Source: World Wide Web
(Author: West African Research Center Team, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Author: Amouzou Koffi Edem (Team Member of the West African Research Center of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China) [West Africa Talk] No. 15, 2022, Issue 64. Translator: Zhao Yunhan (Chinese College); Proofreader: Chen Siyu (College of Foreign Chinese); Organizers: Huang Rui (School of Public Administration), Meng Yaqi (School of Public Administration); Contributed by: West African Research Center Team, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)Covering an area of more than 56,600 square kilometres, Togo is located in western Africa, between Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso, and bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Togo was colonized by Europe, Germany and France. German colonial rule dates back to 1884. Gustav Nachtigal, a German military physician and explorer in Central and Western Africa, signed the Treaty of Protectorate with King MLAPPA III of Togoville.
The name Togo was named by the Germans as early as 1884 and it was one of the first three communities in Nakhtigal to sign the Treaty of Protectorate. African toponymy holds that the word "Togo" means the edge of a water or lagoon, i.e. more (to) means water or lagoon and go means edge. The colony was named Togoland before 1905 and renamed Togo from 1905. During the German colonial period, before 1886, the administrative capital of Togo was located in Baguida; Between 1886 and 1897, the administrative capital was in Zebbe; From 1897 to the present, the administrative capital of Togo has been located in Lome.
With the defeat of Berlin in World War I, German colonial rule ended in 1918. The former German colonies were entrusted to Britain and France. Western Togo (i.e. what was then western Togoland) was occupied by the British and later incorporated into Ghana. Until 27 April 1960, until Togo's independence, its eastern part was entrusted to France. Togo's current history of settlement has traces of the origins of its ethnic group. Thus, Togo's more than thirty ethnic groups can be roughly divided into two broad categories: ethnic groups that lived in Togo before the end of the 15th century and those who arrived after the end of the fifteenth century.
All of these populations came from two waves of migration: one from the banks of the Niger River in the east and the other from the Burkina Faso plateau in the north. According to the most recent census, Togo has more than 8 million inhabitants. The official languages are French and the national languages are Ewe and Kabye. About 70 per cent of the population is a traditional religion, 20 per cent is Christian and 10 per cent is Muslim. Togolese democracy is spread across Africa, Europe and North America. Togo has offshore oil, as well as marble, green slope wisp, manganese, limestone, iron, peat, gold and uranium. Among them, phosphate deposits are the most important mineral resources, accounting for more than 40% of export earnings, making Togo the fifth largest phosphate producer in the world.
Culture
The majority of Togo's population is African, with 41 ethnic groups. Among them, the Aja-Ewe are the largest ethnic group, accounting for 44% of the population, living in the southern region of Togo; Then there is the Kabyl-Temu, which accounts for 26.7%; Para-Gourma, 16.1%; Akposo-Akbu, 4%; and the Anna-Ife ethnic group, accounting for 3.3%. Togo is a country with a rich cultural atmosphere and its languages are rich and diverse, but the most commonly spoken languages are Evi and Kabyl. When it comes to gastronomy, Togo's culinary culture is also rich, with many dishes made with corn. The most common dishes are corn paste, rice and fufu, which are often served with vegetables or peanut butter. As for drinks, Togo also has its own characteristics. Dine with Sadabi or Déha, a local drink made from palm trees. In southern Togo, locals drink a drink called tchoukoutou; In northern Togo, people drink Tchakpalo. Togo's traditional dances and festivals are numerous, with the beat of celebration varying from north to south.
economic development
At purchasing power parity (PPP), Togo's GDP per capita is $1,400. The majority of the country's workforce is engaged in agriculture, which creates 42% of its wealth. Togo's industrial and commercial activities are concentrated in the capital, Lomé. Thanks to the development of the service sector in 2021, Togo's GDP growth rebounded from 1.8% during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to 5.3% in 2022, and its economic recovery was largely driven by household consumption as well as public and private investment. Due to the implementation of the "Togo New Development Roadmap 2020-2025", public investment in the country is expected to maintain strong momentum in 2022, but it is likely to gradually decline in the coming years, which will benefit private investment. Togo's persistently rising food and oil prices have also raised concerns about inflation. In 2021, the country's current account deficit widened to 3.2 percent, more than double what it was in 2020. The current account deficit is financed by appropriations and concessional loans. Togo's fiscal deficit remains high, accounting for 6.5% of GDP in 2021, leading to a rise in public debt to GDP from 60.3% in 2020 to 64.7% in 2021.
agriculture
Togo has 25 per cent of its land area and is almost self-sufficient in food by stretching from small millet fields in the north to clay soils in the south, mainly sweet potatoes and maize. Agriculture largely guarantees food security in Togo, and the agricultural sector feeds 80 per cent of Togo's population. Togo grows a wide variety of crops, including millet, sorghum, maize, cassava, yams, cocoa, coffee and shea butter, while cotton is Togo's main industrial crop and main agricultural export crop. It is worth mentioning that small and medium-sized farms in Togo dominate agricultural production. In addition, Togo's intense economic development has led to a significant increase in demand for wood fuels, which is one of the reasons for the highest rate of deforestation in Africa.
In March 2006, the Togolese government began to mechanize agriculture again in order to promote the industrialization of agriculture, whereas farmers had been using traditional tools for agricultural activities by hand. Several agricultural projects in the country are in an orderly manner aimed at revolutionizing the agricultural sector. The Jagbrai Plain Rural Development Project is one example of this. Agriculture is important to the Togolese economy, but it is constrained by many factors in the development process, so the Government of Togo and its partners are working together to revitalize the agricultural sector, in particular food production, in order to promote the implementation of poverty eradication strategies.
Located on the left bank of the Zio River, the Jagbrae Plain covers several villages with 17,000 inhabitants, some of which are marshes, flooded during the rainy season by the flooding of the Zio River, and used for market gardening after the dry season when the water recedes. The plain, which spans the districts of Zio and Gulf, is about 13 kilometres northeast of Lomé and stretches for hundreds of square kilometers.
The National Agricultural Investment and Food Safety Programme (PADAT) is mentioned here as part of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Togo to resume cooperation. Following the adoption of the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Planning Document, the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (C-PRSP) and the National Agricultural Investment and Food Security Plan (NAIFSP), Togo developed and approved a new reference document called the National Development Plan (NDP) to align the new strategic direction of the government authorities with the expectations of the structural transformation of the agricultural sector.
The overall objective of the program is to drive a structural transformation of the economy towards strong, sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic growth that creates decent jobs and improves social welfare. The strategic axis of the plan focuses on the development of agricultural, manufacturing and extractive industry clusters. To adapt to these new developments, Togo has developed and implemented the Togo Agricultural Development Support Project (PNIASAN), which serves as a new reference framework for all interventions in the agricultural sector.