1.0. INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is considered the backbone of most economies in the world, especially in Africa.  Located on Africa’s west coast, Togo is bordered by Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso and is home to approximately 7.8 million people. Although the poverty rate fell from 61.7% in 2006 to 53.5% in 2017, poverty and inequality remain extremely high, particularly in rural areas where 69% of households were living below the poverty line in 2015 (IBRD, World Bank). Togo is one of the West African countries that solely depends on the agricultural sector because of its contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the involvement of the active population in the sector. The agricultural sector contributes more than 40% of Togo’s GDP and also employs nearly 65% of its active population. The Togolese agricultural sector is mainly food crops based including; cassava, millet, yams, maize, and sorghum and are mostly used domestically.  However, the small farmers enjoyed valuable returns on the cash crops which are mainly cocoa, coffee, cotton, and palm oil and they provide 40 percent of exports. The fertile land in Togo expands over 3.6 million hectares, which is 60% of the Togolese territory. Out of this area, 1.4 million hectares or 41% of the total area are sown. Given its significance in the economy, the launching of the national development plan (under the second axis) running from 2018 to 2022 holds the agricultural sector at heart.

Source: https: www.africanewsagency.

1.0. AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN TOGO

The agricultural sector represents the greatest potential in terms of business opportunities and rapid job and wealth creation, particularly for young people and women in Togo. The agricultural sector in the early 1980s through the 90s was dominated by cotton through exports (FAO, 2016). The cotton production however almost 230,000 people, predominantly small farmers. The production and the cultivation of cotton have expanded since the mid-1980s. In 1986, the output increased to 200,000 whiles the production stabilized at 190,000 metric tons in the 1999-2000 season. Regarding the land coverage, about 163,420 hectares were under cotton cultivation during the 1999-2000 season. In 2018, the agricultural sector accounted for 23% of GDP and agricultural land makes up more than 70% of Togo’s land area, according to World Bank data. The sector is also key to many citizens’ livelihoods, with more than 60% of the population employed in small-scale farming. Moreover, the cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, and cotton make up about 20% of the country’s export earnings, and growth in the agricultural sector’s output rose from 3.95% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2017, according to its Ministry of Agriculture. To reduce Togo’s significant regional disparities and boost food security and growth, improve social inclusion, the agricultural transformation from production to processing is a central tenet of Togo’s national development plan (PND) 2018-22.

1.1. Food Crops

Food crops make up 70% of Togo’s agricultural output. They are primarily destined for local consumption rather than exportation. They include mainly grains and tubers.  Grains, represent 56% of the calorie supply of plant-based foods consumed in Togo. Corn represented 51% of grains, followed by rice (20%), sorghum (17%), and wheat (9%) in the 2014-2017 while cassava (61.8% of all tubers) and yam (37.8%).

1.2. Corn

Corn is grown by 1.5 million Togolese farmers across four agro-ecological zones, over more than 700,000 hectares (40% of total lands dedicated to food crops). Corn farming has kept increasing since 1990, in the northern region especially. For the 2018-2019 agricultural campaign, maize output stood at 886,630 tons which are being consumed both in rural and urban areas. Corn, however, generates an average net income of XOF223,000 per hectare (latest data), making it the main source of revenue of farms, right after popular cash crops.

1.3. Rice

Rice is grown in the Savanna region. Compared to imports from Asia mainly, it is relatively expensive to cultivate. To boost rice production, in the Djagblé plain especially in 2018, Togo produced 145,000 tons of rice.

1.4. Sorghum and millet

Sorghum is quite present in the farms of the Kara and Savanna regions and the most grown grain. It is used mostly to make “tchoukoutchou”, a local drink. It is often grown together with millet. On the other hand, in terms of annual output, millet is the least popular grain in Togo. The combined outputs of sorghum and millet were at 303,000 tons in 2018.

1.5. Tubers (Yam and cassava)

Yam is mostly cultivated in Kpalimé and Bassar. It is mainly used to make “fufu,” which is a meal consumed in many West African countries. From 78,100 tons in 2015, Togo’s yam output rose to 859,000 tons in 2018. For cassava, it is produced only in the south (Agoè, Tabligbo, Tsévié, Vogan, Aného) and used to prepare fufu or be transformed into gari or tapioca. Over the past five years, the country’s cassava production was around a million tons.

1.6. Cotton

Grown essentially in the Plateaux and Savanna regions, this cash crop recorded a major boom in 2011 and increased slightly the following year. In 2018 however, cotton output stood at 127,500 tons according to the BCEAO (exports to Europe generated more than $11 million). This year (2019-2020 campaign), cotton exports are expected to exceed 150,000 tons.

1.7. Coffee and cocoa

Both crops were introduced to Togo by the Germans during the colonial period. Together, they contribute 1.2% of the GDP and are grown by around 32,000 farmers. Coffee, on the other hand, is cultivated in the Plateaux region (Kpalimé, Atakpamé, and Badou). Since 1990, Togo’s coffee production has been rising slowly: 11,000 tons in 1998 to 17,000 tons in 2003. Coffee farms cover more than 40,000 hectares. Coffee outputs were 1,090 tons, 4,883 tons, and 3,465 tons (while exported volumes were 476 tons, 2,089 tons, and 2,379 tons in the same periods) in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively. Cocoa is almost solely cultivated in Kpalimé, Atakpamé, and Badou. They are known as the “triangle de café et de cacao” (the triangle of coffee and cocoa).

2.0. RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND AGRICULTURE IN TOGO

In recent years, Togo's economic growth has remained relatively stable in recent years, averaging 5%. Even though the sector is under-utilized and poorly developed, there are potentials for improving the processing of agricultural products, most notably in rural areas. Exports are dominated by primary goods such as cotton and coffee and cocoa beans. The Togolese development policy relies on the structural transformation of the economy to reduce the poverty in rural areas. This was a program by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which was co-funded by European Union (EU). It aims to expand agricultural production chains with high employment and export potential. Although public investment has helped to increase food production in the past, efficient production systems, technical and organizational skills and innovative business models are still lacking. The market focus, food security and food quality all need to be improved significantly. The project supported production for the national and international market as well as the self-sufficiency of small farmers. Together with financial services providers, the project is developing loans that are adapted to the circumstances of small-scale farming. In addition, the program advises the government on improving the overall framework conditions for agriculture. The project supports both investments in the country and exports in order to positively influence long-term economic growth.

Source: https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/14998.html.

The program however resulted in the following. the development of the selected fruit, spices, coffee, cocoa, and pineapple production chains made significant progress in the preceding project stages. the self-organization of the actors in the value chains was strengthened above all in the coffee, cocoa, and vegetable sector associations. moreover, the project has supported over 30,000 vegetable, coffee, cocoa, and pineapple producers in their organizational development. further, more than 9,100 farmers have been trained in better agricultural practices and entrepreneurship. again, more than 77% of the participants are demonstrably applying the new skills and, as a result, their income increased by an average of 30% in 2018.  Meanwhile, the producers have gained access to international markets thanks to the alliance with the private sector. Again, processing enterprises have been supported and new jobs created employing about 26,400 people in cashew production and around 4,000 in pineapple production. Moreso, ProDRA has established environmentally friendly production practices. Furthermore, 76% of companies have already adopted environmentally friendly production practices in the pineapple sector, including almost 13,000 organic cocoa producers. Between 2017 and 2019 alone, more than 850 producers received loans while more than 3,750 cashew and pineapple producers have been trained in finance management and training in agricultural risk assessment has been provided to 87 bank employees.

1.0. TOGO AGRICULTURE SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT (PASA)

With the Togo Agriculture Sector Support Project (PASA), $19 million to rehabilitate and reinforce productive capacities among targeted beneficiaries across selected value chains and foster an enabling institutional environment for the development of the agricultural sector. Yields have been consistently low for food crops and the performance of the main export crops (cotton, coffee, and cocoa) has been deteriorating. Meat and fish production are also low and the country relies on imports to make up for its food deficit. Key challenges also include weak institutional capacities, insufficient coordination, and weak service delivery due to a deteriorated business climate.

Togo’s Agriculture Sector Support Project (PASA) rehabilitated and reinforced productive capacities across selected value chains and fostered an enabling institutional environment for agriculture sector development. The project supported the Government’s National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Program, which aimed to improve strategic food crops, export crops, and freshwater fish. Through the provision of support for capacity building and coordination, the project enabled the institutional set-up for sound agricultural investments. The projects supported the following activities: the marketing of rice and maize and traditional export crops like cotton, coffee, and cocoa; freshwater fish farming by facilitating access to production technologies, training, critical inputs, land security, and financial resources from local banks; and capacity building of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries to manage the implementation of its national investment plan and to rehabilitate the productive capacity of strategic food and export crops as well as freshwater fish production.

As a result of better access to farm inputs and improved farming practices under PASA, rice yields increased by 30 percent. Other key achievements include increased employment opportunities (permanent jobs and seasonal employments) in rural areas for youth (farm seasonal labor) and women (processing of paddy rice). The project enabled 13,979 beneficiaries to become members of an association or cooperative. For the coffee and cocoa sectors, key achievements included the rehabilitation of 17,174 hectares of coffee and 11,578 hectares of cocoa plantations using improved planting material and the reform of coffee/ cocoa value chains. Key achievements included 6,951 tons of freshwater fish production (far exceeding the project target of 2,500 tons) and an increased livestock population of over 64,000 small ruminants and about 181,775 poultry. The project benefited 877,191 people, of whom 13 percent were women, surpassing the target of 525,700 beneficiaries in total. The project recorded increased employment opportunities in rural areas for youth and women, particularly in the areas of farm seasonal labor and paddy rice processing, respectively.

2.0. FUNDINGS OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE MIDST COVID-19

2.1. Economic Situation

The COVID-19 pandemic could slow the economic momentum of recent years. Despite the unfavorable international economic conditions, marked by heightened trade tensions and a persistent security threat, Togo’s economy continued to perform well in 2019, with an estimated 5.3% growth rate that was driven by an upturn in public investment, expansion in the construction sector, and improved agricultural productivity.

Growth prospects severely undermined by the duration and intensity of the COVID-19 crisis. The slowdown in global economic growth, coupled with the prevention measures for containing the virus contagion, could reduce production, domestic consumption, and exports. Revenues could plummet, whereas additional expenditures are essential to robust health and economic response and the protection of businesses and households hardest hit by the crisis.

Source: https://www.afdb.org/en/.

However, to help curb the effects of COVID-19 in Africa, the African Development Bank has set up a COVID-19 Response Facility (CRF) of up to $10 billion to provide its Regional Member Countries the resources necessary to deal with the pandemic. African Development Bank (ADB) approved the reallocation of $3 million in loan resources to help Togo purchase agricultural inputs to enhance food security in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The approval on 18 June, enables required funds from a previously approved African Development Fund (ADF) loan to be channeled to the Togo Agro-Food Processing Project (PTA-Togo), for the purchase of fertilizers, organic pesticides, and seeds for approximately 150,000 smallholder farmers. The implements intend to help farmers to handle the effects of COVID-19 during the coming cropping season.

https://www.worldbank.org.

In addition, since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March, African governments have adopted strict containment measures, which have had adverse economic effects across the continent. The health crisis has already disrupted food chains through its impacts on food supply and demand, and a decline in producers' purchasing power, production capacity, and access to agricultural inputs. The Government of Togo averts such a crisis by taking the appropriate measures, in particular by purchasing quality agricultural inputs for producers. The use of these inputs is projected to boost additional production of 12,700 tonnes of maize, 18,000 tonnes of rice, 1,700 tonnes of sesame seeds and 2,200 tonnes of market garden produce. Further, a budget support package worth $27.44 million to Togo, is currently under consideration to provide further support to enhance the nation’s economic and health resilience in the face of COVID-19 (ADB Group).

（Bruce Emmanuel，Assistant Researcher of CWAS，School of Management and Economics of UESTC）

Please refer to the Chinese Version published on Huanqiu.com, one of the top three rating news media in China. Huanqiu.com is a national rating on line media platform, approved by the publisher of People's Daily and the Central Internet Information Office of China. This column is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners on West African issues.

Link：https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/42jFVOOj1Jn