08/08/2022 - Anne-Lise de Reforest'Action
Conducted in the field by the Togo Coffee and Cocoa Technical Unit (UTTC) and the social enterprise Kinomé, the project aims to support the coffee and cocoa sectors, which are suffering in Togo from a lack of quality plants and aging stands. The objective of these two new planting seasons is to continue the development of agroforests by installing trees of various species within the coffee and cocoa fields. In a context of increased drought in Togo for several years, the practice of agroforestry provides the necessary shade for the growth and production of coffee and cocoa plants. A total of 65,000 trees have taken root in 2021 in 97 villages in the prefectures involved in coffee and cocoa production in Togo (Agou, Kloto, Kpélé, Danyi, Amou, Akébou, Wawa and Blitta). The current season will allow the planting of 35,000 additional trees. Among them, shade trees that will also provide firewood to the villagers, as well as fruit species that will allow producers to diversify their crops and their diet through the harvesting of fruit and to obtain additional income from the sale of these fruits. From a socio-economic point of view, the project contributes to the sustainability of coffee and cocoa crops, but also to the diversification of local producers' sources of income thanks to the sale of fruit from the trees planted in agroforestry.
Each of the 542 producers associated with the project also benefits from training provided by UTTC on good tree planting practices - respect for recommended distances between agroforestry species and coffee and cocoa plants, tree maintenance instructions, etc.
At the same time, areas at risk of erosion, located on hillsides or along rivers, are being reforested in order to restore the soil and the environmental functions of these ecosystems. Some of these plots will be used to develop future coffee and cocoa agroforests.
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