A Propos de Nous | About Us
CATALIST is committed to the promotion of agricultural intensification technologies that boost production for small-holder farmers.
About Us
IFDC
IFDC creates sustainable agricultural productivity around the world, alleviating hunger and poverty and helping to ensure global food security, environmental protection and economic growth. A public international organization, IFDC was established in 1974 in response to the twin crises of food insecurity and rising energy prices. These parallel crises threaten the world again.
For more than 35 years IFDC has focused on increasing and sustaining food and agricultural productivity in over 130 developing countries through the development and transfer of effective and environmentally sound crop nutrient technology and agribusiness expertise.
IFDC is governed by an international board of directors with representation from developed and developing nations. The organization’s collaborative partnerships combine cutting-edge research and development with on-site training and education. IFDC has contributed to the development of institutional capacity-building in 150 countries through nearly 1,000 training programs, primarily as part of IFDC’s long-term agricultural development projects.
Currently IFDC staff members are serving in more than 20 nations throughout Africa, the Near East and the Far East.
The CATALIST Project
Poverty, food insecurity and energy deficiency threaten human life in CAGLR more than elsewhere in Africa. Demands for both food and energy in the area are extremely high. The region continues to face perpetual crises of poverty, social instability, civil unrest and environmental degradation.
Extreme population pressure, continued population growth, extensive land use and limited alternatives for rural employment increase pressure on the natural resources base in Burundi, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. Indeed, the region not only has the highest population density in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but also the lowest use and implementation of agricultural intensification strategies (such as the use of fertilizer combined with other inputs, particularly improved seeds and planting material). The physical situation is deteriorating as deforestation intensifies and its soils are starved for nutrients.
The region is the watershed of the Nile and Congo, two of the world’s greatest rivers. A combination of deforestation and soil “mining” (depletion of nutrients vital to crops) have caused severe soil erosion and decreased the soil’s capacity to absorb and hold water. That, in turn, has decreased the stability of the rivers’ water flow downriver.
The region has the highest negative soil nutrient balance worldwide; soil nutrient depletion is estimated at almost 100 kg per year per hectare of cropland. Based upon present practices, such environmental degradation will continue unless it is addressed decisively. IFDC’s CATALIST and SEW projects will both contribute to solving agricultural and energy production issues by providing models for development to be further promoted and adopted by the local population.
The CATALIST project was launched in October 2006 by IFDC with funding from the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). Project oversight is provided by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Rwanda. The five-year project aims to increase food security, reduce poverty and improve regional collaboration to foster peace and security in the Great Lakes Region.
The CATALIST project is helping to maintain biodiversity, improve environmental management, intensify agricultural productivity and develop markets for both agricultural inputs (fertilizers, seeds and crop protection products) and the crops that smallholder farmers produce. CATALIST is establishing and/or strengthening the capacities of farmer and agro-input dealer organizations. IFDC staff is working with and through farmers’ organizations, several national and international NGOs, the private sector, donors and others to reach approximately 250,000 smallholder farmers in the three-country region.
CATALIST is reinforcing efforts that focus on high-value export commodities by intensifying the production of staple foods and livestock products for domestic and regional markets. The project is catalyzing the intensification process through the creation and/or facilitation of stakeholder platforms from the village to the national and regional levels.
CATALIST’s regional headquarters are in Kigali, Rwanda. Regional offices are located in Bujumbura, Burundi and Goma, DRC. CATALIST is also active in Tanzania and Uganda on issues related to regional trade and agricultural and environmental policies. The SEW regional office is co-located with the CATALIST office in Bujumbura.
For more information on IFDC, please visit www.ifdc.org.
For more information on the DGIS, please go to www.minbuza.nl.
ifdc.org