Fishers’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Weather and Climate Information Services for Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal

Climate variability has become a major issue for vital sectors in the context of climate change. In fisheries, in particular, the effects of climate change are reflected in the decline of fishing yield and loss of lives during extreme weather events in the sea. This study analyzed the perception of climate variability and change by fisher-folks, the attitude of fisher-folks toward the weather forecast and the adoption rate of the use of the weather forecast as well as the factors determining its use in Senegal. To this end, 576 fisher-folks belonging to 41 local fishing committees along the coastal areas were surveyed and focus group discussions were organized with key informants. The adoption rate was identified using the method of the average treatment effect (ATE) and the test of independency (chi-square) was used to analyze the perceptions of and beliefs on climate change. The results showed that 96% of fisher-folks perceive the change in the climate, though the effects are differently appreciated across the coastline. The most frequently observed effects are: coastal erosion, change in wind direction, increase in extreme swells and sea level rise. Nearly half of fisher-folks confirm that they noticed these changes over the past five years. In the Southern Coast in particular, 40% of fisher-folks stated that these changes happened 10 years ago. This statement is confirmed by the qualitative data. More than 90% of the respondents ascertain the weather forecast before going to fish, 63% regularly receive the weather forecast and 53% avoid going to sea during extreme events. In addition, the results showed that if the weather forecast was made accessible to the majority of fisher-folks, more than 83% would avoid going to sea during periods of extreme weather extreme events, thus reducing significantly the number of fatalities. The best way to protect the fisher-folks from the harmful effects of climate change is to ensure large-scale access to and use of accurate weather forecasts

Are perception and adaptation to climate variability and change of cowpea growers in Mali gender differentiated?

Understanding the gender dimension of climate change perception and choice of adaptation strategies is crucial for policy recommendations that foster the development and integration of gender-responsive climate-smart agricultural interventions into agricultural development programs. This study determined the differences in the perception and choice of adaptation strategies between men and women farmers in Cinzana in the Segou region of Mali. The study used questionnaire interviews involving 260 farmers (49% women) and focus group discussions for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model to understand the determinants of the level of adoption of adaptation strategies. The results showed that, irrespective of gender, majority of farmers perceived climate change as extended period of droughts, shortened duration of rains, increased frequency of strong winds and increased day and night temperatures. While climate change perception was similar between men and women, choice of adaptation strategies differed significantly in most instances. Women farmers were generally low adopters of crop and varieties-related strategies, soil and water conservation technics (contour farming, use of organic manure), etc., compare to men. Notably, being the household head, age and the availability of free labor were found to positively increased farmers’ probability of adopting many adaptation strategies. The study recommends improving women’s access and control of production resources (land, labor) as means to improving their adoption of adaptation strategies

Achieving sustainable future objectives under uncertain conditions: Application of a learning framework to adaptation pathways in rural Mali

Adaptation Pathways have emerged as promising approaches for exploring sequences of actions to address challenges in uncertain conditions. This study elaborates on how pathway approaches operate in practice by applying a learning framework that identifies guiding propositions for successful adaptation pathways. The framework is used to analyze a transformative scenario planning case study from rural Mali. Findings confirm that adaptation pathways are highly context-specific, grounded in local institutions. The study also emphasizes that the adaptation pathways process requires a sufficient timeframe to allow for cross-level interactions and institutional changes to unfold as needed. The case demonstrates that the framework can be a useful tool for reflexive learning and identifying gaps in a structured way during pathway development. However, it needs to be adjusted to specific contexts to better capture the influence of and implications for power relations and social inequality in future adaptation plans

Transforming climate science into usable services: The effectiveness of co-production in promoting uptake of climate information by smallholder farmers in Senegal

Does the provision of weather and climate information services (WCIS) enhance farmer’s use of forecasts in informing farm decisions? This paper assesses the effectiveness of the Multi-disciplinary Working Group (MWG) – a WCIS co-production initiative in Senegal in influencing farmers uptake of weather and climate information (WCI). WCIS are increasingly gaining importance and widely touted as critical in helping farmers adapt to climate variability. While there have been various WCIS initiatives producing and translating climate data into tailored information and knowledge in different parts of the world, there is hardly any rigorous evidence assessing their effectiveness in improving uptake. In this assessment, we use innovative survey methods and apply rigorous analytical approaches that control for self-selection bias to establish causal linkages between the MWG and use of WCIS. Our findings indicate that MWGs are positively associated with farmers’ awareness, access and uptake of WCI resulting in farm management responses depending on the type of information used. The presence of MWGs generally increases farmer’s awareness of WCI by 18%, access by 12% and uptake by 10%. Furthermore, use of seasonal forecasts is generally associated with a higher proportion of farmers using improved seed, fertilizers and manure, but negatively with crop diversification within MWG locations. This suggests that participatory approaches in the provision of tailored climate information and advisory services can lead to higher uptake and use among farmers in informing farm management responses for better adaptation to climate change. We highlight lessons for improved evaluations of WCIS in future

Options de Modèles d’Affaires pour Assurer la Durabilité de l’Utilisation des Services d’Information Climatique au Sénégal

USAID/CINSERE (Services d’information climatiques pour améliorer la résilience et la productivité au Sénégal) est un projet de résilience qui vise à renforcer les capacités nationales pour la production, l’accès et la diffusion efficiente d’informations météorologiques et climatiques (IC) et de développer des stratégies pour une mise à l’échelle durable de l’utilisation des services d’information météorologiques et climatiques (SIC) sur toute l’étendue du territoire national. Le projet est financé par l’USAID et mis en oeuvre par le Programme de Recherche du CGIAR sur le Changement Climatique, l’Agriculture et la Sécurité Alimentaire hébergé par ICRISAT (CCAFS/ICRISAT) en collaboration avec l’ANACIM. La zone d’intervention du projet est celle des projets Feed the Future (FtF) au Sénégal, notamment Naatal Mbay (clôturé en 2019), Yaajeende (remplacé par Kawolor en 2018), ERA (remplacé par Youth in Agriculture en 2018) et COMFISH (remplacé par Dekkal Geej en 2019). Démarré en Mai 2016 pour une durée de trois ans (Jusqu’en mai 2019), le projet a bénéficié d’une extension d’un an. Ainsi, cette première phase de l’USAID/CINSERE prend fin en avril 2020. Durant presque quatre années de mise en oeuvre, des résultats assez probants ont été atteints tant dans la production des SIC, la communication et l’utilisation de ces SIC, que dans le renforcement des capacités des bénéficiaires à utiliser de façon efficiente ces SIC. Dans le souci de préserver les acquis du projet et d’assurer une mise à l’échelle soutenue du système de développement et de fourniture des IC en vue d’une utilisation durable des IC au Sénégal, l’USAID a recommandé l’identification, le test, la validation et la mise en oeuvre de modèles économiques viables impliquant des partenaires aussi bien du public que du privé (PPP). Le projet USAID/CINSERE s’est donc inspiré des expériences et leçons apprises au Sénégal, au Ghana, au Mali, en Inde et en Amérique Latine (Colombie) en matière de modèles économiques dans la fourniture des SIC pour bâtir des modèles adaptés au contexte du Sénégal. Ce document présente les modèles identifiés ainsi que les défis et perspectives

On-Farm Evaluation on Yield and Economic Performance of Cereal-Cowpea Intercropping to Support the Smallholder Farming System in the Soudano-Sahelian Zone of Mali

Cereal-cowpea intercropping has become an integral part of the farming system in Mali. Still, information is lacking regarding integrated benefits of the whole system, including valuing of the biomass for facing the constraints of animal feedings. We used farmers’ learning networks to evaluate performance of intercropping systems of millet-cowpea and sorghum-cowpea in southern Mali. Our results showed that under intercropping, the grain yield obtained with the wilibali (short maturing duration) variety was significantly higher than the yield obtained with the sangaranka (long maturing duration) variety whether with millet (36%) or sorghum (48%), corresponding, respectively, to an economic gain of XOF (West African CFA franc) 125 282/ha and XOF 142 640/ha. While for biomass, the yield obtained with the sangaranka variety was significantly higher by 50% and 60% to that of wilibali with an economic gain of XOF 286 526/ha (with millet) and XOF 278 516/ha (with sorghum). Total gain obtained with the millet-cowpea system was significantly greater than that obtained with the sorghum-cowpea system by 14%, and this stands irrespective of the type of cowpea variety. Farmers prefer the grain for satisfying immediate food needs instead of economic gains. These results represent an indication for farmer’s decision-making regarding cowpea varieties selection especially for addressing household food security issues or feeding animals

Accelerating Seed Germination and Juvenile Growth of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) to Manage Climate Variability through Hydro-Priming

Agriculture in Mali, a country in SahelianWest Africa, strongly depends on rainfall and concurrently has a low adaptive capacity, making it consequently one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change worldwide. Since early-season drought limits crop germination, and hence growth, ultimately yield during rain-fed depending on production is commonly experienced nowadays in Mali. Germination and establishment of key crops such as the staple sorghum could be improved by seed priming. The effects of hydro-priming with different water sources (e.g., distilled, tap, rain, river, well water) were evaluated respectively for three priming time durations in tepid e.g., at 25C (4, 8, and 12 h) and by hot water at 70C (in contrast to 10, 20, and 30 min.) in 2014 and 2015. Seed germination and seedling development of nine sorghum genotypes were monitored. Compared to non-primed seed treatments, hydro-priming significantly [p = 0.01] improved final germination percentage, germination rate index, total seedling length, root length, root vigor index, shoot length, and seedling dry weight. The priming with water from wells and rivers resulted in significant higher seed germination (85%) and seedling development, compared to the three other sources of water. Seed germination rate, uniformity, and speed were enhanced by hydro-priming also. It is argued that hydro-priming is a safe and simple method that effectively improve seed germination and seedling development of sorghum. If used in crop fields, the above most promising genotypes may contribute to managing early season drought and avoid failure of seed germination and crop failure in high climate variability contexts

Towards gender-informed adaptation planning in the Sudanian zone of Mali

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

Better before worse trajectories in food systems? An investigation of synergies and trade-offs through climate-smart agriculture and system dynamics

Food systems face multiple challenges simultaneously: provision to a growing population, adaptation to more extreme and frequent climate change risks, and reduction of their considerable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Food system interventions and policies give rise to synergies and trade-offs that emerge over time due to the dynamic nature and interconnections of system elements. Analysis of an entire food system is necessary to identify synergies that bring simultaneous benefits and mitigate trade-offs, both short- and long-term. OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to inform the sustainable transformation of food systems by identifying short- and long-term synergies and trade-offs in the climate-smart village (CSV) Lawra-Jirapa in northern Ghana under the current practices, technologies, policies, and trends of population growth, extreme events, and climate change impacts

Climate Services Can Support African Farmers' Context-Specific Adaptation Needs at Scale

We consider the question of what is needed for climate services to support sub-Saharan African farmers' adaptation needs at the scale of the climate challenge. Consistent with an earlier assessment that mutually reinforcing supply-side and demand-side capacity constraints impede the development of effective climate services in Africa, our discussion of strategies for scaling up practices that meet farmers' needs, and opportunities to address long-standing obstacles, is organized around: (a) meeting farmers' climate information needs; (b) supporting access, understanding and use; and (c) co-production of services. A widespread gap between available information and farmers' needs is associated with entrenched seasonal forecast convention and obstacles to using observational data. Scalable innovations for producing more locally relevant historical and forecast climate information for farm decision-making are beginning to be adopted. Structured participatory communication processes help farmers relate complex climate information to their experience, and integrate it into their management decisions. Promising efforts to deliver rural climate services strategically combine communication channels that include participatory processes embedded in existing agricultural advisory systems, and innovations in interactive broadcast media. Efforts to engage farmers in co-production of climate services improve delivery to farmers and dialogue among stakeholders, but often with little impact on the usability of available information. We discuss challenges and options for capturing farmers' evolving demands, and aggregating and incorporating this information into iterative improvements to climate services at a national scale. We find evidence that key weaknesses in the supply and the demand sides of climate services continue to reinforce each other to impede progress toward meeting farmers' needs at scale across Africa. Six recommendations target these weaknesses: (1) change the way seasonal forecasts are produced and presented regionally and nationally, (2) use merged gridded data as a foundation for national climate information products, (3) remove barriers to using historical data as a public good, (4) mobilize those who work on the demand side of climate services as an effective community of practice, (5) collectively assess and improve tools and processes for communicating climate information with rural communities, and (6) build iterative co-production processes into national climate service frameworks