What is ARDYIS?

Entrepreneurship in agriculture is becoming increasingly important at a time when many traditional avenues for ACP farmers are closing. It offers opportunities for becoming independent, generating revenue and creating a future that straightforward subsistence farming often struggles to provide.

In an attempt to reduce its costly reliance on poultry products, mainly imported from the Netherlands and South Africa, the government of Congo set up a project called New Villages in late 2009. The scheme aims to install young farmers in modern farming villages. Each village has about 50 houses, as well as buildings for rearing poultry.

Nkouo, the first of these three ‘farming villages’, is located 80 km north of Brazzaville. Forty famillies have been chosen from the 350 who applied. Specialising in rearing laying hens, Nkouo has 40 coops, a storehouse and a refrigerated centre for sorting and storing eggs. It is the first of its kind in Congo. At the outset, each family received 792 laying hens and 2 ha of cassava to cultivate. Total output averages 8 million eggs per year and 2,000 t of cassava per season.

After Nkouo, two other poultry rearing centres will be opened in early 2011 at Imbouba and Odziba, in the region of Pool. They will breed chicks and table fowl, as well as making feed for poultry.

Source: Spore number 151, February-March 2011

Le concours de rédaction du CTA sur les jeunes, le développement rural et les TIC a été une expérience qui a mis aux prises des jeunes de divers pays d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP). Son intérêt est qu’il renseigne sur des expériences de beaucoup pays. Un membre du jury en l’occurrence Annie Chéneau - Loquay  par ailleurs directrice de recherche au CNRS et responsable de l’Observatoire Africa’NTI (projet de recherche sur les modes d'insertion, les usages et les impacts des technologies de la communication en Afrique) a décliné les enseignements qu’on peut tirer de ce concours.

A Full Tuition Fee Scholarship is available for a student from Africa for the MSc in Crop Improvement at the School of Biosciences. You can apply for this scholarship if you - are a national of (or permanently domiciled in) Africa and - are classed as an overseas student for fee purposes and - already hold an offer to start a full-time Masters degree programme for the MSc in Crop Improvement at Nottingham in 2011.The closing date for applications is 6th April 2011.

For more information
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/internationaloffice/offer-holders/scholarships/msc-crop-imp-duke-portland-dev-sol.aspx