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

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

Scaling up climate information services through public-private partnership business models

Between 2011 and 2017, CCAFS West Africa piloted how the dissemination of climate information services (CIS) to farmers in its climate-smart village sites (Lawra and Jirapa) in Ghana could help them avert risks associated with climate change and variability. The pilot was executed with 1000 profiled and geo-referenced farmers (33% women) through a collaboration with a private information and communication technology (ICT) company, Esoko in Ghana and the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). During the pilot, Esoko delivered processed weather information received from GMet and other sources to farmers using mobile phone platforms. The Esoko platform also allows farmers to access a call center where CIS is delivered to them vocally in their local dialect. The forecast information included the total rainfall, the onset and end of the rainy season, and a 10-day forecast during the rainy season (Partey et al., 2018). In addition to the weather forecast information, farmers receive market alerts and agro-advisories that are intended to help them understand and apply the received information. A survey conducted in 2017 showed CIS received by farmers enabled them to make mixed strategic decisions on crop variety selection, time of planting, time of applying fertilizer, time of irrigating, time of harvesting etc. which contributed to reducing crop failures and increasing household food availability for both men and women (Partey et al., 2018). To sustain the delivery of CIS to farmers at the cli-mate-smart village sites and reach others in the country, Esoko adopted a public-private partnership (PPP) business model proposed by CCAFS. The PPP is particularly targeted at farmers subscribing to the "Planting for Food and Jobs" (PFJ) initiative in-troduced by the Government of Ghana as part of its measures to improve food security and employment in the agricultural sector. This document presents the nature of the PPP model and preliminary resul

Candidate fodder species for goat production in Northern Ghana

Livestock production employs over 60% of rural house-holds in the three northern regions of Ghana, making in-vestment in this industry critical for alleviating poverty and enhancing food security. Among other factors, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture reports access to sustainable feed supply as one of the livestock industry’s key constraints. As most livestock are kept on a free-range system, forage of fair nutritive value is normally scarce in the dry season due to recurrent droughts, continuous over-grazing and lack of range improvement interventions. Often, palatable and productive perennial grasses, legumes and herbs be-come replaced with unpalatable, low quality annual spe-cies, with a concomitant loss of soil fertility. The nutritive value of available pasture species is therefore often poor with low levels of crude protein. The predominant small scale, subsistence livestock producers are also challenged with the financial resources to afford a continuous supple-mentation of concentrate feeds to their animals. Recent re-search has been directed to using tree leaves as fodder for livestock due to many advantages such as supply of good quality green fodder even in the dry season as well as high crude protein and minerals contents. In the Lawra and Jirapa Districts of the Upper West Region of Ghana, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change and Agriculture (CCAFS) established a Climate-Smart Village (CSV), an agriculture research for develop-ment site where various agricultural innovations are tested on their potential to deliver on any of the 3 pillars (produc-tivity, adaptation and mitigation) of climate-smart agricul-ture (CSA). Among many CSA options at the CSV, the in-tegration of multipurpose trees on farmlands is promoted as a CSA practice for improving fodder availability, increas-ing overall farm productivity, improving ecological resili-ence and providing farmers with important safety net op-portunities against climate-related risks. In this study, we used a participatory approach to document and character-ize fodder trees and shrubs that are prioritized by farmers for livestock production. Documentation of fodder species was based on question-naire interviews, focus group discussions and desktop re-views. Top fodder species selected by farmers were char-acterized for the nutritional composition and intake by farmer preferred livestock

Inclusion of gender equality in monitoring and evaluation of climate services

The working paper aims to identify recommendations for gender-aware monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of rural climate services, highlighting system design and indicator development. Drawing from the literature from rural development sectors, the paper first identifies key lessons learned on gender-aware M&E. For example, to measure changes related to gender equality, it can be key to incorporate frameworks for measuring empowerment, use mixed methods and participatory tools, and follow gender-aware interview practices. Clearly incorporating gender equality objectives in the theory of change, facilitating gender support for M&E project teams, and carrying out a robust social assessment that includes gender analysis can be important practices to ensure that gender considerations are taken into account from the onset of M&E design. It is also critical to meet the minimum standards for sex-disaggregated data collection and analysis to ensure that gender trends can be accurately assessed. The paper then focuses on considerations specific to rural climate services. The paper highlights that gender-aware M&E for climate services must collect datasets that represent key factors underlying gender inequalities in access and use of weather and climate information, particularly: i) access to group processes, ii) access to sources and formats, iii) relevance of weather and climate information, and iv) capacities to act on information. It can also be necessary to collect datasets that allow for assessment of how climate services contributes to women’s participation in agricultural decision-making. The appendices present sample quantitative and qualitative questions for collection of the datasets. The paper also presents three case studies of M&E used in climate services projects and programs supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its partners. The case studies help to analyse the differing M&E practices used to take into account gender equality, according to the scope and expected outcomes of an intervention. The working paper concludes with recommendations for gender-aware climate services M&E. These emphasize that baseline assessments must collect information on key gender differences and trends that influence inequalities in access and use of climate services in order to ensure that gender-based challenges to benefit from climate services are assessed from the onset. Furthermore, it is important that mixed methods are used to monitor and evaluate changes in the factors influencing gender inequalities in access and use over the course of the project. Assessment of the impacts of climate services on women’s participation in agricultural decision-making is also critical; it can be important to assess additional indicators of women’s empowerment, as well, depending on the project’s expected outcomes. In response to methodological challenges, it is paramount that data detailing individual experiences concerning access and use of climate information is collected from both women and men in order to ensure accurate and complete gender analysis

Scaling up of CSA Platforms at the Subnational (District) Levels in Ghana: a Progressive Achievement of Theghana CCAFS Science-Policy Platform

Globally the picture on climate change and its effects on humanity appear quite disturbing as food systems and consumption patterns are sliding towards low against prediction values. In Ghana population expansion as a driver has quadrupled now and calls for more food and fibre needs than ten decades ago (Karbo et al, 2015). The awareness of climate change on socio-economic development among development workers, scientists and policy decision makers appears high though more attention has been given to the search for biophysical solutions than the policy institutional environment enabling their uptake. The CCAFS programme in West Africa coordinated by ICRISAT, Bamako involving Ghana, Mali and Senegal was able to set up national multi-stakeholder platforms for sharing information on climate change and related policy issues. The platforms also provide a linkage mechanism between research, policy decision makers and community level actors in order to positively influence climate change investments and project trajectory in agriculture with effective adaptive, resilient and mitigation outcomes at the farmer level. The Ghana CCAFS Science –Policy Platform formation preceded with a meeting held in Burkina Faso in 2013 where a three member team from Ghana was involved with subsequent drafting and submission of proposal in request for funding leading to its establishment. The Ghana national climate change science policy platform as a multi-stakeholder institutional innovation came into being in 2013 with the support of CCAFS West Africa, set out to bridge science-policy literacy gap at the national and sub-national levels. In 2014, Ghana through the collaborative efforts of the national Platform implemented CCAFS Flagship4 activities which sought to deepen interaction at all levels. This culminated into the establishment of platforms at Lawra, Jirapa and Nandom districts with the view to strengthen climate change discourse, attitudinal change and actions at that level while maintaining a vibrant functional linkage mechanism with the national platforms for policy influence. An assessment of climate change policy and institutional context by Essegbey 2014, in these three districts, revealed that large gap exists between the national and subnational levels in terms of policy development and dissemination. The report identified weaknesses in harnessing societal grassroots inputs for policy formulation process and lack of awareness and knowledge about the policy especially in the decentralized levels of society in these three districts (Essegbey 2014). This suggests that policy literacy is very low and could pose challenge to effective implementation of the NCCP. The establishment of these platforms were necessary to help bridge the policy literacy gap. Today, these platforms provide soft landing for research activities and projects such ASSAR project, Water and Land Ecosystem project etc. The platforms also provide inputs into the districts level development annual plans. Effective networking with other local and international bodies have also been recognised. This info note seeks to give a process description of the scaling up of district sciencepolicy platforms in Ghana, the structures, the perceptions of the actors with particular reference to the platform, perceived functions, fears and organizational leadership diversities

Systems and Operations of the Ghana Science-Policy Dialogue Platform on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security

The threat posed by climate change and its variability within sub-Saharan Africa especially West Africa is compounded by its weak economies and high dependence on Agriculture as a major driver of economic growth. Ghana has since 2010 undertaken several initiatives towards development of comprehensive programmes (strategies) to enhance national adaptation to climate change. Diverse governmental and academic/research institutions, private sector and individuals have initiated programmes and projects aimed at delivering on CSA to enhance livelihoods, increased agricultural production and sustainable socio-economic development. However, the activities of these stakeholders in the climate change arena appeared isolated, disjointed and uncoordinated to reap desired benefits. In response, the CCAFS programme in West Africa coordinated by ICRISAT, Bamako involving Ghana, Mali and Senegal was able to set up national multi-stakeholder platforms for information sharing and learning on climate change and related policy issues. The Ghana CCAFS Science-Policy Dialogue Platform having been operational since November 2012 has wealth of experiences to share. This note is therefore designed to highlight the profile of Ghana’s platform, its structure and composition and the key achievements over the past 4-5 years of existence

Towards gender-informed adaptation planning in the Sudanian zone of Mali Analysis of climate change vulnerability

Understanding the linkages between gender and vulnerability is crucial for proposing sustainable gender-responsive climate-smart solutions. This study compared the vulnerabilities of male (MHHH) and female household heads (FHHH) in the Sudanian zone of Mali using Cinzana in the Segou region as a case study. We used semi-structured questionnaire interviews and focus group discussions for data collection. The questionnaires were randomly administered to 233 household heads (23% women). The Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) method was used to assess vulnerability to climate change. The results showed that livelihoods in the Sudanian zone of Mali are vulnerable to climate change. Female household heads (FHHH) were found to be more vulnerable. FHHH recorded higher values for six out of the eight LVI major components used in the vulnerability assessment: socio-demographic index, livelihood strategies index, social network index, food index, natural disasters and climate variability index and agricultural production system index. The study proposes a number of interventions for improving the adaptive capacity of FHHH to climate change and variability: improving access to financial resources, improving access to radio for receiving weather information, encouraging FHHHs involvement in farmer-based groups for peer-learning; and promoting the development of policy initiatives that ensure the mainstreaming of gender into agricultural development programs