Landsat-Derived Estimates of Mangrove Extents in the Sierra Leone Coastal Landscape Complex during 1990–2016

This study provides the first assessment of decadal changes in mangrove extents in Sierra Leone. While significant advances have been made in mangrove mapping using remote sensing, no study has documented long-term changes in mangrove extents in Sierra Leone—one of the most vulnerable countries in West Africa. Such understanding is critical for devising regional management strategies that can support local livelihoods. We utilize multi-date Landsat data and cloud computational techniques to quantify spatiotemporal changes in land cover, with focus on mangrove ecosystems, for 1990–2016 along the coast of Sierra Leone. We specifically focus on four estuaries—Scarcies, Sierra Leone, Yawri Bay, and Sherbro. We relied on the k-means approach for an unsupervised classification, and validated the classified map from 2016 using ground truth data collected from Sentinel-2 and high-resolution images and during field research (accuracy: 95%). Our findings indicate that the Scarcies river estuary witnessed the greatest mangrove loss since 1990 (45%), while the Sierra Leone river estuary experienced mangrove gain over the last 26 years (22%). Overall, the Sierra Leone coast lost 25% of its mangroves between 1990 and 2016, with the lowest coverage in 2000, during the period of civil war (1991–2002). However, natural mangrove dynamics, as supported by field observations, indicate the potential for regeneration and sustainability under carefully constructed management strategies

South Atlantic Variability Arising from Air–Sea Coupling: Local Mechanisms and Tropical–Subtropical Interactions

Interannual variability in the southern and equatorial Atlantic is investigated using an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) coupled to a slab ocean model (SOM) in the Atlantic in order to isolate features of air–sea interactions particular to this basin. Simulated covariability between sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and atmosphere is very similar to the observed non-ENSO-related covariations in both spatial structures and time scales. The leading simulated empirical coupled mode resembles the zonal mode in the tropical Atlantic, despite the lack of ocean dynamics, and is associated with baroclinic atmospheric anomalies in the Tropics and a Rossby wave train extending to the extratropics, suggesting an atmospheric response to tropical SST forcing. The second non-ENSO mode is the subtropical dipole in the SST with a mainly equivalent barotropic atmospheric anomaly centered on the subtropical high and associated with a midlatitude wave train, consistent with atmospheric forcing of the subtropical SST. The power spectrum of the tropical mode in both simulation and observation is red with two major interannual peaks near 5 and 2 yr. The quasi-biennial component exhibits a progression between the subtropics and the Tropics. It is phase locked to the seasonal cycle and owes its existence to the imbalances between SST–evaporation and SST–shortwave radiation feedbacks. These feedbacks are found to be reversed between the western and eastern South Atlantic, associated with the dominant role of deep convection in the west and that of shallow clouds in the east. A correct representation of tropical–extratropical interactions and of deep and shallow clouds may thus be crucial to the simulation of realistic interannual variability in the southern and tropical Atlantic

West Africa Regional Training On the Improved NextGen Seasonal Forecasting Approach (PyCPT 2)

From October 10-19, a nine-day training targeting West Africa (WA) was implemented in Lomé, Togo by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) of the Columbia Climate School, in close collaboration with the Regional Center for Training and Application in Agrometeorology and Operational Hydrology (AGRHYMET) and Meteo Togo. The workshop, which was organized as part of the World Bank’s Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, brought together 7 national meteorological services from the WA region, as well as its regional climate center (AGRHYMET) to improve seasonal forecasting capacities using the “NextGen” approach and its concomitant PyCPT version 2 interface (PyCPT2). In particular, the major objectives of the training were to strengthen the knowledge and understanding of national meteorological services of seasonal forecasting tools, introduce the new advances and functionalities of the Python (PyCPT2) interface for the NextGen forecasting approach, configure and run PyCPT version 2 to make the best-available forecasts in participants’ home countries, including forecast verification, and provide foundational training on best practices for forecast communication including the flexible forecast format

Scaling Out the Next Generation of Seasonal Climate Forecasts in Africa

AICCRA is supporting African National Meteorological Services (NMS) and Regional Climate Centres to implement Next Generation (NextGen) seasonal and sub-seasonal climate forecast systems and an improved online Flexible Forecast presentation. This brief describes the NextGen forecast system and the transformative presentation of these forecasts using an interactive web interface (Flexible Forecast Maproom), summarizes AICCRA training and support to scale out these forecast tools, and introduces a workshop process developed to equip farmers to take advantage of the Next Generation of seasonal forecasts and the Flexible Forecast Maproom

Senegal Climate Risk Management for Agriculture Curriculum Design Workshop

The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project aims to benefit millions of smallholder farmers in Senegal and five other target countries through climate information services and climate smart agriculture. Strengthening the capacity of next users, particularly agricultural extension and advisory service (EAS) providers who work to support farmers in Senegal and five other target countries, is crucial to achieving this goal. Therefore, AICCRA gathered the key EAS partners and stakeholders in a 5-day workshop, held in Dakar, 5-9 December 2022, to: • design a curriculum to strengthen the capacity of EAS providers to incorporate climate services in their work with Senegal’s farmers and agropastoralists, and • formulate a roadmap for implementing the curriculum

Report D’Atelier: Coproduction de services climatiques pour le secteur de la nutrition au Sénégal

Les 15 et 16 novembre 2021, le projet Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) de Columbia World, en collaboration avec le Laboratoire de Recherche en Nutrition et Alimentation Humaine (LARNAH) de l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), le Conseil national pour le Développement de la Nutrition (CNDN), et l'Agence Nationale de Météorologie du Sénégal (ANACIM) ont co-organisé un atelier à Dakar, au Sénégal, pour faire progresser la coproduction de services climatiques pour la nutrition dans le pays. L'atelier, qui a rassemblé 22 participants issus d'un large éventail d'organisations universitaires, gouvernementales, onusiennes et à but non lucratif travaillant dans le domaine de la nutrition, visait à identifier les possibilités d'intégration des informations climatiques dans diverses décisions et interventions liées à la nutrition, et à établir les besoins et les priorités en matière d'informations climatiques pour le secteur

Climate Risk Management Curriculum for Agriculture Gaps and Opportunities at USSEIN

Results of a survey of USSEIN students (28), instructors (14) and staff (2) provide insights into perceived needs, gaps and opportunities to expand curriculum on climate risk management in agriculture (CRMA) to prepare future agricultural professionals to strengthen the resilience of Senegal’s agricultural sector to its variable and changing climate. The web-based survey covered interest and demand in CRMA, the degree to which USSEIN’s current curriculum meets demand and prepares future professionals, and constraints to providing and receiving instruction on CRMA topics. Responses show that students anticipate that CRMA will be important for their future professional roles. Students and instructors recognize demand for instruction on a range of climate risk management issues. Perceptions of the degree to which USSEIN’s current curriculum prepares students for future CRMA professional roles were quite varied. Respondents perceived lower demand for instruction, and lower relevance for future professional roles, for agricultural insurance than for the other CRMA topics covered. While most instructors and staff perceive that CRMA topics are covered in their courses, most students reported that they were not currently enrolled in or aware of courses, that provide CRMA content. Students were somewhat more likely than instructors to be to be engaged in CRMA issues and activities, to perceive demand for instruction in CRMA topics, and to be very positive about the adequacy of USSEIN’s current curriculum to prepare for future roles related to CRMA. Students highlighted availability of relevant courses as constraints to receiving CRMA instruction, whereas instructors and staff highlighted resource constraints (funding, curriculum, expertise) as the main limitation to offering CRMA instruction

Climate Risk Management in Agricultural Extension

A two-week training of trainers (ToT) workshop was implemented from June 7-18, 2021, in Adama, Ethiopia by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) of the Columbia Climate School and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in East Africa. The workshop, which was organized as part of the World Bank’s Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project and in close collaboration with the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Today, for Tomorrow (ACToday) Columbia World Project, brought together various professionals from the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) colleges, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), and the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) to pilot a four-module curriculum aimed at improving climate risk management in agricultural extension

Climate Risk Management in Agricultural Extension (CRMAE) Curriculum: Training of Trainers for Senegal’s Agricultural Extension System

A nine-day training of trainers (ToT) workshop on the Climate Risk Management in Agricultural Extension (CRMAE) curriculum was convened from March 6-15, 2023, in Saly, Senegal with the country’s main extension and advisory service (EAS) providers from both the public and private sectors. The workshop, which was organized as part of the World Bank’s Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, brought these EAS providers together to train them on a new co-produced and competency-based curriculum to build foundational knowledge and skills to manage climate risk in agriculture. In particular, the curriculum aims to help EAS providers to take advantage of best-available and location-specific climate information products and tools in Senegal, including those freely available and accessible online through the National Agency for Civil Aviation and Meteorology (ANACIM) to better plan for, manage, and respond to a changing and varying climate

Ag-Data Hub Webinar with Senegal’s Agricultural Extension and Advisory Service Providers

A webinar on the topic of Senegal’s newly launched Ag-Data Hub was convened with Senegal’s main public and private agricultural extension and advisory service (EAS) providers on April 27, 2023. The webinar, which was organized as part of the World Bank’s Accelerating the Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, brought together EAS providers who were involved in the co-production, training of trainers (ToT), and upcoming pilot of the newly developed Climate Risk Management in Agricultural Extension (CRMAE) curriculum to learn more about the Ag-Data Bub incorporated within the curriculum’s Module 2 covering climate information and tools available for agriculture in Senegal. The Ag-Data Hub integrates data from multiple sources to help farmers and those who support them such as EAS to make informed decisions such as about which crops or varieties to plant in a given location, when to sow them, and more