Assessing the Climate-Smartness of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP): What can we learn from Benin, Guinea, Niger, Togo and Chad projects?

This info note summarizes the findings from participatory assessments of the climate-smartness of World Bank funded West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP)”. This activity was implemented by CCAFS West Africa regional programme in partnership with CORAF under the Capacitating Stakeholders in Using Climate Information for Enhanced Resilience in the Agricultural Sector in West Africa (CaSCIERA-WA) project to strengthen the capacity of country stakeholders of WAAPP to mainstream and implement CSA in their activities in West Africa

Capacitating stakeholders to using Climate Information in West Africa: Achievements and lessons learned from the WAAPP-funded CaSCIERA-TA project

This Info note summarizes the achievements and lessons learned from the implementation of a 2-year project on ‘’Capacitating Stakeholders in Using Climate Information for Enhanced Resilience in the Agricultural Sector in West Africa (CaSCIERA-TA)’’, funded by Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricole (CORAF) under the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP)”. This project was implemented by a consortium of partners led by ICRAF Sahel Office and included CCAFS West Africa Program, AGRHYMET, INRAB-Benin, IRAG-Guinea, INRAN-Niger and ITRA-Togo. The project aimed at strengthening the capacity of the stakeholders of four WAAPP implementing countries to mainstream and implement Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) into their activities

Variabilité morphologiques et conservation des morphotypes de <i>Jatropha curcas</i> Linn. (Euphoriaceae) au Benin.

This study is a contribution to Jatropha curcas cultivation and seeks to analyze the morphological variability and identification of morphotypes of Jatropha curcas. The study was conducted in 44 communities equitably distributed among 22 towns (populations) and geographically widespread in the 10 phytodistricts of Benin. Per population, at least 30 individuals of the species spaced at least 20 meters apart were randomly selected for the collection of morphological data. In total, 840 individuals, 714 leaves, 2294 fruits and 3465 seeds of Jatropha curcas were measured in all the country. The part of the variability of Jatropha curcas morphological traits due to individual, populations, phytodistricts, climatic zones were determined using the variance component analysis. The stepwise discriminant analysis was performed on Jatropha curcas populations to identify the morphological traits which discriminate them and the numeric classification was realized to regroup Jatropha curcas populations. The results show that variability of Jatropha curcas morphological traits is generally larger at individual level or between individuals of the same population than between populations, phytodistricts and climatic zones except fruits and seeds weight whose variability is larger between populations. Ten of twenty-one morphological traits studied were identified as the most discriminant variables of Jatropha curcas. Four morphological groups of Jatropha curcas were distinguished in Benin considering 10 discriminant variables. Keywords: morphological traits, variability, Jatropha curcas, Benin