Analysis of Potential Value Chains for Scaling up Climate-Smart Agriculture in West Africa

Despite the development of several CSA options and their positive gains, their wide scale adoption remains a challenge. Integrating the value chain analysis into the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) - Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) approach sounds positioning as an effective approach for upscaling of CSA

Assessment of vegetation dynamics using remote sensing and GIS: A case of Bosomtwe Range Forest Reserve, Ghana

Changing conditions owing to increasing forest fragmentation make land cover and change detection analysis an extremely important consideration for sustainable forest management. This study applied supervised classification using maximum-likelihood algorithm in Quantum GIS to detect land use land cover changes in the Bosomtwe Range Forest Reserve, Ghana from 1991, 2002 and 2017 using Landsat 4 - TM, Landsat 7 - ETM and Sentinel-2 satellite imageries respectively. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that land use/cover of Bosomtwe Range Forest Reserve have undergone remarkable changes for over the period of 26 years. The current status of forest cover is estimated to be 2995.45 +/- 401.86 ha and 2090.03 +/- 412.78 ha of closed and opened forest canopy respectively. Conversely, built-up areas (1531.68 +/- 487.13 ha) remains virtually high (20%) though it shows a decrease in comparison to the same area in 2002. The land use land cover change map clearly identified probable areas of forest depletion especially in the north eastern and western portions of the reserve. It is recommended that potential spatial drivers of change should be identified to generate suitable image for change modelling of the reserve, coupled with earmarking of degraded areas for reforestation projects to improve upon the forest cover. (C) 2018 National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V

Potentials of bamboo-based agroforestry for sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa:a review

There is widespread assertion among scientists, government and development experts that bamboo agroforestry could contribute to sustainable rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there are limited available data to verify the suitability of the system in the region. In addition, the current state of knowledge and adoption of agroforestry in SSA offers very little guidance as to which type of agroforestry systems bamboo could be integrated. Here, we reviewed the potential socioeconomic and environmental benefits of bamboo agroforestry and accentuate implications on sustainable rural development in SSA. In addition, we analysed potential research areas that could be intensified, so that future developments and scaling-up of bamboo agroforestry can be rooted in robust scientific findings rather than the intuitions of governments and development actors

Setting partnership for climate change adaptation in the CCAFS Yatenga site, Burkina Faso: analysis of gaps and opportunities

This paper analyzes patterns of social interaction within the organizations working in the Yatenga province of Burkina Faso, and develops purposive partnership framework that can facilitate the scaling up of the action research outputs and outcomes. A diagnostic tool for evaluating group functioning was used to elucidate the current situation of partnership development in this province. Further, partnership and networking was analyzed using the network density which describes the portion of the potential connections in a network of organizations that are actual connections. The results suggest that the desired partnership as requested/expected by stakeholders is far from working as it could be. The stakeholders therefore agreed that network density need to be increased for future partnership, with clearly defined vision, shared responsibilities in generating knowledge and results, and capacities to monitor, evaluate and communicate on the program impacts. For this purpose, future partnership need to combine scale-based and competency-based frameworks to be beneficial at scale and pulling together organizations’ competencies. Implementing both frameworks would lead to an effective partnership on climate change adaptation in agriculture and food security. However, the successful development of this purposive partnership will require capacity development for the group of partnering organizations

Managing local fodder species for a competitive gender-sensitive goat value chain: achievements and lessons learnt from Climate-Smart Villages in northern Ghana

In Ghana, women participation in the small ruminant value chain as a poverty reduction strategy is increasing. However, fodder of good nutritive value is relatively unavailable. Considering this need, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has been using its Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach to test and promote the adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) interventions such as the management of useful fodder tree and shrub species. This research for development work was initiated in 2016 and implemented through various steps. We started with the analysis of ruminant production systems and identification of predominant feeding practices in order to identify and prioritize potential browse species for quality in terms of their nutrient profile, preference and digestibility by goats. This was followed by an evaluation of the goat value chain in the context of climate change and variability, with suggestions on improvement options for farmers especially women. We also investigated the potential availability of the prioritized browse species and interventions needed. The development of a multispecies fodder bank that concentrates preferred species on the same farm management unit alongside forbs, grasses and fast-growing fodder legumes was then identified and initiated for ensuring sustainable all-year-round fodder and propagule availability for small ruminant producers and traders against increased future demand for meat. A combination of desktop review, questionnaire interviews, direct field observations and experiments was therefore used between 2016 and 2019 to generate findings presented in this info note

West Africa Climate-Smart Villages AR4D sites: 2016 Inventory

Inventory of CSA practices in West Africa's Climate-Smart Villages