28, 2017, to discuss possible collaboration paths. The project role in facilitating AfDB

activities in the areas of social and economic empowerment of women in the agricultural and

cotton sectors was particularly emphasized. One of these activities is the creation of Incubation

Centers for women and girls on specific agricultural products in the C-4 countries. AfDB has

expressed interest in exploring potential synergy between the project’s initiatives on women and

those of the bank. To this end, more than 50 members of the Community of Practice on Gender,

Cotton and Food Security registered on AfDB's “Gender in Practice” platform. The two

communities decided to merge at the end the Abidjan forum.

The Community of Practice (CoP) on Gender, Cotton and Food Security: The CoP held its first

meeting organized by the project and its main partners (AU and CORAF/WECARD) in Bamako

during the Forum on Women's Access to Productive Resources. The second meeting organized by

the project, with the support of its main partners (AU and CORAF/WECARD) and AfDB

collaboration, took place as a side event of the Abidjan Regional Forum.

4.3.2. Sharing Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Participation in the celebration of the International Day of Rural Women in Mali: The project

participated in the International Day of Rural Women held in the rural commune of Dioila,

Koulikoro region in central Mali, on October 20, 2016. The women’s group Benkadi of Gouana,

supported by USAID C4CP, benefited from a booth offered by the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

The project facilitated the participation of 13 women and two men from the group. The project’s

involvement in this event was covered by four local radio stations.

Farmer Exchange Visits: Women farmers of the three other C-4 countries visited their

counterparts in Burkina Faso during October 23-29, 2016, to share their experiences on their

activities and, more specifically, on access to land and other productive resources. Invited partner

structures included: ANaF, CMDT, COPSA-C, FNZ, ONDR, SOCOMA and UGCPA, totaling 22

participants, including three USAID C4CP project team members. In addition to field visits

(TDFs), the program included exchanges with the traditional authorities of the villages visited and

meetings with governmental and administrative authorities, including the Director of Rural Land

Tenure in the Regional Directorates of Agriculture and Hydraulic Infrastructures (DRAAH) of

Tenkodogo and Dedougou. At the meeting with the mayor of the commune of Dedougou, one of

the participants made the following request: “Mayor, the request I am going to direct to you is that

in one year or two years, you make sure that in your commune, cases of women having access to

secure land are mentioned.”

Participation in the celebration of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017: USAID C4CP

project staff participated in events related to the celebration of International Women’s Day on

March 8. The Project Consultant based in Addis Ababa was invited to AU’s Headquarters.


Similarly, the national project coordinator in Chad participated in an agricultural fair in

N’Djamena that included exhibitions of women’s groups working in partnership with the project.

Agricultural Incubation Centers for Women and Girls: The project facilitated the acquisition of

land for the establishment of agricultural incubation centers in Benin and Burkina Faso. The

project also facilitated preparation activities for the 2017 crop year. However, these activities had

to be suspended before the end of the planting period due to the financial situation of the project.

Nevertheless, the project developed a detailed concept note on the establishment of the Cowpea

Incubation Center in Burkina Faso and invited the implementing partners concerned, OBEPAB

and FNZ, to seek funding to continue their activities.

Production of documentary films: Two films entitled “Women, Cotton and Food Security” were

produced in the women’s TDF throughout the cropping calendar. The first deals with women’s

access to agricultural extension services and the second deals with women’s access to land, credit,

inputs and equipment. Speaking on the project, Mrs. Adjaratou Nignan, a member of FNZ, said:

“The USAID C4CP project has given me the opportunity to express myself in any forum to promote

rural women and serve as an endogenous counselor. That is why I have succeeded in reporting

the dowries of women producers to the African Union in Addis Ababa so that decision-makers can

find solutions to the problems women are faced with in terms of access to land, equipment and

credit.”

The gender component has been cross-cutting to all activities carried out by the project. Regarding

IR 3, the results of gender-specific activities were largely achieved, except for Indicator 3.3:

Number of partner organizations using gender-sensitive modules, for which results targets were

not met due to reduced funding that led to the suspension of certain activities.

Table 7 shows all the results achieved under this pillar.


Table 7. Objectives and Achievements for Intermediate Result 3 during the Life of the Project

Indicator

Typ

e

Un

it

FT

F/

Cu

sto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e

(%)

Comment


of training workshops

organized by the project

and its partners using

gender-sensitive

modules with the

United States

Government assistance

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

20 35 422 0 477 368 30

An indicator of the

relevance of the tools

developed by the

project and used by

partners to strengthen

the capacities of their

support system for

agricultural producers

(men and women)


of approaches /

mechanisms put in

place to address

women-related

constraints as a result of

the United States

Government assistance.

Ou

tpu

t

#

Cu

sto

m

Total 1 2 3 3 3 3 0

New 1 0 0

Continuing 2 3 3 3 0


of partner organizations

using gender-sensitive

modules as a result of

the United States

Government assistance.

Ou

tco

me

#

Cu

sto

m

12 14 16 0 16 18 -11

This indicator included

all the regional actors

who should have been

involved in the scaling

up and which ultimately

were unable to

intervene due to the

cessation of activities;

namely PRASAC,

CILSS, CORAF,

ROPPA.

Indicator 3.4: The

community of practice

is created as a result of Ou

tpu

t

Sta

ge

Cu

sto

m

Stage 1: Community

of practice is created 3 0 0 0

Also, an indicator of

success of the project

with the enthusiasm


Indicator

Typ

e

Un

it

FT

F/

Cu

sto

m


Results LOP

Targets

Dif

fere

nc

e

(%)

Comment

the United States


(in stages)

Stage 2: Community

of practice is

functional

3 3 0 6 2 200

registered in the

running of the

community of practice,

which finally achieved

more than expected

Indicator 3.5:

Contributions are made

in integrating gender

issues in agricultural

policies and laws as a

result the United States


Ou

tpu

t

Sta

ge

Cu

sto

m

Stage 1: Research/

analyze elements 2 0 0 2 2 0

Interactions with

regional or continental

institutions, particularly

the African Union on

gender issues, have

reached unexpected

levels

Stage 2: Provide

analytical inputs to

UEMOA/UA

(NEPAD)

4 0 0 4 4 0

Ou

tco

me

Stage 3: Dialogue

between

stakeholders (AU

(NEPAD)/UEMOA

and government of

member states)

0 4 1 5 3 67


V. LESSONS LEARNED

Despite the challenges and difficulties encountered during its implementation, the USAID C4CP

project has achieved significant results both in the development of training tools for technology

transfer with an innovative and inclusive approach and the development of partnerships among

stakeholders of the cotton sector at national, regional and continental levels. Lessons can be drawn

and learned at all levels.

At the project management level:

• Those responsible for financing, monitoring and evaluating beneficiaries of grant agreements

should be taken into account during the process of drafting those agreements, making it

possible to enhance the capacities of such staff for grant management, the monitoring of

USAID indicators and quality control of the data collected.

• The multiplication of grant agreements to be allocated should be avoided by mastering the

number of grants with appropriate amounts.

• The strong cohesion of the team made it possible to overcome the frequent change of project

leaders.

• The establishment of country-level coordination facilitated the project implementation by

bringing the USAID C4CP support package closer to beneficiaries in each of the C-4 countries.

At the level of activity implementation IR 1:

• The educational phase of the Need Assessment (NA) process is of central importance since it

allowed for validating the tools and adapting them to the realities on the ground. However, this

phase would have been more effective and productive if leading regional partners, such as

UEMOA, PR-PICA, CORAF, ROPPA, AProCA and ACA, had been involved, considering the

spirit of regionalization that guided the project during its implementation.

• It would be important for future similar projects to: (i) provide feedback on the NA results to

beneficiary partners by country, (ii) identify relevant common needs and work with them on

the prioritization/hierarchization of these needs in relation to project’s objectives, and (iii) to

guide project partners in finding solutions to their specific needs.

• The process of selecting experts by call for applications is an innovative approach which incites

the candidates to prepare themselves thoroughly to be their best while projecting their

expectations into the future of the project. All this has contributed to add value to the various

forums.

• Integrating a gender perspective in the development of modules is an innovation in the process

that has allowed certain institutions or players in the cotton sector to develop a gender strategy.

• Networking senior trainers facilitates knowledge sharing intra and inter-country, which

enhances the dissemination, appropriation and use of tools by agricultural stakeholders, and

this experience deserves to be promoted.

• Dissemination of the project tools in universities and agricultural training centers is an

innovative approach to the appropriation of these tools by teachers for coaching the students

as future managers of technology transfer.

• Module testing through teaching and demonstration farms (TDFs) led by women or farmer

groups comprising at least 50% of women was an innovative approach that has triggered the


removal of one of the major constraints for women (no access to extension services) in the

value chains of cotton and rotational crops. In short, TDF is an excellent mechanism for the

development and transfer of agricultural technologies to farmers.

• Through these TDFs, stakeholders of the cotton sector have once again realized the importance

and relevance of the role played by women in the different links of the value chains and the

need for organizations to take into account their participation in training sessions.

• In evaluating the use of the training modules, one of the lessons learned and to take into account

when they will be reviewed is the need to integrate in the technical datasheets socio-economic

data justifying the benefits that would be derived from the use of GAP and PH techniques

disseminated and which could facilitate their adoption.

• Taking into account the environmental dimension in the development of training modules has

facilitated their appropriation by farmers and the implementation of risk mitigation measures

for the benefit of the environment and animal and human health.

• Controlling rainfall uncertainty through forecasting information (ISKA technology from

Ignitia) is an important tool for adaptation to climate change and strengthening the resilience

of farmers and an excellent tool for the rational management of agricultural inputs and the

cropping calendar; the mastery of this element will encourage farmers to invest more and adopt

the other proposed technological innovations to increase agricultural productivity.

• Organic cotton is a niche crop with comparative advantages for women who, in general, are

resource-poor; however, poor management of soil fertility leads to its steady decline to the

point of calling into question the sustainability of the system.

• It is important to evaluate projects’ impact several years after their implementation to better

assessed their performance and profitability. Capitalization on the achievements of the USAID

WACIP project during the USAID C4CP project allowed for identifying the improvements

brought by this project to the ginning systems in WCA.

• To improve the competitiveness of the WCA cotton, serious efforts are needed from the

stakeholders concerned to adopt the international standards (accreditation, certification,

traceability and classification by instrumental measurement) and to enhance the value of cotton

fiber.


• Delegation of grant management power not only contributes to strengthening management

capacities of partner organizations, but also is an effective means of ensuring the sustainability

of the effects and impacts of project activities.

• To ensure effective scaling up of project achievements with regional partners, a financial

mechanism is needed to accompany the process. It clearly appears that accompanying

measures, technical and financial support, coordination and facilitation provided by IFDC

through the USAID C4CP project were essential for the successful completion of project

activities.

• Partnership has been the nerve center of the implementation of the USAID C4CP project by

boosting the development of synergies, facilitating the sharing of experiences and knowledge

and avoiding duplication of activities.

• The course of the project implementation highlighted the need to create networks of

partnerships between stakeholders in the cotton sector at national and regional levels to ensure

sustainability beyond the life of the project.



• The establishment of a support system that takes into account the gender-based constraints and

specificities of women or women’s groups is an effective way of improving agricultural

productivity and hence women’s incomes and living conditions.

• Advocacy for access to productive resources and processing equipment for cotton and

rotational crops, carried directly by women farmers to decision-makers, contributes to

improving the environment agricultural value chains more quickly and more efficiently.

• Appropriate support for women is crucial for their empowerment and strengthening their

ability to defend their interests.

VI. CONCLUSION

The United States Government, in response to the cotton sector initiative carried by four African

cotton-producing countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad), has successively financed two

projects between 2006 and 2018.

The second project, USAID Four-Country Cotton Partnership (C4CP) Project, implemented by

IFDC, has achieved significant, even compelling, results in terms of developing and strengthening

partnerships among national and regional actors in the sector, sustainably improving the

productivity, quality and competitiveness of cotton fiber, improving processing and marketing of

products, as well as increasing socio-economic benefits for women within cotton-producing

households.

In this framework, many tools have been developed and made available to project partners.

Networks of partners have been established or strengthened and the many lessons learned will be

used in the future for the implementation of similar programs or projects.

However, the final external evaluation of the USAID C4CP project has shown that progress has

been made with a relatively small percentage of beneficiaries in the sub-region, compared to

current and actual needs. Large-scale dissemination of the tools developed and innovative

approaches for their transfer should be carried out by regional and national actors to ensure

sustainability in the sector. In this context, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of the

official handover of a batch of these tools to WAEMU during the opening ceremony of its regional

learning workshop (Learning Event) on March 20, 2018, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The USAID C4CP project came to completion on March 31, 2018. The challenge facing

stakeholders of the WCA cotton sector is how to preserve these key achievements and maintain

the progress achieved. It is anticipated that WAEMU will ensure the implementation of the

relevant recommendations formulated and translated into a roadmap to guide future actions with

the aim of increasing food security in the UEMOA space and improving the competitiveness of

cotton and its rotational crops.


ANNEXES

Annex 1. Technical Datasheets or Technologies Developed by the Project and Its Partners

Themes Number of

Sheets Technologies

GAPs Seeds and

varieties

8 How to produce improved cotton seed (Gossypium hirsutum L) for increased productivity:

• How to produce improved maize seed (Zea mays L) for increased productivity

• How to produce improved soya seed (max glycine) for increased productivity

• How to produce improved groundnut seed for increased productivity;

• How to produce improved cowpea seed (Vigna unguiculata L) for increased productivity

• How to produce improved sorghum seed (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for increased productivity

• How to produce improved millet seed [(Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.] for increased productivity

• Current regulations for the production and marketing of certified seeds

Integrated Soil

Fertility

Management

(ISFM)

12 Crop management sequence for cotton:

• Crop management sequence for maize

• Crop management sequence for groundnut

• Crop rotation and its effects on soil quality

• Technique of production and use of compost

• Crop management sequence for sorghum

• ISFM and basic principles

• Crop residues management

• Technical guide for cowpea

• Crop management sequence for soya

• Integration of agriculture and livestock

• Risks related to ISFM practices and measures to mitigate their effects on the environment, human and animal health

Integrated Pest

Management (IPM)

7 Recognition of cotton pests and diseases:

• Integrated methods of cotton pest control

• Technique of application and maintenance of treatment equipment

• Integrated management of cowpea pests

• Integrated management of maize pests

• Risks related to the use of pesticides and measures to mitigate their effects on the environment, human and animal health

• Technique of staggered targeted control


Themes Number of

Sheets Technologies

Organic cotton 05 Technical guidelines for the production of organic cotton:

• Certification of organic cotton

• Soil fertility management techniques in organic cotton production

• How to control pests in organic cotton production

• Techniques for harvesting, drying and storing organic cotton

Improving seed

cotton quality

07 Seed cotton marketing:

• Seed cotton grading

• Seed cotton harvesting

• Seed cotton drying

• Seed cotton storage

• Seed cotton transport

• Seed cotton sorting

TOTAL GAP

SHEETS

39

Post-Harvest Technologies: PHT Storage and

conservation

05 • Storage and conservation of maize in C-4 countries

• Storage and conservation of sorghum in C-4 countries

• Storage and conservation of soya in C-4 countries

• Storage and conservation of cowpea in countries C-4

• Storage and conservation of groundnuts in C-4 countries

Food processing 12 Processing of maize into couscous called Yêkè-yêkè in Benin

• Processing of husked and degermed maize called gambari-lifin in Benin

• Processing of rice into parboiled rice

• Processing of soya into flour and cheese

• Processing of rice into royal rice

• Production of soya cheese or tofu

• Processing of cowpea into cowpea flour

• Processing of cowpea into donuts

• Processing of sorghum into sorghum lumps

• Processing of sorghum into enriched flour

• Technology for the production of groundnut paste

• Process technique for the production of peanut paste

TOTAL PHT

SHEETS

17

TOTAL 56


Annex 2. List of Partner Structures of the Project with Indication of Resource Persons and Partnership Mechanisms

Level

Institutions/ Partners/

Beneficiaries Contact

(phone and email) Statute Type of

Partnership IP IFDC

International

Fertilizer

Development Center

Dr. Oumou CAMARA

Deputy Director

North and West Africa

International Fertilizer Development

Center - IFDC

No 113A Mbabane Avenue,

East Legon Residential Area

PMB 284 CT Accra, Ghana

Tel: +2233 (0) 560 027 917

Cell: +233 (0) 269 780 484

+ 233 (0) 263 006 831

Email: [email protected]

Public

International

Organization

(PIO)

ICRA

International Centre

for development

oriented Research in

Agriculture

Mr. Sylvain DARDEL

Project Manager / Marketing Specialist

and trainer

1101 Avenue Agropolis, BP 5098, 34093

Montpellier CX05, France

Tel: +33 467 61 26 60/62 (office / bureau)

Mobile: +33 629 76 14 42

Email: Sylvain.dardel @icra-edu.org

Website: www.icra-edu.org

Public Sub-Award

CP

Cultural Practice

LLC

Ms. Deborah RUBIN

Co-Director

Cultural Practice, LLC

4300 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 305

Bethesda, MD 20814-4444

Telephone: 301/654-1787


NGO Sub-Award

Continental AU

Africa Union

Dr. Mahawa Kaba WHEELER

Director Woman, Gender and

Development Directorate,

African Union,

PO Box; 3243,

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia


Public MoU

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.icra-edu.org/




Level




Partnership AU

SAFGRAD

Semi-Arid Africa

Agricultural

Research and

Development

Dr. Ahmed ELMEKAS

Program Coordinator

and Research Officer

SAFGRAD | African Union Commission

Ouagadougou Burkina Faso

Tel: 22625306071 & 78603562

[email protected]

[email protected]

Regional UEMOA/WAEMU

West African

Economic and

Monetary Union

Mr. Jonas GBIAN

Commissioner

Department of Food Security, Agriculture,

Mines and Environment

UEMOA

380 Av. Du Professeur Joseph Ki Zerbo,

01 BP 453 Ouagadougou 01 (+226) 25

32 87 75 / (+226) 70 28 45 34

[email protected];

[email protected]

Public MoU

CEDEAO/

ECOWAS

Economic

Community of West

African States

Mr. Alain Sy TRAORE

Director, Agriculture & Rural

Development

The ECOWAS Commission

101, Yakubu Gowon Crescent – Asokoro

PMB 401 – Abuja FCT – Nigeria


Tel: +234(0)8032596402

Public MoU

CORAF/WECARD

West and Central

Africa Council for

Agricultural

Research and

Development

Dr. Abdou TENKOUANO

Executive Director

7 Avenue Bourguiba, BP.48 Dakar-RP.

SENEGAL

Tel:+221-33-869.96.18

Fax:+221-33-869.96.31


Public MoU

CILSS

Permanent

Inter-State

Committee for

Drought Control in

the Sahel

Djimé ADOUM (Ph.D.)

Executive Secretary

03 PO Box 7049 Ouagadougou 03,

Burkina Faso

Tel: +226 25 37 41 25

Fax: + 226 25 37 41 32

GSM: +226 70 20 75 77


Public MoU









Level




Partnership CILSS/INSAH

Permanent

Inter-State

Committee for

Drought Control in

the Sahel/Sahel

Institute

Dr. Sibiri Jean OUEDRAOGO

CILSS/INSAH Natural Resource

Management Expert

Bamako, Mali

(+223) 20 22 47 06

Mobile: +223 70750166


CILSS/

AGRHYMET

Permanent

Inter-State

Committee for

Drought Control in

the Sahel/

AGRHYMET

Regional Center

(ARC)

Mr. Issifou ALFARI

Head of Information and Research

Department

P.O. Box 11011 Niamey – Niger

Tel: (227) 20.31.53.16 / 20.31.54.36

Fax: (227) 20.31.54.35


CILSS/AGIR

Permanent

Inter-State

Committee for

Drought Control in

the Sahel/Global

Alliance for

Resilience

Mr. Issa Martin BIKIENGA

Coordinator AGIR

03 BP 7156 Ouagadougou 03

Burkina Faso

Mobile: (00 226) 70 26 07 58

E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

PR-PICA

Regional Program

for Integrated Cotton

Production in Africa

Mr. Felix SAWADOGO

Executive Secretary of PR-PICA

01 BP: 1234 Bobo-Dioulasso 01

Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Tel (Bur): (+226) 20 98 59 01

Cell: (+226) 70 07 73 51 - 76595501


Public LoA+

Sub-Grant

CRS/RECOLTE

Catholic Relief

Services

RECOLTE project

Mr. Adama SIENOU

Deputy Chief of Party RECOLTE

Catholic Relief Services

Zone industrielle Gounghin, 01 BP 469

Ouagadougou Office: +226.50.34.31.65

Cell: +226.67.36.09.63


NGO LoA

COTIMES –

AFRIQUE

Cotton and World

Industries Expertise

and Services, Benin

Mr. Marcellin AKPOUE

Director General

Cotonou, Benin

[email protected]

Tel: +229 21 32 23 94 /

+229 97 95 90 98

Private Contract









Level




Partnership ROPPA

Network of Farmers’

and Agricultural

Producers’

Organization of

West Africa

Mr. Ousséni OUEDRAOGO

Executive Secretary

ROPPA

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Tel.: (00226) 25 36 08 25

Fax: (00226) 25 36 26 13

Email:[email protected]

Private LoA

ACA

African Cotton

Association, Benin

Mr. Adéyèmi A. FAHALA

Permanent Secretary

Cotonou, Benin


[email protected]

Tel: +229 21 33 73 31 / +229 97 11 96 79

Private LoA

PROPAC

Sub-regional

Platform of Farmers

Organizations in

Central Africa

Mr. Celestin NGA

Executive Secretary

Yaoundé, Cameroun

Tel: (00237)-67-771-2016

Email:[email protected];

[email protected]

Private LoA

PRASAC

Regional Research

Center Applied to

the Development of

Savana Areas of

Central Africa

Dr. Salomon NAMKOSSERENA

Director General

BP 764 N’Djamena, Chad

Tel: (+235) 22 52 70 24

Email: [email protected];

[email protected]

Public LoA

AProCA

African Cotton

Producers

Association (Mali)

Mr. Youssouf SIDIBE

Permanent Secretary

Bamako, Mali

Mobile: +223-72 73 70 70;

+223-62 73 70 70


Private LoA

GREEN CROSS-

Burkina Faso

Non-Governmental

Organization

Mr. Ousséni DIALLO

Coordinator

Green Cross – Ouagadougou, Burkina

Faso

Tel: (+226) 70204161 /+226 78817877


NGO LoA

SAVANA

SAVANA France

Representative

Office in Burkina

Mr. Georges Henri NIKIEMA

Development Manager, West Africa

PROPHYMA/SAVANA


[email protected]

Bur: (+226) 20985829/209839

Cell: (+226) 76656045/60590098

Tel: +33 450 26 61 74


Private LoA




tel:(00237)-67-771-2016








tel:+226%2020%2098%2058%2029

tel:+226%2076%2065%2060%2045



Level




Partnership AfDB

African

Development Bank

Mrs. Nathalie GAHUNGA

AfDB, Chief Gender Officer

RDGW2

Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire

Tel: +22520263383

Mobile: +225-77305232


Private Collaboration

Ignitia

Swedish Company

Mrs. Lizzie MERRILL

Project Manager

Accra; Ghana


Tel: +233-502 677 297

Private Contract

Benin International

Fertilizer

Development Centre

(IFDC), Benin

Mr. Mathias AHOUNOU

Country Representative

Cotonou, Benin

[email protected]

Tel: +229 97 50 33 15

PIO

ANaF

Association National

Association of

Women Farmers of

Benin

Mrs. Louise AYLARA

President

Bohicon, Benin

[email protected]

Tel: +229 97 17 67 35/95 45 27 24

Private Sub-Grant

DQIFE/Ex-DICAF

Directorate for

Quality of

Innovations and

Entrepreneurial

Training

Mr. Damien AGUEH

Director

Cotonou, Benin

[email protected]

Tel: +229 97 88 14 85

Public Sub-Grant

OBEPAB

Beninese

Organization for the

Promotion of

Organic Agriculture

Dr. Simplice D. VODOUHE

Coordinator

Cotonou, Benin


Tel: +229 96 69 10 96 /+229 95 60 78 68

NGO Sub-Grant

INRAB

National Agricultural

Research Institute in

Benin

Dr. Patrice ADEGBOLA

Director General


Tel: +229 97 35 40 56

Public Sub-Grant

Dr. Alexis HOUGNI

Director

Agricultural Research Center

Cotton and Fibers

CRA-CF/INRAB

Cotonou, Benin


Tel: +229 95 45 47 66










Level




Partnership FUPRO

Federation of

Producers Unions of

Benin

Mr. Charles GNANGASSI

Executive Director

Bohicon, Benin

[email protected]

Tel: +229 96 03 70 06 / +229 97 43 06 40

Private Sub-Grant

Burkina Faso IFDC

International

Fertilizer

Development Centre,

Burkina Faso

Dr. Sansan YOUL



Mobile: +22676003868/+22670264538


PIO

Dr. Ibrahim N. SOURABIE

Acting CoP of USAID C4CP

IFDC-North and West Africa

11 BP 82 CMS

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 11

Tel. +226 25 37 45 03/05

Mobile + 226 70 70 70 60

Email: [email protected] ou

[email protected]

COPSA-C

Agricultural Services

Cooperative Coobsa

Mrs. Félicité KAMBOU

Director Founzan, Burkina Faso

Mobile: +226-76009899


Private Sub-Grant

FNZ

Federation

NIAN ZWE

Mr. Arzouma NAMORO

President

Léo, Burkina Faso

Mobile: +226-76493670


Private Sub-Grant

INERA

National

Environment and

Agricultural

Research of Burkina

Faso

Dr. Hamidou TRAORE

Director


Tel: (00226)25340270

Mobile :(00226)70258060

Email: [email protected] Public Sub-Grant

Dr. Bazoumana KOULIBALY

Head of Cotton Program

INERA


+226-70239005


SOCOMA Mr. Ali COMPAORE

Director General


Mobile: +226-70214690


Private Sub-Grant +

LoA









Level




Partnership SOFITEX

Textile and Fiber

Company of Burkina

Faso

Mr. Wilfried YAMEOGO

Director General


Tel: +226-20970025


Private LoA

UNPCB

National Union of

Cotton Producers of

Burkina Faso

Mr. Moussa DIOUNOU

Coordinator


Mobile: +226-79383884


Private Sub-Grant

UGCPA/BM

Union of Greoups

for the Marketing of

Agricultural

Products of the

Boucle of Mouhoun

Mr. Soumabéré DIOM

Executive Secretary

Dédougou, Burkina Faso

Mobile: +226-70 24 47 98


Private Sub-Grant

Chad CotonTchad SN Mr. Fauba PADACKE

Deputy Director General

Moundou, Chad

Tel: (+235)22 51 66 79

Email: [email protected];

Public Sub-Grant

ITRAD

Chadian Institute of

Agronomic Research

for Development

Dr. Koye DJONDANG,

Director General

Ndjamena, Chad

Tel: (+235) 66 26 83 09


Public Sub-Grant Dr. Michel NAITORMBAIDE

Head of the Regional Research Center

Station

Bebedjia, Chad

Tel: +23566298766/99129568


ANADER

National Agency for

Rural Development

(ex-ONDR)

Mr. Souleymane MAHAMAT

ELMAHADI

Director General

Ndjamena, Chad

Tel: (+235) 66 26 51 05

[email protected]

Public Sub-Grant

Mali IFDC

Bamako, Mali Office

Mr. Amadou OUADIDJE


Bamako, Mali

Tel: (+ 223) 44 90 01 22/44 90 05 61

Cell: (+223) 76 23 40 42/66 98 02 36


PIO










Level




Partnership CMDT

Malian Company for

Textile Development

Mr Ibrahima W. SISSOKO

General Manager

Bamako, Mali

Cell:76 181387


Public Sub-Grant

IER

Institute of Rural

Economy

Dr Odiaba SAMAKE

Director of CRRA

Sikasso, Mali


Public Sub-Grant Dr. Fagaye SISSOKO

Agronomist - Cotton Program

Sikasso, Mali

Tel: (00223)21 26 01 07/21 26 03 31

Cell: (00223)66 79 81 71


FENABE

National Federation

of Producers of

Organic and

Equitable

Agriculture of Mali

Mr. Hamidou BAGAYOKO

Executive Secretary

Bamako, Mali

Cell: 76033524


NGO Sub-Grant

OHVN

Office of the Haute

Vallée du Niger

Dr. Mamadou KANE

Director General

Bamako, Mali

Tel: + 223 20230380/66964636


Public Sub-Grant

Ghana Image AD

Mr. Adom Bentil KWAME

Chief Executive Officer

244 Kofi Kportophy Stree West Legon,

Accra, P.O. Box : AN 16909, Accra-

North, Ghana

Tel: +233(0)264295054


Private Contract








Annex 3. Key Issues Discussed at the Learning Event

Key findings and conclusions from the Evaluation Report that

need stakeholders’ learning and

collaboration for the way forward

What are the appropriate

learning questions to formulate?

(maximum three recommended)

What are the key learning sub-questions to guide learning discussions?

Objectives and expected results from the learning

sessions

Appropriate discussion

format1 during the learning

event

Key stakeholders2 concerned

1. Putting in place a platform

for the exchange of

information and facilitation

of dialogue on the creation

of policies in the cotton

sector in western and central

Africa

To decide on new directions

for the West African cotton

sector, UEMOA and IFDC

will plan a workshop with

major actors in the cotton

chain, the ministries of

agriculture, the ministries of

commerce, national and

regional partners who were

members of USAID C4CP,

organizations involved in the

value chain, national

marketing agencies involved

in the value chain of cotton,

other leaders involved in other

1. What

organizations and

mode of

operation are

needed for an

effective and

sustainable

stakeholders’

platform for the

cotton sector in

WCA?

a. Which key actors?

b. What organization and

what operation mode?

c. What condition for

sustainability?

d. What type of

communication?

e. What type of

relations with existing

initiatives?

f. What resource

mobilization mechanism?

g. How to ensure

sustainability?

Objectives

Create an effective stakeholder

platform for the cotton sector in

WCA

Results

• Key actors are identified

• The structuring process

is defined

• The role of each actor is

defined

• The consensual

facilitator/trainer is

appointed

• Functional relationships

with existing initiatives are

established

• An effective mechanism

for funding mobilization is

defined

• Discussion

groups

• Plenary

sessions

• Economic communities

o ECOWAS, UEMOA,

CILSS

• Research

o CORAF, PR-PICA,

UA/SAFGRAD+ 9 SNRA

• Governments

o 9 Ministry Agriculture/

Trade (8 UEMOA

countries + Chad)

• NGOs/Associations

o Benin (ANAF, FUPRO)

o Burkina (COPSAC,

UGCPA/BM, UNPCB)

o Mali (FENABE, OHVN)

o Chad (ATOSA)

o 5 NGOs/Associations

(Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea

Bissau, Niger, Senegal)

o CRS/RECOLTE

o GREEN CROSS

• Private sector

1 This refers to the proposed format that could be adopted for the Learning Event discussions, e.g., breakout sessions, panel discussions, plenary, etc. 2 All the relevant actors required to effectively discuss the issues identified in the key learning questions. This has the added value of helping us ensure we are

targeting the right participants for the event.










sessions



event


donor projects, and other

international donors and

NGOs.

o SAVANA, TOGUNA SA,

COTIMES Afrique

• 9 cotton companies (8 UEMOA

countries + Chad)

• Regional apex organizations –

producers and ginners

o ROPPA, AProCA, ACA


processors

o OPICT, AIFO

2. Strengthening Regional

Coordination of the

Cotton Sector in Western

and Central Africa

• USAID, in collaboration

with other donors, should

strengthen the capacity of

UEMOA & ECOWAS in

terms of human capital

improvement to undertake

the new platform

proposed.

2. Which

skills/capacities

do RECs need to

ensure effective

coordination of

the cotton sector

in WCA?

a. Which actor to facilitate

the TCB process?

b. What are the needs in

TCB?

c. How should funding be

mobilized?

d. What planning is needed

for the implementation of

TCB?

e. Which actors need

support?

Objectives

Identify skills and capacities to

ensure effective coordination of

the cotton sectors in WCA

Results

• A facilitator (technical

arm) of the process is

appointed

• Specific needs of RECs in

TCB are identified

• Group

discussions

• Plenary

sessions


o ECOWAS

o UEMOA

o CILSS

• Research

o CORAF

o PR-PICA

o UA SAFGRAD

o 9 SNRA

• TFP

o FAO, AFD, EU, French

Embassy










sessions



event


• USAID should encourage

UEMOA & ECOWAS to

develop, with the support

of IFDC, a strategic

regional plan for cotton

development and food

security attainment within

the region.

• Strengthen the regional

bodies already identified

by USAID C4CP that

have the mandate to work

across regional

boundaries in order to

respond to the various

project objectives. These

bodies can be delegated

by UEMOA to take the

lead for each of the main

objectives with guidance

and support from

UEMOA in collaboration

with IFDC.



established

• A TCB action plan is

developed

o ICRA

o BAD

• Regional apex organizations of

farmers and processors

o AProCA, ACA

o OPICT, AIFO










sessions



event


3. Increasing Agricultural

Productivity in West Africa as

a Contribution to Food and

Nutritional Security

▪ UEMOA, with the

support of IFDC, should

work with regional bodies

like ROPPA, AproCA,

PR-PICA, ACA and

others to regionalize the

production of cotton. The

regional organizations

should develop a plan for

how they will use the

approach and

technologies developed

and disseminate them

from the USAID C4CP

project to bring change in

the cotton sector.

▪ UEMOA can work with

the various ministries of

agriculture, ECOWAS,

IFDC, FAO and

interested partners on

chemical use, disposal,

regulations and

enforcement.

3. How to

strengthen

resilience for

food and

nutritional

security in

WCA?

a. How to increase

productivity sustainably?

b. How to increase the

participation of young

people and women in the

cotton sector?

c. How to increase the

resilience of producers?

d. How to mobilize

funding?

Objectives

1

Reinforcing the resilience of

producers in WCA

2

Increasing food and nutritional

security in WCA

Results

R1

• Innovative technologies

are transferred

• The proportion of young

people and women

involved in the cotton

sector is increased



defined

R2

Food and nutritional security of

populations in WCA is

increased

• Discussion

groups

• Plenary

sessions


o ECOWAS, UEMOA,

CILSS

• Research

o CORAF, PR-PICA, UA

SAFGRAD

9 SNRAs

• Governments

o 9 Ministry Agriculture/

Trade (8 UEMOA

countries + Chad)



o Burkina (COPSAC,

UGCPA/BM, UNPCB)


o Chad (ATOSA)

o 5 NGOs/Associations

(Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea

Bissau, Niger, Senegal)

o CRS/RECOLTE

o GREEN CROSS

• Private sector

o SAVANA, TOGUNA SA

• 09 cotton companies (08

UEMOA countries + Chad)













sessions



event


▪ UEMOA, with the


develop a strategic plan

incorporating all leaders

within the sector and

others that demonstrate

the sector can operate as a

regional unit by

delegating responsibility

to each body but at the

same time serving as an

umbrella organization for

the various groups.

▪ UEMOA, with the


develop a plan to show

how the regional bodies

will work as a team or in

close collaboration as a

union. This plan should

show the net benefits to

be derived from any

collaborative efforts.

▪ The process of

technology development,

especially in the areas of

soil health and nutrient

balance, should be

continued by regional

• TFP

o ICRA

o BAD

o FAO

o European Union










sessions



event


organizations such as PR-

PICA and CILSS in close

collaboration with IFDC.

These institutions should

be asked in concert with

the various Ministries of

Agriculture and Natural

Resources and private

business entities to

develop soil maps with

fertilizer

recommendations for

economic crop production

in each of the C-4

countries.

▪ In order to reach a larger

segment of the women

population and better

empower them, an effort

should be made to

increase men’s awareness

of the plight of women. In

order to have a paradigm

shift to provide women

with a greater voice in

society and to attain

equality for women, the

education and training of

men in women’s affairs










sessions



event


must be institutionalized.

Men should be registered

at after-school training

programs or in field

schools in the “ECOLE

DES MARIS,” a set of

concepts to sensitize men

and make them aware that

each man is the brother or

the father of a woman.

4. Improving the

Competitiveness of the Cotton

Sector in Western and Central

Africa

▪ UEMOA, with the


work with regional bodies

like ROPPA, AProCA,

PR-PICA, ACA and

others to regionalize the

marketing of cotton. The

regional organizations

should develop a plan for

how they will use the

approach and

technologies developed

and disseminate them

from the USAID C4CP

4. How to improve

access to markets

for food and

nutritional

security in

WCA?

a. How to increase product

processing?

b. How to improve product

quality norms and

standards?

c. How to improve access to

markets?

d. How to mobilize

funding?

Objectives

Improve access to agricultural

products

Results

• Access to markets for

quality products is

increased

• Product standardization is

promoted

• Discussion

groups

• Plenary

sessions


o ECOWAS, UEMOA,

CILSS

• Research

o CORAF, PR-PICA, 9

SNRAs

• Governments

o 9 Ministry

(Agriculture/Trade)



o Burkina (COPSAC,

UGCPA/BM, UNPCB)


o Chad (ATOSA)

o 5 NGOs/Associations (Côte

d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau,

Niger, Senegal, Togo)

o CRS/RECOLTE










sessions



event


▪ project to bring change in

the cotton sector.

▪ UEMOA, with the


conduct rigorous

technical, economic,

financial and sociological

studies on its proposed

plans for improvement of

the cotton sector in the

USAID C4CP countries

and beyond. The plan

should include all

ministries of trade,

marketing bodies for

inputs and outputs and

major operators of the

value chain to study

various commercial

activities that include:

joint purchase of inputs;

joint cotton processing

and marketing of cotton

and cotton products.

• Private sector

o COTIMES

• 9 cotton companies (8 UEMOA

countries + Chad)





producers and processors

• OPICT, AIFO


producers and processors

o AProCA, ACA

o OPICT, AIFO

o CERFITEX


Annex 4. Roadmap

No. Recommendations Actions Structure in Charge

Deadline Partner

Structures

1 Set up an information

exchange platform

Boost the functioning of the RAIS UEMOA 2019-2020 USAID IFDC

Develop the platform portal UEMOA 2019-2020 IFDC

2

Strengthen the

coordination of the

platform

Provide technical support for the

operationalization of the platform

IFDC 2018 CORAF, PR-PICA

Mobilize funding for strengthening the

coordination of the platform

IFDC UEMOA 2019-2020 USAID

Establish a regional mechanism for

aggregating data at the regional level

IFDC 2018-2020 ACA, AProCA,

UEMOA, CEDEAO,

UA (FRPC), CORAF,

CILSS, PR-PICA

Establish a national mechanism for

collecting country data

Cotton interprofessional

organizations

2018-2020 Cotton companies,

Ministries of Research

and Extension, private

sector

Strengthen actors’ capacities IFDC 2018-2020 Partners at national

and regional levels

3 Increase agricultural

productivity in WCA

Large-scale dissemination of GAPs and

PHTs developed by IFDC

Interprofessional organizations Private sector,

National actors

2018-2020 UEMOA, ACA,

AProCA, CORAF,

PR-PICA, IFDC,

CILSS ROPPA,

SAVANA, CRS,

GREEN CROSS,

national partners

Promote the use of weather forecast

information (SMS)

Interprofessional organizations,

Private sector,

National actors

2018-2020 National partners

UEMOA, IFDC,

IGNITIA, CILSS/

AGRHYMET

PR-PICA, CORAF


No. Recommendations Actions Structure in Charge

Deadline Partner

Structures

Accelerate the extension of supplemental

irrigation

Ministries of Agriculture, Water, Research; Interprofessional

organizations, Private sector, National actors

2018 CORAF, IFDC,

PR-PICA

Popularize new formulas of less acidifying

fertilizers


Private sector,

National actors

2018 PR-PICA, IFDC,

CORAF, UEMOA

Promote the use of appropriate agricultural

equipment for various agricultural

operations (fertilizer application, pesticide

treatments, seeding).


Private sector,

National actors

2018 PR-PICA, IFDC,

CORAF UEMOA

4

Improve the

competitivity of the

cotton sector

Create an environment favorable to the

adoption of international norms and

standards

UEMOA 2019-2020 COTIMES Afrique,

IFDC

Bring cotton grading laboratories up to

standard

Cotton companies 2018-2020 UEMOA, private

sector, COTIMES

Afrique, commercial

banks, BAD, BID,

BOAD, USAID FIDA

Strengthen the capacities of regional

interprofessional organizations to advance

advocacy of standardization of cotton

grading laboratories

COTIMES Afrique

IFDC

2018-2020 UEMOA, AProCA,

ACA, ROPPA

PROPAC, national

partners

Promote cotton processing technologies and

rotational crops


Private sector,

National Actors

2019-2020 UEMOA, ACA,

AProCA, OPICT

USAID C4-Cotton Partnership (C4CP) Project · 2020. 10. 5. · Centre international pour la...

Documents

Transcript of USAID C4-Cotton Partnership (C4CP) Project · 2020. 10. 5. · Centre international pour la...