Carter Center Global Health Efforts - Togo

Activities By Country

Fighting Disease: Togo

Increasing Food Production

In addition to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, The Carter Center began assisting Togo with agricultural development in the early 1990s as part of an overarching vision to build healthier lives in the country.

From 1993 to 1998, the Carter Center's Agriculture Program, in partnership with the Sasakawa Africa Association, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug until his death in 2009, helped Togolese farmers improve food security in Togo. The Togolese program was part of a larger effort, known as SG 2000, that helped more than 8 million small-scale sub-Saharan African farmers grow more food and enjoy better nutrition and health.

The prescription was simple: Farmers were provided with credit for fertilizers and seeds to grow production test plots. As part of a post-harvest program in 1996, 360 cribs and 90 silos were constructed to store produce. A year later, in conjunction with Togo's Ministry of Rural Development, 1,000 Togolese farmers planted a total of 500 maize test plots, 500 cassava test plots, 300 rice test plots, 750 mucuna plots, and 150 quality protein maize test plots.

Following successful harvests that usually doubled or tripled crop yields, the farmers taught their neighbors about the new technologies, creating a ripple effect to stimulate food self-sufficiency in the nation. Through this program, tens of thousands of farmers have learned how to integrate green manure and weed control legume into their cropping systems in order to increase crop yield. Adopting new technologies to improve crop yield is only half the battle, as farmers then had to find ways to sell their surplus crops.

The program also helped Togolese farmers identify local markets for these surpluses, because transporting them can be costly and inefficient. Often, road conditions are poor or impassable, and farmers rarely have places to store their harvested crops. These obstacles can force farmers to sell their harvest during peak harvesting season alongside other farmers, greatly reducing the margin of profit. Program projects also focused on post-harvest technologies, including methods for processing and storing. Neighboring countries in the program that share crop seasons were encouraged to foster lasting cooperative efforts.

During the five years of the program's work in Togo, 15 rural savings and loan companies were established, helping more than 2,000 farmers to save their money and develop their farms. These successes and others in agricultural development programming led The Carter Center and the Sasakawa Africa Association to end its in-country food security activities in Togo in 1998.