Pour une agriculture intelligente face au changement climatique au Sénégal: Recueil de bonnes pratiques d'adaptation et d'atténuation

Abstract

Climate change is at the present time a new threat which leads to increased frequency and intensity of floods, droughts and cyclones with rising sea levels; thus placing additional demands on a situation already critical in rural areas. In Senegal, as in many countries of the Sahel, those natural phenomena result in a significant drop in harvests, water shortages and worsening health crisis which leads to consequences such as growing food insecurity of the population; thus threatening the progress achieved in regards with the fight against poverty during the last century. Indeed, many farmers live in rural areas which are characterized as low rainfall, saline soils, fragile or degraded soils and limited market access areas. The poverty in which they live, especially those of women, is often worsened by social exclusion. Such farmers are vulnerable because they depend directly on rainfall and seasons. They have little savings while supports from the government or their local authorities remain inadequate. It is essential to strengthen the adaptive capacity of vulnerable countries and communities to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security. This document is the result of a multi-criteria analysis of experiences of tackling climate variability, drought and desertification, and land degradation on one hand, and Adaptation to Climate Change in Senegal on the other. It is carried out on the initiative of the national platform for science-policy dialogue on adaptation of agriculture and food security to climate change (C-CASA) for capacity building and informed decision making for adaptation to climate change. This work has received technical and financial support from CCAFS Program (www.ccafs.cgiar.org). It is intended for the use of field workers in the area of adaptation to climate change. It also serves as technologies and tools guide to adapt to climate change impacts in the area of agriculture and food security. The manual is based primarily on (1) both the institutional and peasant experiences of the actors; (2) the recommendations of the reports of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); (3) the procedures manual for assessing climate change impacts and adaptation strategies; (4) the results of development projects and applied research. This is a collection that comes as a complement to other initiatives in the country and ongoing operations which provide practical examples of using the technological options for successful implementation of projects and programs and for the definition of agricultural policies in the Sahel