Abstract

Agriculture is the principal activity of households and primary source of income, the high rate of poverty among farmers in Benty was about 63%. The type of agriculture practiced in Guinea being mainly subsistence farming, the cultivated areas are generally low. Although about 94% of farming households have hand tools (machetes, hoes, rakes and wheelbarrows), just one in ten has animal-drawn or mechanized tools. In these conditions, yields and sales capacity cannot be high. These results clearly indicate the need to prioritize the development of agriculture and rural areas in general, for rapid poverty reduction. This paper presents a socioeconomic analysis of Ngo SARA activities in Benty and prospects of improvement of farmer's living conditions. In order to better understand Ngo SARA’ s activities on poverty reduction, a semi structured survey consisting of 20 farmers chosen from nine villages was carried out from April to June 2011. Three complementary ways were identified to improve farmer's living conditions:  (1) support to supply and production; (2) support to Marketing and (3) support of peasant organizations.

Key words: Sustainable agriculture, Benty, farm management, cooperative agriculture, poverty reduction.