West Africa

 

A significant portion of the Western Africa population is smallholder, rain-fed farmers. In recent history, rainfall patterns have changed. The season has changed in length, and the frequency of rainfall has altered. The potential threat of climate change on food security is increasing for this region. The Climate Change Impact on Western African Agriculture project aims to build a pathway to simulate impacts for the Region. Phase 2 (2015-2017) work for this team focused on: the Nioro region of Senegal; advancing one site in Ghana and one in Mali regions to full regional integrated assessments; and developing national scale asessments.

Work during Phase 2 particularly emphasized stakeholder engagement. The Western Africa team worked closely with Climate Change Agriculture Food Security (CCAFS) West Africa Flagship 4 and Flagship 2 (CASCAID) projects to ensure both district and national stakeholder engagement. Stakeholder engagement was achieved through informal interactions, workshops, and interviews. These engagements helped enhance the usefulness of the research findings for stakeholders.

In addition to stakeholder engagement, the research team expanded and redeveloped Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) for these regions, incorporated livestock and commodities of focus into the models, developed adaptation packages, and ensured harmonized data for the West Africa Region. The project developed effective information that can be translated directly into usable information. These information products include graphics and visuals, short summaries, and information briefs.

 

West Africa Team Members:

Dilys S. MacCarthy

Principal Investigator; Crop modeling

Sibiry P. Traore

Co-PI; Crop modeling/ Remote sensing

Ibrahima Hathie

Co-PI; Socioeconoimc modeling

Seydou Traore

Co-PI; Climate modeling

Samuel Adiku

Co-PI; Crop modeling/ Remote sensing

Mouhamed Ly

Climate modeling

Jonathon Anaglo

Stakeholder liaison

Joseph K. Clottey

Economist

Andree Nenkam

Livestock/ Crop modeling

Bright S. Freduah

Crop modeling

Eric C. Timpong-Jones

Livestock integration

Agali Alhassane

Crop modeling

Myriam Adam

Crop/Livestock modeling; ARP

F.M. Akinseye

Agro-meteorologist

S. Sakho-Jimbira

Junior Ag. Extension

Ahmadou Ly

Socioeconomics

Stephen Narh

Crop modeling

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Summary:

Location: Nioro, Senegal
Crops: Millet, maize, peanut
Models: DSSAT and APSIM
Farm System: Cereal-legume
Economic Strata: Maize and non-maize
Possible Adaptation: Use of drought and heat tolerant varieties; Fertilizer micro dosing; Supplementary irrigation; Intensification of crop-livestock integration through on-farm fodder production

Location: Navrongo, Ghana
Crops: Sorghum, maize, peanut
Models: DSSAT, APSIM, SARA-H
Farm System: Low input, cereal-legume
Economic Strata: Small – Large farms
Possible Adaptation: Use of drought and heat tolerant varieties; Fertilizer micro dosing; Supplementary irrigation; Intensification of crop-livestock integration through on-farm fodder production (dual-purpose) hybrids

Location: Koutiala, Mali
Crops: Millet/sorghum, maize, peanut
Models: DSSAT, APSIM, Sarra-H
Farm System: Moderate-high input, cotten-cereal-legume
Economic Strata: Small farm households, large farm households
Possible Adaptation: Use of drought and heat tolerant varieties; Fertilizer micro dosing; Supplementary irrigation; Intensification of crop-livestock integration through on-farm fodder production (dual-purpose hybrids)

Location: Tamale, Ghana
Crops: Maize, sorghum, peanut
Models: DSSAT and APSIM
Farm System: Low input, cereal – legume – livestock system
Economic Strata: Livestock – non livestock farm
Possible Adaptation: Use of drought and heat tolerant varieties; Fertilizer micro dosing; Supplementary irrigation; Intensification of crop-livestock integration through on-farm fodder production (dual-purpose hybrids)

Affiliated Institutions
University of Ghana
The International Crop Research Institute  for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) – Mali 
Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR) – Senegal Agrhymet – Niger 
The International Crop Research Institute  for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) – Nigeria