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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- E-vouchers and telephone extensions were introduced to offer advisory services to farmers and ensure transparent distribution of subsidized seeds and inputs.
- The call center and farmer-relays supported producers in adjusting their cropping practices to climatic conditions.
- Access to quality seeds enhances yields in the field.
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The Climate Resilience and Agricultural Productivity Project (ProPAD) call center is located on the third floor of the Ministry of Agriculture building. It is outfitted with state-of-the-art technologies and new electronic installations. The Center serves as a pivotal element in Chad's initiative to modernize agriculture through the implementation of climate-smart technologies and enhanced extension and advisory services facilitated by information and communication technologies. The “e-voucher” system for distributing agricultural subsidies and e-extension services is being used in Chad for the first time.
The creation of an e-voucher platform and an e-extension platform allows the government to address the shortage of extension agents, offering agricultural advisory services to farmers. These platforms also create a transparent system for distributing input subsidies in the project intervention areas.
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Electronics Enhancing Agriculture
These agents are integral to the technical system designed to inform and guide beneficiaries, acting as intermediaries between them, the cantonal controllers, and the IT specialists overseeing the e-voucher programme. This platform for e-vouchers and e-extensions enables subsidized sales of agricultural inputs (maize, sorghum, sesame, pesticides, NPK fertilizer, and urea) via mobile phones to producers identified in the five pilot cantons of the project: Hemat in Salamat, Danamadji and Balimba in Moyen Chari, and Bedjondo and Bedaya in Mandoul.
ProPAD agents, stationed within the project areas, are assisting beneficiaries with the utilization of the e-extension system. This system facilitates the dissemination of agricultural recommendations to 60,000 households. Additionally, farmers have access to a toll-free hotline for advice and guidance. By dialing 13 22, they can communicate with a technician from the project's call center in French or one of the local languages.
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Quality inputs access
The e-voucher platform effectively distributes agricultural subsidies and e-extension. It has provided over 5,000 tons of improved seeds to farmers' organizations across different agroecological zones. Project data shows that 133,656 producers, with 41% being women, have received improved seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides through the platform.
The fields have regained their previous levels of productivity. Tamdji Ngardoum, a seed producer from Koumra in southern Chad, recalls: “In the past, we would go to the market at the start of the rainy season to purchase seeds with uncertain fertility, resulting in 3 to 4 kilograms of spoiled seeds out of every 10 to 12 kilograms.”
Experts have endorsed this advancement. Dr. Djinodji Reoungal, head of the regional agricultural research center in Bébedjia, stated, “We received approximately 30 new generations of improved seeds; it is a relief.” Yacine Doudoua, Director General of the Chadian Institute for Agricultural Research for Development (ITRAD), confirmed, “Yields have increased by up to 80% since the introduction of the new varieties by ProPAD.”
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