More than two years after the passage of Cyclone Kenneth on the Union of the Comoros, the agricultural reconstruction work of Dahari, carried out thanks to funding from theEuropean Union, bears fruit in Anjouan and Grande Comore. Discover the mid-term results of the project “Development in the Union of the Comoros, of a productive agro-ecological model resilient to climate change » which started at the beginning of 2020.
On the night of April 24 to 25, 2019, Cyclone Kenneth crossed the Comoros with a crash, killing six people, injuring 200 and directly or indirectly impacting 185 people, or more than 000% of the population. If more than 20 homes were severely affected and destroyed across the archipelago, the consequences were nonetheless catastrophic for agricultural land which was largely ravaged by the violent winds generated by the passage of the cyclone. whose eye passed less than 4 kilometers north of Grande Comore. More than half of the plantations have been affected to varying degrees in Anjouan, jeopardizing the food security of many villagers.
Dahari then did not hesitate to react quickly in the first days following the disaster to come to the aid of Comorian farmers by offering them solutions to restart their production as quickly as possible. It is thanks to funding from the European Union and the Department of Reunion that we were able to act immediately in favor of more than 1 Anjouan families whose cultures have been strongly impacted. In close collaboration with the Comorian Red Crescent, short-cycle emergency seeds (petsaï, carrot, brede mafana or even amber) were distributed and accompanied by training, while the second phase consisted of relaunching food crops (banana trees). , cassava and sweet potatoes).
Then Dahari built a medium-term agricultural reconstruction project funded by the European Union from the beginning of 2020. At the end of June 2021, 24 villages in Anjouan and Grande Comore, and more than 3 producers benefited directly from this program, whose operation revolves around three axes:
First, a territorialized extension approach was put in place, relayed by the 191 groups that Dahari has supported for almost two years. Technicians, mobilizers and community relays are brought together in trios to raise awareness among populations about agroecological production methods while adapting the learning content to specific local needs. Capacity building is organized in parallel for community relays on the themes of animation and social mobilization, planning support, and management of school-farmer field monitoring activities. As local agents from the intervention area, they play a key role in mobilizing and communicating with village producers.
Secondly, the agroecological production strategy proposed by Dahari was implemented through three activities: the preservation of soil fertility through the production of compost and the dissemination of anti-erosion techniques, crop protection based on integrated pest control and the dissemination of quality plants. health and varietal through the popularization of macro propagation techniques, in particular the PIF multiplication technique for banana trees. This technique, which makes it possible to obtain an average of 30 seedlings from the same strain, was applied to 105 sprouters which produced more than 18 seedlings during the 000-2020 campaign.
Finally, with the aim of encouraging the empowerment of producers in the supply of seeds, a seedling production and redistribution strategy of banana, cassava and sweet potato within the groups has been implemented. Initially, the groups each benefit from 10 banana seedlings per farmer, 150 cassava cuttings and 60 sweet potato vines in total. The following year, beneficiaries who have received seeds and cuttings undertake to redistribute at least as many within their group for other members. During the 2020-2021 campaign, thanks to the involvement of group leaders and community relays, the production from the groups made it possible to redistribute more banana trees and 35 cassava and sweet potato cuttings. At the same time, the regular supply of plants of varietal and health quality is ensured by the production of a network of nurseries supported by Dahari.
Thanks to these three components developed by Dahari on two islands of the archipelago, farmers were able to combat the consequences of the passage of Cyclone Kenneth, quickly relaunch more efficient agriculture and adopt techniques that will ensure better productivity in the future.
