CILSS: a regional opportunity for the GCARD process in Africa

“Transforming Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) system for global impact”, this is the mission of GCARD to meet the global challenges of food security, poverty, global climate change and many others new challenges emerging in agriculture.

Beginning in 2010, the First Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development  (GCARD1)elaborated the CGARD Roadmap which identifies the priorities challenges facing Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) and required changes in agricultural research and innovation system to impact the smallholders. Declined in different levels, the AR4D challenges at regional level include:

• The difficulties encountered in integrating actions at regional level, due to the complexity of social, cultural, political and environmental factors among nations.
• Under-resourced regional organizations and networks, with limited ownership and involvement across the range of national AR4D stakeholders
• A lack of wider international political commitment to support regionally-organized actions and development organizations and to share technological innovations (Read full article on GCARD2 Blog)

Blogpost by Rivaldo Kpadonou about the GCARD2

Local knowledge and adaptation to climate change in Ouémé valley, Benin

RAB Kpadonou, PY Adégbola, SD Tovignan

 Paper published in African Crop Science Journal

Climate change is today a major threat to sustainable development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, that is anticipated to be most vulnerable because of low adaptive capacity and high dependency on climate sensitive resources such as water resources and ecological systems. This paper highlights the local dimension of adaptation to climate change and the importance of local knowledge in adaptation planning. Generally, adaptation and mitigation are the main known approaches to address climate threats. Indeed, climate change is an international concern, while the benefits of adaptation are local, as opposed to mitigation. Also like climate, climate change adaptation is a dynamic and evolving process which the main determinant is the degree of vulnerability. A case study of farmers’ strategies for adapting to climate vulnerability in the low valley of Ouémé showed that local people have developed a remarkable ability to adapt to climate threats, or in some cases have turned threats into opportunities. From fishing practices to agricultural techniques through agro-fishing practices, people of low valley of Ouémé managed to take advantage of their natural vulnerability through adaptation strategies mainly based on local knowledge. In fact, the trend of these local strategies confirms the dynamic nature of adaptation to climate change mainly determined by the extent of vulnerability caused by continued depletion of the environment. But given that this dynamic can sometimes lead to maladaptation, it is necessary that local people are assisted in their coping strategies, even if a synergy is needed between local  institutions and national and international framework for the successful adaptation to climate change.

DOWNLOAD FREE FULL TEXT

Pilot SMS-based service for irrigation advice for helping farmers via mobil phones

Thursday April 5 Good morning in Berkane. Yesterday maximum temperature was 20 and minimum 9 degrees and rainfall was 0.0 mm. For citrus orchards, apply 25 cubic meters per hectare or 50 minutes if pump output 30 m3/hour/hectare.

For the first time in Morocco, messages like this, translated from French, are helping to shape good agriculture practices, popping up on the cell phones of a group of farmers each morning in a USAID pilot program. The new service—daily irrigation advice delivered to a mobile inbox—is already changing lives for the 500 early adopters in the eastern region of the North African country.

Mohammed Azzimani, a 52-year-old farmer in Berkane, now knows exactly how much to water his potatoes and tomatoes For complet texte