Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Characteristics of urban agriculture in the Centre Agricole
de N'djili
Social characteristics
The survey found that 55.8 per cent of farmers were younger than 50 years
old, suggesting that UA is a developing activity; 77.5 per cent were married,
widowed or divorced and responsible for a household; and the majority (82.5
per cent) reside in the commune of N'djili, with the difference commuting to
their plots daily. The survey showed that 68.3 per cent of the market
gardeners had ten years or more of experience in farming, which indicates
knowledge of the trade, with some (13 per cent) having more than 40 years of
professional experience. Despite this, agricultural activities were still done
manually and there were very few advanced technologies employed. The hoe
was found to be the most used tool.
Results show that the surveyed market gardeners were dissatisfied with
the amount of assistance they received from the state or from NGOs. In
almost 90 per cent of the cases, market garden activities were financed entirely
by the market gardeners themselves and, as a result, the market gardeners felt
a great sense of proprietorship over their farming operations. That said, many
stated that they would like to have training to improve their capacity and
skills.
The study found that most market gardeners sold their crop to generate
income to satisfy various needs. Approximately 93 per cent sold their crops at
market, while 15 per cent reserved part of their crop for family consumption
and less than 1 per cent gave produce away.
Conflicts were found to exist between various market gardeners (19.4 per
cent) and between market gardeners and clients (18.8 per cent). Conflicts
between farmers were most often related to plot boundaries, access to water
resources, perceived 'unfair' competition and problems linked to agricultural
equipment or inputs. Conflicts between market gardeners and clients were
caused by price, non-payment and various other misunderstandings.
A problem analysis was conducted to help market gardeners identify their
problems and possible solutions. The main problems identified were:
di
culties of obtaining seeds or phytosanitary products, challenges associated
with procuring irrigation water, theft of vegetables during the night, lack of
agricultural tools and financial support, floods, poor maintenance of access
roads,
infectious diseases,
lack of electricity,
lack of supply depots and
insu
cient access to manure and other fertilizers.
Accordingly, the farmers proposed a number of solutions, including: the
provision of financial support, credit and incentives from the state and NGOs;
the creation of jobs by the government; the organization of collective works
for irrigation (laying out irrigation canals); rehabilitation of access roads;
installation of dikes to keep the N'djili River from flooding their plots;
installation of on-site drinking water and electricity; site security; new wells;
opening of savings and loan banks; organization of a committee for the
agricultural centre; treatment of irrigation water; supplying the agricultural
