This project emerged from a request by the Centre for the Promotion of Female Agricultural Entrepreneurship (CePEA SOUROU) and the Regional Union of vegetable Producers Associations of Atacora-Donga (URCoopMa-AD). They approached the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Parakou with the request to help them improve their water resource management capabilities.
iCRA brought together the different actors to jointly improve research, education and training around integrated water management practices and vegetable farming. The goal of the consortium is to extend the farmers’ growing season and meet the ever-increasing demand for quality vegetables in Northern Benin. The project focuses on strengthening the capacities of water and agriculture professionals sector-wide (from the public sector, to civil society organizations, to researcher & training agencies and the private sector).
In the first year, execution of a situation analysis revealed that the key bottlenecks in water management are related to water mobilization and extraction, irrigation techniques & technologies and soil water conservation. INNOCAP is currently facilitating a number of joint research projects on identified innovative water management strategies. The results will be used to enrich ongoing education programs at the university of Parakou.
