Cereals banks

Cereal banks, an effective model for development and food security of the rural populations in CHAD

WHERE

Chad, Region of Guéra, Mongo.

DURATION

From January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015

CONTEXT

Lack of food security is a widespread condition in the entire Sahel belt in Chad, including the region of Guéra where ACRA has been working for years. The area is characterized by recurrent droughts that condition the cultivation of millet, sorghum, peanuts, primary resources for livelihood and a staple diet. In the absence of storage facilities, families are forced to sell most of the cereals they produce at the time of the harvest, when prices on the local market are lowest. Profiting from this are the traders who purchase stocks in great quantities to then sell them in periods of shortage, at maximum prices.

Cereal Banks were created to solve these problems, a system that enables to improve storing of agricultural products to then trade these in more advantageous periods. Every year, in fact, towards the end of the dry season (June/July), when there is a shortage of cereals on the local markets and their price is no longer accessible to families, the CB funds the launch of the new agricultural campaign through a loan "in kind", that is in sacks of cereals. With the "loan" received, farmers can feed their families while cultivating their land. The CRs are the result of many years experience gained by local actors connected to the Catholic Church in Mongo, in particular in the person of Father Franco Martellozzo who first experimented this model in 1984 and which was developed in the course of the years until the constitution in 2011 of the Regional Federation of Cereal Banks.

OBJECTIVES

• To guarantee a stable food security to the communities of the villages involved in the Region of Guéra (Chad), improving their production capacity, organization and management of vulnerability to food shock.
• Consolidate the model of Regional Federation of Cereal Banks (CB) of Guéra strengthening the organizational, logistic and infrastructural effectiveness.

ACTIVITIES

• Strengthening of the institutional structure of the Regional Federation of Cereal Banks and its recognition by the communities.
• Accrediting of the Federation of CBs with the local institutions and international organisms.
• Training at various levels of the members of the Cereal Banks (Management Committees, administrative staff, etc.).
• Introduction of a Data Base and of a Territorial Information System for mapping and monitoring the CRs.
• Construction of storage centres in the villages of the region of Guéra not covered by the service or not in proximity of an existing CB.
• Purchase and distribution of sacks of cereals to the families involved in the circuit of the cereal banks.
• Construction of new storehouses in masonry.
• Training of farmers according to the approach of the Farmer Field School based on the integration of concepts and methods connected to agro-ecology, to the experiential learning and development of the communities.

IMPACT

Direct beneficiaries

• 80,000 farmers adhering to Cereal Banks;
• 1,300 members of Management Committees;
• 434 CB organizers (2 organizers for each of the 217 federated CBs)

Indirect beneficiaries:
31,300 rural families for a total of 156,000 people and in general, the inhabitants of Guéra, who will benefit from the service offered by the CBs in the villages involved and from the dissemination of improved agricultural practices, the increase of productivity and the consequent repercussions on the local economy.

Beyond the project

>>> Cereals Banks, a market-based effective model for development and food security for rural population in Chad