ASSOCIATED VOLUNTEER experts

Mission program

• Field visit to the territory of the future Kikot dam - accompanied by Robert Bidime, President of GIC NYBON (GIC located on the territory of the future dam).

This territory, comprising a dozen villages, corresponds to the arrondissement of Nyanon (main village), which is the only one to have a town hall.
We followed the road from the future dam site (Kikot), passing from village to village. Along the way, we stopped to greet traditional chiefs and the sub-prefect, had a reception at the Nyanon town hall, met under a tree with the main traditional chief of the area and, at the end of the day, held a discussion with some fifty people from the GIC NYBON.

The conclusion is as follows: the potential for agricultural production in this area to supply the 4,000 employees who will work on the dam can only be significantly increased by agricultural development of the savannah zone.

Louis exchanges views under a tree with the main authorities in the area of the future dam

Audit by two AVe experts of pig farms prior to the introduction of High Genetic Value breeding stock

	Audit of Mr Sié Coulibaly's farm in Agnibilékrou

3^rd intervention by Eric, AVe "project management" expert at Djilas Sénégal

For the 3^rd time, Eric, an AVe expert specializing in building management, visited Djilas to check on the progress of the dispensary and maternity hospital construction site. The company is doing a good job, with work scheduled to take 10 months, but progressing more slowly than expected.

the entrance to the current Djilas health center	Progress of work on the new center

Getting to know the cooperative in Ivory Cost before prospecting for it in Europe

 

CADESA : a dynamic cocoa, coffee, cashew and rubber cooperative in Ivory Coast.   Key figures for the cooperative :  2,500 farmer-members over 10,000 hectares of plantations 10,000 tonnes of cocoa production 8,000 tonnes of cashew 2,000 tonnes of coffee 5,000 tonnes of rubber. CADESA voted Ivory Coast's best exporting cooperative in 2021

Proposing a marketing plan for a toy manufacturing SME in Algeria 

As part of an agreement with PUM (Netherlands Association for the Transfer of Voluntary Skills, like AVe), AVe expert Jean-Baptiste spent two weeks in Algeria. His objective was to propose a marketing plan to a toy manufacturing SME located in Ghardaïa, the country's last city before the immense Saharan desert just to the south.

Intervention of an AVe "project management" expert in Djilas Senegal 

At the end of October 2022, Eric, an AVe expert, went to the commune of Djilas, south of Dakar (Senegal), to a health center belonging to a religious congregation. This was Eric's second trip to Djilas. The objective of the mission was achieved: following meetings with different companies (construction, water connection, electrical connection...), a contract for the construction of a new health center and a new maternity ward was finalized and signed. For the religious congregation, this represents an important contract. The intervention of the expert allowed to specify the plans, the estimates, the different points of the specifications of the building constructions and thus to avoid several pitfalls during the construction. From now on, the works will start for a period of 10 months with a remote control of the expert and a visit on the spot if necessary.

	Eric, AVe expert, with Mother Marie José and the sisters of the religious congregation of Djilas		Mr DIATA, from the company ABY TECHNOLOGIE based in DAKAR, with Mother Marie José

Relaunching the cattle industry recently affected by two bovine epidemics.

At the request of an NGO in the Feshi territory, AVe expert Daniel met with several groups of cattle breeders during the second week of his trip to the DRC. These breeders have just experienced a very difficult time in 2019, as they have all been affected by a loss of 98% of their livestock. This is a real disaster that has not been taken into account until now. The causes would be two very contagious diseases: symptomatic anthrax and pasteurellosis. The exchanges with the breeders' groups have revealed a good awareness at their level regarding the measures to be taken in the face of such diseases and the guarantees to be provided before repopulating. With the help of the FAO, vaccination programs have been set up on a large scale in the country at the initiative of the Ministry of Livestock, involving local veterinarians. Daniel's recommendation focused more on improving consultation between livestock farmers' groups (which have 1,200 members) in order to exert sufficient pressure on the country's authorities and on the FAO representation to support them in the phase following such a disaster. The means to be gathered to replace the lost animals are about 17 million dollars!

Daniel met with several groups of of cattle breeders		recovery of the cattle industry recently affected by two bovine epidemics		the groups we met represent 1 200 breeders

What agricultural project for the Ito agro-pastoral center (2,000 ha), located near Bandundu?

	Daniel, AVe expert and Stany, in charge of the agropastoral center waiting for the ferry on the Kwilu river at the exit of Bandundu		the staff of the agro-pastoral center in front of a water point for market gardening		farm equipment and buildings exist, but they are in in very poor condition

What agricultural project for a 170 ha coffee plantation not exploited for 20 years?

At the request of a Cameroonian family, heir to a 170 ha coffee plantation that has not been exploited for 20 years, Louis, AVe expert, accompanied by Fabrice, the family's representative, surveyed the plantation for several days to define a new agricultural project based on the existing one.

The field mission on the plantation was completed by meetings with local authorities: the mayor of Kekem, the prefect of Nkongsamba, the prefect of Bafang and with economic actors likely to be the future clients of the plantation: in Bafoussam, the director of SPC (Société des provenderies du Cameroun) and the director of ASL (Agro Sourcing Logistic) The mission ended in Yaoundé with a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Public Works for work in progress on a bridge located on the property and the Ministry of Agriculture to learn about the steps to be taken to obtain financing for the new agricultural project.

This intense mission, thanks to the field diagnosis and to the numerous exchanges with Fabrice and the different interlocutors met, allowed us to choose the orientations of the new project for the plantation : Coffee will be replaced by cocoa and banana-plantain mainly and by some vegetables. A method of cultivation based on agroforestry and agroecology was proposed.

At the end of the mission, the expert writes a file presenting the diagnosis of the plantation, the new project and its business plan.

	Louis Jestin, AVe expert with Fabrice Tchouaffé, the family representative		during the mission: many exchanges, here with the people working on the plantation		the plantation has a surface of 170 ha and many buildings and drying areas (around 5 000 m²) used for drying and first transformation of coffee; they will be used tomorrow for cocoa