USAID, John Paul II Foundation and MASHAV project

The African Market Garden (AMG) in the Semi Arid Tropics of West Africa.

Project Leader: Dov Pasternak, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger

Justification

The traditional horticulture production systems of the Sudano Sahel are labor intensive, inefficient and low productive. The African Market Garden (AMG) is a low-pressure drip irrigation system that brings to the poor farmers of Africa all the advantages of drip irrigation at a fraction of its costs.

Objectives

• Introduce within a span of three years 450 AMG units (each of 500m 2 ) to Burkina Faso and Ghana and 250 AMG units to eight additional countries
• Strengthen the horticulture industry of the region through increased regional exports, establishment of fruit trees and vegetable nurseries and crop diversification
• Training and capacity building of producers and agents involved in the horticulture sector

Expected outputs

• Increased profitability of current horticulture production systems
• New fruit trees and vegetables species and varieties introduced
• Marketing activities leading to expansion of exports

Activities

• Installation of the individual systems
• Technical follow up
• Market studies and marketing
• Continuous training

Countries involved: Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger and Chad.

Partners:

• National Agriculture Research Institutes: Burkina Faso-INERA and CNSF. Ghana-SARI
• Farmers Associations particularly APIPAC from Burkina Faso
• 20 different NGOs