ACED ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Message from our Executive Director

Our experiences, our journey and our results, which we take pride in, have enabled us to experience growth on a yearly basis

2015, which corresponds to the second year of the implementation of our five-year strategic plan, was filled with activities and achievements. As a result, ACED has been able to take its place among the relevant organizations working in the area of agricultural development in Benin and West Africa. This positioning has earned us the renewed confidence of technical and financial partners who have continued their commitment by supporting new projects. ACED has also been granted the Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, providing additional credit to our actions and reinforcing our brand’s image.

The year 2015 saw the completion of the first phase of our initiative to reduce the proliferation of water hyacinths in Benin’s waters. The encouraging nature of the results obtained resulted in the elaboration and the commencement of a second phase of the initiative. Furthermore, in 2015, the centre started the implementation of one of the most innovative action research initiatives on the resilience of inland fishing in the south of Benin.

To improve the impact of our actions, specific studies were carried out in order to improve our understanding of different developmental challenges in the agricultural sector. The results of these studies enabled us to formulate relevant policy recommendations to support evidence based decisions and policies.

Relying on the dynamism of its young team and its network of partners, ACED will continue its actions in support of smallholder farmers particularly through its efforts in managing water hyacinths and the resilience of inland fishing communities in 2016. We are pleased to know that this report will be read by many of you and invite you to find out more about our activities on our website.

Capacity building for key stakeholders

PROJEC is an initiative that aims to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the protection of fish biodiversity in Lake Nokoué. During 2015, 1,456 tons of water hyacinths were collected and converted into compost by groups of market gardeners and the group of women engaged in basket weaving to whom ACED provides technical and financial support.

A second phase of PROJEC to optimize the innovation

The manufacture and use of water hyacinth compost promoted by ACED and its partner Gevalor are innovations that have been widely adopted by market gardeners in the municipality of Sô-Ava. However, its use is not effective due, on one hand, to the difficulty involved in the collection and the absence of well-defined itinerary. In addition, the marketing of vegetable products does not benefit farmers because the marketing circuit remains too long. In this context, ACED and Gevalor initiated in 2015 a project to address these constraints in order to improve the production and marketing of vegetable products. With a total of USD 73,200 (42 million CFA), this project has gained the support of the Fondation de France and will run from 2015 to 2017.

Improving the resilience of inland fishing in southern Benin

ACED initiated in 2015 the project for improving the resilience of inland fishing communities and water systems to overfishing and degradation of Benin’s water resources in partnership with the Centre for World Food Studies of VU University of Amsterdam and the Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Aquaculture (LHA) of the University of Abomey-Calavi. With a total of USD 405,000 (233 million CFA), the project has received technical and financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research’s Applied Research Fund program.

Publications and presentations

• EREP, ACED (2015) Production de biogaz à partir de biodéchets des ménages et de Jacinthe d’eau pour les usages domestiques des populations de la commune de Sô -Ava, au Bénin. Rapport intermédiaire. 54p.

• Weissenberger S., Chouinard O., Thoto F., Sarr M.D., Houessou D. (2015) Adaptation of coastal areas to climate change and variability – exchange of Canadian and African experiences. Final technical report prepared for the CRDI on the 25th of September, 2015, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p30.

• Agonvi A. (2015) Aspects biophysiques de la vulnérabilité de la zone côtière béninoise face aux changements climatiques : secteur Grand Popo - Ouidah. Mémoire de maîtrise, Option : Géographie physique. 128p.

• ACED (2015) Bénin, pour lutter contre les espèces envahissantes, le Centre ACED initie le compostage aérobie à partir de la jacinthe d’eau, AGRIDAPE, Février 2015, 17-19.

2016 Perspectives

Implementation of year 3 of the Strategic Plan

ACED is engaging in the third year of the implementation of its 2014–2018 Strategic Plan. We will continue to focus on the issues that are our priorities. Smallholder farmers will remain the focus of our operations, and we will continue to provide innovative solutions and methods capable of impacting production systems. We will also work in 2016 to expand and strengthen our partnerships.

production of biogas from hyacinths

The production of biogas from water hyacinths and household waste has been judged feasible following the techno-economic feasibility analysis conducted by ACED and EREP. This will enable the launching of the project’s pilot phase consisting of installing a digester for biogas production in one of the sites of the project area. The results will enable the replication and a large scale implementation to be decided upon.

Improving the resilience of inland fishermen in southern Benin

Project activities to improve the resilience of inland fishing communities to overfishing and the degradation of water resources will continue in 2016. They will mainly consist of analysing the different data collected. Other studies on the potential of the fishing sector and the impact of the deterioration of water resources on the potential for fish production will be conducted. In addition, local staff training on analytical techniques used in the project will be conducted. ACED will also organize knowledge sharing meetings with different inland fishing stakeholders in Benin.

Improving the collection of water hyacinths, the use of compost and the marketing of vegetables

The use of compost made from water hyacinths is not optimal due to the difficulty of collecting water hyacinths and the lack of technological itineraries on its use. ACED will work to address these constraints in 2016 by conducting studies on more efficient water hyacinth collection techniques and by defining the agroecological technological itineraries on the use of compost made from water hyacinths for market gardening. We will also focus our activities on improving the marketing of vegetable products obtained from water hyacinths compost.

OUR PARTNERS In 2015

French Development Agency – Cotonou Office, Benin

Applied Research Fund of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Centre for World Food Studies of the VU University of Amsterdam

Municipal Sector for Agricultural Development (Sô-Ava, Cotonou, Porto-Novo and Aguégués)

Canada International Development Research Centre

Geography Department of the University of Abomey-Calavi

EREP-SA

Veolia foundation

French Global Environment Facility

Gevalor

Institute of Environmental Sciences of the University of Quebec in Montreal

Laboratory of Hydrology and Aquaculture of the University of Abomey-Calavi

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Promotion in International Cooperation

International Union for Conservation of Nature – French Committee

Photo credits:ACED

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