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Insight into the work of DEG coordinator Daniel Agbotame in Togo
“I started as the local coordinator of the DEG project at gebana Togo. I am responsible for the technical and financial supervision of the public–private partnership project. Due to my skills and training as an agronomist, I additionally assisted the managing director with export activities and with coordinating production activities. In March 2018 I was then appointed coordinator of the organic soy department at gebana Togo. The initiative to organize tasks within the soy department team led to the proposal to appoint production zone leaders. This allows responsibility to be delegated to staff in the various zones to forward the information collected on site.”
My main contributions to the project in the soy department at gebana Togo include, among others:
- Organizing knowledge transfer to the trainers (Train the Trainer). After the trainings, it is among my tasks to organize the training of the producers.
- Supporting the structuring of groups of soy producers. For example, in building the SCOOPS (cooperative) Essowaza de Agbawliga, which has 97 members, including 15 women, I participated in holding the founding assembly on September 18, 2018. The cooperative produced 123.360 tonnes of soy this year. A woman who volunteered was elected to management and another to the supervisory committee of the cooperative.
- Improving the tools for recording production data according to certification requirements. The analysis of the collected data gives us confidence that what was learned in the trainings is being implemented correctly. In the community of Wahala, for example, an on-site check made it possible to determine that the buffer zones (zones to separate from conventional neighbors) are working. Corrective measures such as uprooting plants to avoid contamination have also been adopted. After the inspection, certain previously unrecorded problems were identified and corrected through new verification mechanisms.
- Developing and improving production and export processes for organic products.
I am motivated by working with my colleagues and especially with the managing director, the not-too-rigid organizational chart and the fluid communication. All of this helps me achieve the expected results. I am currently working on expanding my skills, but I dream of operating within a partnership-based system to provide consulting services or to enter into a partnership for product delivery.»