Animal Draft in the Cotton Savannah New Context in Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. II. What are the Priorities for Research and Development?

Abstract

Animal draft plays a major role in the savannah zone of Central Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic). Since the last few years, the institutional environment has been changing greatly. States relinquish control of the agriculture sector and new actors emerge in the animal draft “market” (farmers’ associations, veterinarians, blacksmiths, rural development services...). Some of these actors face difficulties meeting producers’ demands, generating enough profitability, and they look for support to sustain their activity. Producers also face hardship when they attempt to acquire equipment or take full advantage of their animal team, from lack of knowledge and insufficient financial means. Therefore, new stakes have emerged. The land pressure increase and wider use of herbicides also alter the place held by animal draft on the farm. This new situation leads to new questions to research and development. In the past, the research role was to bring technical answers to questions raised by development. Today, it is essential to understand institutions’ new configuration, to analyze need changes, to promote innovation, and to reinforce the cooperation process within the new distribution of actors. Development objectives must be redirected towards animal draft financing, crop system mechanization, agriculture-livestock integration, and must support animal-draft-team transport and emerging sectors.