Plateaux Region

Plateaux Region is Togo's agricultural heartland, the forested central-south zone where rainfall and altitude create ideal conditions for the cash crops—cocoa, coffee, cotton—that provided colonial export revenue and still underpin rural economies. German and French colonizers established plantation agriculture here in the early 20th century; the Ewe people who dominate the region developed smallholder production that persists today. The regional capital Atakpamé sits on the central plateau (hence the name) as a market town collecting produce for Lomé. Unlike the politically favored Kara region to the north, Plateaux has historically supported opposition movements, creating a development gap as patronage flows elsewhere. The region's dense population and agricultural productivity support food self-sufficiency—Togo achieved this goal with crops like maize, cassava, and yams—but cash crop prices remain volatile. With national GDP growing 6.5% (2024) and agriculture contributing 42% of GDP, Plateaux provides the production base even as Maritime Region captures processing and export value. By 2026, the linked agricultural zones (ZAAP) initiative may boost productivity, but the fundamental question remains whether value addition will occur here or in Lomé's industrial platform.