Delegates from Agrecol, Enda Pronat in the persons of Mr Faye Elhaji ,Enda Pronat Madam Fatima Diop, Agrecol, Mr Baye Yoro Diallo, Enda Pronat visited the Associations Headquarters between November 30, 2021 and December 2, 2021. They had a two day meeting at the Board room of Agronomy Building, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan and a field trip. The mission, according to Mr Faye Elhaji was to strengthen the ties between the team which was under the auspice of KCOA, a project sponsored by GIZ, Germany and to familiarize all actors involved in the implementation of this project and for implementers to understand what the project entails. Dr Jude Obi, the Country Coordinator of the project welcomed the delegates and added that the meeting marks a turning point in the commencement of the project.
Mr. Faye highlighted identified problems in organic agriculture: he stated that organic agriculture is developing but those handling don’t have enough knowledge, knowledge is available but not accessible to all , the available knowledge is shared in limited space. The problems listed above necessitated the KCOA project being put in place, KCOA (Knowledge Centre For Organic Agriculture), the center has three main objectives which are to gather, evaluate and validate the knowledge shared. The three organizations in charge of the respective stages of the knowledge are as follows: ENDA PRONAT- Gathering of Information, FENAB- Sharing the information gathered and AGRECOL-responsible for networking of stakeholders and facilitation of the development of organic value chains. The three organizations collaborate with Institutional Focal Points (PFI) based in other countries in the sub-region viz: Songhai Centre (Benin), CNOP (Mali) and NOAN (Nigeria).
Mr. Baye Yoro proposed an organic week in Nigeria , this will be a congregation of organic agriculture practitioners at all levels of the value chain, this was welcomed by the country coordinator, Dr Jude Obi who informed that the Association decentralizes by organizing events in major zones of Nigeria but considering the need to have a larger patronage by members of NOAN. Mr. Faye Elhaji added that the implementers of these projects need to follow the KCOA criteria, the knowledge must conform with the principles of organic agriculture as recognized by IFOAM , also practical knowledge must have social, economic impact. It must also give concrete results.