Influence du mode de cuisson sur la valeur nutritionnelle de Solanum macrocarpum, Amaranthus hybridus et Ocimum gratissimum, trois légumesfeuilles traditionnels acclimatés au Bénin

L’influence du mode de cuisson sur la valeur nutritionnelle de Solanum macrocarpum, Amaranthus hybridus et Ocimum gratissimum a été investiguée. Les teneurs en matière sèche, cendres, protéines, lipides,fibres et minéraux des légumes-feuilles traités ont été analysées conformément aux méthodes standards. Les résultats montraient que la cuisson à l’eau bouillante augmentait les teneurs en protéines (35,71%) et en lipides (97,26%) de Amaranthus hybridus, celles en lipides (288,05%) de Solanum macrocarpum et celles en protéines (0,54%) de Ocimum gratissimum. La cuisson à la vapeur augmentait la teneur en protéines (2,02%) de Solanum macrocarpum et une diminution de celles en protéines (-38,04%) et en lipides (-6,05%) de Ocimum gratissimum. La cuisson à l’eau bouillante entraînait des pertes plus élevées en Calcium de -23,72%, - 34,89% et -20,65% et en potassium de -61,77%, -55,04% et -44,34% respectivement pour Solanum macrocarpum, Amaranthus hybridus et Ocimum gratissimum que celle à la vapeur en Calcium de -1,13%, - 25,09% et -10,53% et en potassium de -31,33%, -9,76% et -1,15% respectivement pour Solanum macrocarpum, Amaranthus hybridus et Ocimum gratissimum. La cuisson à la vapeur augmentait des teneurs en magnésium (37,25%) et en fer (6,74%) de Solanum macrocarpum comparativement aux 35,41% et 1,40% obtenus avec la cuisson à l’eau bouillante.Mots clés: Cuissons à la vapeur, cuisson à l’eau bouillante, nutriments, conservation, Bénin

The support for farmer-led seed systems in African seed laws.

The synthesis report is part of a series of papers on Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) in Africa’s thematic working group on Matching national realities with global commitments. The thematic working group addressed the main question on how African governments implement their global commitments while fostering a viable pluralistic sector. The main hypothesis was that making these commitments more coherent with the practices and realities of farmers and creating an enabling environment for strengthening multiple seed systems will increase farmers’ access to quality seed. Three main topics were discussed under this theme: access and benefit sharing for climate resilient seed systems; national and regional seed laws that support the development of a robust, integrated seed sector that supports smallholder farmers' needs; and creating room for informal and intermediary seed systems in a UPOV '91 informed Plant Variety Protection system. The study was conducted to answer a key question on how the various national and regional seed laws relate to the diversity of seed systems that exist in a given country. More specifically how current seed laws affect informal (farmer-based) seed systems and in what manner seed laws can be adapted to support these seed systems. Policies, laws and regulations of 32 African countries were carefully reviewed to identify some best practices and key issues and challenges in regulation. Findings from the study indicate that the main challenge for many African countries is that their seed regulations don’t include provisions that support farmer -led seed systems. As a way forward, there is need for revision of existing regulatory frameworks to takes into account the needs and characteristics of the various seed systems in order to increase the availability of quality seed of preferred varieties for all farmers

Strengthening local innovations in rice processing through video in Benin

In Africa, rice processing provides employment for many rural people. A survey on local rice processing methods in the north, central and south of Benin shows that local rice is often parboiled before milling. Parboiling is a transformation process that enhances the quality of rice. This important income generating activity is exclusively done by women from rice producing communities. In Benin, the traditional parboiling method is still prevailing and does not lead to quality rice. To address this, an improved rice parboiling technology was developed. AfricaRice subsequently developed a video where rural women explain how to use this improved technology. Four NGOs in central Benin publicly screened the video in 80 villages. After women watched the video, they started using the improved parboiler equipment individually or collectively. Women who didn’t have the financial support to buy the improved equipment understood its principle and developed creative solutions based on the idea of pre-cooking paddy with steam. Video watching also made women pay attention to reducing the loss of steam and to use local resources innovatively to conserve energy. Women also improved the quality of their parboiled rice by removing dirt, properly washing rice and drying rice on tarpaulins. On the other hand, in the north and south of Benin where there were no public video screenings, the traditional rice parboiling method is still predominant. This study shows the potential of farmer-to-farmer video to improve farmers’ practices and their attitudes to work collectively in agro-processing and marketing.Peer reviewe

Foraging is determinant to improve smallholders’ food security in rural areas in Mali, West Africa

Studies on the enabling factors for household food security (HFS) most often used simplified econometric models looking into the links with a selected set of variables. In this research, a livelihood approach of HFS was used and aimed at determining the most significant livelihood assets for HFS in dryland agricultural systems. Elements of the five livelihood assets were assessed through questionnaire surveys with a random sample of 180 households, and six focus group discussions in three communities along the rural-urban continuum, in Southern Mali. The coping strategy index approach was used to evaluate household food security status. Non-parametric and parametric statistical tests were combined, as appropriate, to identify the most significant determinants of HFS status. Findings indicated that most determinant factors of HFS were the diversity of wild and cultivated food plants, and hunting (natural capital); access to clean water and irrigation (infrastructural capital); and off-farm employment (financial capital). HFS also improved along the urban-rural continuum and rural households with high natural capital seemed to be more food secure. Findings call for important investment to expand the natural capital (e.g., domestication of new crops and agricultural diversification) and infrastructural capital (irrigation facilities, clean water) of the rural households

Modelling socioeconomic determinants for cultivation and in-situ conservation of Vitex doniana Sweet (black plum), a wild-harvested economic plant in Benin

Background: Cultivation is the most appropriate management option when both demand and harvesting of wild plant species increase beyond natural production levels. In the current study we made the assumption that, besides the intrinsic biological and ecological characteristics of the species, the decision to cultivate and/or to conserve an overharvested wild plant species is triggered by the socioeconomic factors such as land tenure and size, origin of respondents, gender, and users’ knowledge of the plant phenology. Methods: We carried out semi-structured interviews with 178 informants involved in V. doniana exploitation. The data collected were related to socio-demographic characteristics of informants’ household situation, knowledge of the biology and propagation of the species, willingness to cultivate the species, in-situ maintenance of populations, and costs associated with management of the species. According to data types we used Student’s t, Spearman correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, Fisher’s exact and χ2 tests to test the effects of land tenure, origin of respondents, gender and users’ knowledge of plant phenology on the decision making process. Conditional inference tree models and generalized additive models were also used to identify variables which were significantly determinant in the decision to cultivate and/or to conserve the species in-situ. Results: We found that men were more willing to cultivate the species than women and this is conditioned by land area available. The willingness to conserve the species in-situ depends mainly on the total land area available, the number of trees within the landscape, accessibility of the trees, land tenure, gender, location, seedling cost, and trade-off cost for conservation. People who offered more than one US dollar to acquire a seedling of V. doniana, landowners, and those who own a total land area in excess of 6.5 ha were most willing to conserve the species in-situ. Conclusions: From our findings we conclude that future management and conservation initiatives for V. doniana should first target specific user groups for sustainable exploitation of the species. Also, the Cultivation Opportunity Ratio is an important indicator for quick determination of the likelihood of farmers to engage into cultivation and conservation of the species

Analysis of gender and governance of value chainbased systems on rice and vegetable crops in southern Benin and Mali

Published Online June 2015This present study analyses gender and governance in the rice and vegetable-based value chain systems in 3 lowlands of southern Benin and 2 lowlands in Southern Mali. A sample of 243 farmers, 1 modern processing unit, 18 traditional processors, 76 traders and 8 national institutions were interviewed in Benin and Mali. Descriptive statistics and Harvard analytical framework were used for the analysis of governance and gender respectively in the value chains. The majority of farmers have access to the use of land. Women produce up to 80% of basic foods for household consumption and sale. However they don’t have the control of these resources (capital and land). Decision making in relation to resources (land, water labor, credit) is under the control of men and natives. The governance analysis showed that the products of lowlands are not subject to quality control, with no public inspection for health and product quality. There is no input subsidy for actors in both countries. There are informal contracts between actors of the rice based systems in Mali and Benin. The markets are open for all the products and credit systems do exist. Some structures are involved in upstream and downstream chain components for training in various activitiesThis present study analyses gender and governance in the rice and vegetable-based value chain systems in 3 lowlands of southern Benin and 2 lowlands in Southern Mali. A sample of 243 farmers, 1 modern processing unit, 18 traditional processors, 76 traders and 8 national institutions were interviewed in Benin and Mali. Descriptive statistics and Harvard analytical framework were used for the analysis of governance and gender respectively in the value chains. The majority of farmers have access to the use of land. Women produce up to 80% of basic foods for household consumption and sale. However they don’t have the control of these resources (capital and land). Decision making in relation to resources (land, water labor, credit) is under the control of men and natives. The governance analysis showed that the products of lowlands are not subject to quality control, with no public inspection for health and product quality. There is no input subsidy for actors in both countries. There are informal contracts between actors of the rice based systems in Mali and Benin. The markets are open for all the products and credit systems do exist. Some structures are involved in upstream and downstream chain components for training in various activitie

Associated factors for maternal-foetal complications in pregnant women with sickle cell disease at the departmental University Hospital of Borgou and Alibori (Benin)

Background: Sickle cell disease is one of the most common genetic disorders in the world, with a high prevalence in Africa. It is a pathology that threatens the maternal-fetal prognosis in case of pregnancy. The objective of this study was to describe the maternal-foetal complications and to identify the factors associated with maternal-foetal complications in sickle cell pregnant women (SP).Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection over a period of 4 years (01 January 2015 to 31 August 2019). The study population was All SP who had given birth in the maternity ward of the UH of Borgou/Alibori.Results: We recorded 130 SP out of 10087 admissions, either a frequency of 1.3%. There were 119/130 exploitable files. Maternal complications during pregnancy were: vaso-occlusive crises 79%; severe anaemia 27.7%; hyponatremia 10.1%; vasculo-renal syndromes 18.4%; infections 74.8%. The foetal complications during pregnancy were: Preterm births 38.6%, in utero deaths 17.6%, low birth weight 54.7%. Early neonatal mortality was 8.4% (8/95). There was a 4.2% (5/119) of maternal deaths. Low educational level of the SP, SS genotype, insufficient antenatal follow-up and antenatal follow-up outside the specialized center for the care of sickle cell pregnant women (SCCSP) were the factors associated with maternal-foetal complications in the SP.Conclusions: The association of pregnancy and sickle cell disease is frequent in West Africa, particularly in Benin, and is characterised by numerous maternal-foetal complications that are associated with certain factors