Phase 3 of the Equity Program, an initiative led by Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF), in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), commenced on Monday, May 6, 2025, in Togo. The program, with a budget of 8 million euros over four years, is being implemented concurrently in Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
The program aims to improve the incomes and living conditions of small-scale producers by focusing on three key areas: the development of certified fair trade sectors, the agroecological transition, and the professionalization of agricultural cooperatives.
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“It is important to support stakeholders, especially small producers, to make a better living from their work in a context where new international regulations are being imposed, particularly on deforestation and child labor,” emphasized Komlan Edem Akomola, head of the AVSF West Africa program.
Training programs will be implemented in collaboration with institutions such as ANADER to train hundreds of cooperative technicians in practices such as agroforestry, traceability, and the use of bio-inputs.
Building on the outcomes of phases 1 and 2, the program seeks to scale up locally tested innovations. According to Kossi Djifa, Director of Agricultural Production at the Ministry of Agriculture, “this program complements the government’s efforts to make agriculture an engine of inclusive growth.”
