Togo: Government Starts Reviewing 2024 Agricultural Campaign

Agriculture

Thursday, 30 January 2025 16:53

Togo: Government Starts Reviewing 2024 Agricultural Campaign

(Togo First) - The Togolese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is reviewing the 2024 agricultural season and preparing for the coming season. In this framework, the ministry launched a series of meetings across the country’s prefectures last Monday, January 27. The first meeting occurred in the maritime region. It gathered farmers, agricultural experts, and ministry officials who reviewed successes and challenges from the past season.

In the Zio, Vo, and Lacs prefectures, farmers pointed out several problems. While some farming practices have improved production, they still struggle with climate issues and poor infrastructure. Farmers are most concerned about the droughts that hurt their harvests and productivity. To overcome this, the farmers recommended improving mechanization and irrigation systems to better handle climate issues.

Faced with these concerns, the government wants to work more closely with agricultural stakeholders. It aims to improve existing mechanisms to modernize and transform national agriculture.

These meetings will continue in other areas and follow recommendations from the first Forum of Agricultural Producers of Togo (FOPAT) held in 2023. The goal is to keep communication open between authorities and farmers to adapt public policies to their needs.

This article was initially published in French by Esaïe Edoh

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.