With these agropoles, the UN organization welcomes the fact that all food-producing sectors will be integrated and will promote the diversification of agricultural products in order to guarantee food security.
The government of Cote d’Ivoire has initiated nine agropoles. This agropole project is part of the second generation National Agricultural Investment Program (PNIA 2), which is supported by the National Development Program (PND, 2021-2025).
Dr. Gouantoueu Robert Guei, Director of FAO’s West Africa and Sahel region, and FAO Resident Representative for Senegal, assured that his institution is ready to support Côte d’Ivoire in developing these agropoles, a safety valve for achieving food sovereignty.
On the sidelines of a high-level meeting on nutrition, held in Abidjan from December 6 to 8, 2022, Dr. Robert Guei, said that nutrition takes into account the entire value chain: and this, from the seed in the fields to the processing and distribution of the product.
He insisted on the diversification of what we plant, which can provide the various energy resources that the human body needs, while encouraging policies at the country level, to vary the agricultural speculations to promote other sources of nutrition.
For him, it is also necessary to ensure that in addition to plant and agricultural resources, we intensify livestock, fishing and/or aquaculture. In many African countries, there is still a lack of growth of children because of poor nutrition.
Another aspect, he noted, is the nutrition of children, which involves first of all maternal health, namely what the mother consumes when she is pregnant, then what she ingurgitates when she is breastfeeding and what the child consumes at an early age.
Nutrition also has a direct impact on the economy, as an unhealthy population cannot reach its full productivity potential, he noted. That is why FAO helps governments with policies, strategies and capacity building to increase the potential of countries.
According to Dr. Guei, “nutrition is the act of feeding ourselves with food that provides our body with vital energy. And, this food must be of good quality and above all healthy, which implies food safety.”
A healthy food starts with the selection of the types of agricultural varieties that people produce, which have a certain level of protein, as well as the production techniques, he informed, noting that “we can contaminate what we eat with the excessive use of chemicals.”
“It is necessary to take measures to reduce the use of chemicals as much as possible,” he advised. In addition, the water used to produce must be safe, and the entire value chain from seed to processing and distribution must be controlled so that the food is safe.
In addition, it is necessary to “continue to train; modernize agriculture” with new technologies and in this perspective, “Cote d’Ivoire is on a very good track,” he mentioned. The country is already committed to transforming its raw materials through massive investments in agribusiness.
On December 7, 2022, Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi launched the construction of 40 local markets, at an investment cost of 6.2 billion CFA francs, with a view to avoiding post-harvest losses of between 10 percent and 40 percent and ensuring the country’s food sovereignty.
AP/fss/abj/APA