USAID/CINSERE (Services d’information climatiques pour améliorer la résilience et la productivité au Sénégal) est un projet de 4 ans qui vise à renforcer les capacités nationales pour la production, l’accès et la diffusion efficiente d’informations météorologiques et climatiques (IMC) et à 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 sénégalais.
Du 24 au 26 novembre 2020, s’est tenu à Ségou au Mali, l’atelier des acteurs régionaux pour le développement du profil de risque climatique de la région de Ségou. L’atelier a été organisé dans le cadre du projet de « développement de chaînes de valeur et paysage climato-intelligents pour accroitre la résilience des moyens de subsistance en Afrique de l’Ouest », financé par l’Union européenne (UE) et mis en œuvre par le CCAFS au Mali, Niger et Sénégal en partenariat avec les instituts de recherches agricoles nationaux (IER, INRAN, ISRA).
L’utilisation des services hydrométéorologiques et climatiques (SHMCs) constitue une opportunité pour le Mali dans ses efforts visant à réduire la pauvreté, renforcer la résilience et s’adapter au changement climatique. En effet, les SHMCs permettent de protéger les populations contre les risques climatiques à court terme ou à évolution rapide (inondations et tempêtes) et à long terme ou à évolution lente (p. ex. sécheresses et changement climatique durable).
Dans le besoin urgent de lutter contre le changement climatique, une priorité essentielle est de renforcer la capacité de ces groupes et communautés les plus vulnérables, et déjà fortement affectés, à améliorer leur capacité à adapter leurs systèmes de subsistance.
This study presents a quasi-experimental analysis of the impact of FairTrade certification on the commercial performance of coffee farmers in Tanzania. In doing so the study emphasises the importance of a well-contextualised theory of change as a basis for evaluation design. It also stresses the value of qualitative methods to control for selection bias. Based on a longitudinal (pseudo-panel) dataset comprising both certified and conventional farmers, it shows that FairTrade certification introduced a disincentive to farmers’ commercialisation.
This article studies the impact of innovation platforms in Tanga Region, Tanzania, set up by the MilkIT dairy development project to intensify smallholder production through feed enhancement and value chain approaches. The conceptual framework used builds up from three socio-economic theories. The Structure-Conduct-Performance model of markets contributes its elegant assumption, linking the way markets are organized with how market actors behave, which has an influence on market performance.
This paper takes the viewpoint of a social scientist and looks at agricultural scientists' pathways for science impact. Awareness of these pathways is increasingly becoming part and parcel of the professionalism of the agricultural scientist, now that the pressure is on to mobilize smallholders and their productive resources for (global) food security and for reducing persistent rural poverty. Significant new thinking about pathways is emerging and it is useful to present some of this, even if it is not cut-and-dried.
Most cocoa farmers in Ghana do not adopt research recommendations because they cannot afford the cost, therefore, yields are low. Integrated pest management (IPM) technologies that rely on low external inputs were tried with a group of farmers. The technologies included using aqueous neem seed extracts to control capsids; removing diseased pods to reduce blackpod incidence; controlling mistletoes, epiphytes, weeds; and managing shade. Although yields increased significantly, adoption was constrained by technical, social and economic factors.
Many small-scale irrigation systems are characterized by low yields and deteriorating infrastructure. Interventions often erroneously focus on increasing yields and rehabilitating infrastructure. Small-scale irrigation systems have many of the characteristics of complex socio-ecological systems, with many different actors and numerous interconnected subsystems. However, the limited interaction between the different subsystems and their agents prevents learning and the emergence of more beneficial outcomes.
Climate variability and change threaten and impact negatively on biodiversity, agricultural sustainability, ecosystems, and economic and social structures – factors that are all vital for human resilience and wellbeing. To cope with these challenges, embracing sustainability in food production is therefore essential. Practising sustainable agriculture is one way of ensuring sustainability in pro-poor farming communities in low-income countries.