Projects

Climate information services for increased resilience and productivity in Senegal

Current
Photo: F. Fiondella

Project description

The climate information services for increased resilience and productivity in Senegal is a three-year initiative (2016 – 2019) that seeks to increase the resilience and productivity of targeted Senegalese farming, pastoralist and fisher communities in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence in the face of climate variability and change through the improved provision, communication, and use of climate information services. CINSERE builds on current achievements of the four USAID Feed the Future funded activities, namely, Naatal Mbay, Yaajeende, COMFISH and ERA; on CCAFS work on tools, methods and evidence to support the production, communication and use of climate-related information for agricultural management in several contexts; and on the successful experiences of CCAFS and partners in Senegal (ANACIM, ISRA) on large scale dissemination of downscaled climate information services (CIS) in order to better manage climate risk. The goal of CINSERE is to capacitate active stakeholders to develop and communicate tailored and salient climate information services in support of farmers’, fisheries’ and pastoralists’ communities, including members of both genders, in their decision making.

By the end of the project, the maximum of farmers, livestock keepers and fisher folks in the zones of influence of the Feed the Future are expected to have timely access to useful climate services and have better understanding of the usefulness of climate information services for improving their livelihoods. Government extension services relative to farming, livestock, and fisheries, including decision-makers and private sectors will be able to work together in order to more effectively respond to climate-related shocks. Finally, a framework for sustainable climate information services implementation and for scaling up CIS use within and beyond Senegal will be developed.

Activities

  • Assess of priority needs for climate information related services and communication channels 
  • Design specific climate information and services tailored to the needs of the beneficiaries of the four USAID projects
  • Provide climate services and information
  • Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of information and
    climate services by beneficiaries in a scaling perspective

Outcomes

The CINSERE project aims to deliver seven specific outcomes:

  • Tailored climate information is designed and available to users: Climate information services relevant to risk management for the farming, livestock management, and fisheries sectors, covered by the Feed the Future zone of influence, is to be developed timely and made available.
  • Access to and understanding of climate information services by beneficiaries are effective: Increased access to and a better understanding of downscaled and tailored climate information services are to be promoted in the Feed the Future zone of influence. To this end, specific organizational mechanisms are to be put in place to allow project actors (public and private) to communicate climate information services in a way that allow their effective use for climate risk management decision making by end-users.
  • Use of climate services and adoption of best risk management practices are increased: Beneficiaries from the four Feed the Future projects are to be encouraged to effectively use climate information services to increase their adaptive capacity to climate variability and change. This is to be done through the number of informed decisions taken and increased adoption of best adaptive practices by beneficiaries as a consequence of mainstreaming climate information services into their management decision making.
  • Project coordination efficient and governance systems for food security strengthened: This is to be achieved through strengthening synergies between partners and collaborators, increasing participation and capacitation of decision-makers and stakeholders beyond producers (e.g. local communes, service providers to smallholders, value chain actors) in climate information services dissemination and use. This aims to ultimately contribute to building a food security governance model that could sustainably deliver climate information services to communities.
  • Evidence and lessons learned from project implementation mainstreamed into local adaptation plans and beyond: Evidence and lessons learned from the project implementation are to be mainstreamed into local adaptation plans, climate resilience projects, and also informed national level policy making (Ministerial departments for rural development). In an iterative manner along the project duration period, the lessons learned from each year aim to serve to inform the implementation of the program in the following year.
  • Successful climate information services implementation framework designed: In the same way, lessons learned are to give enough resources to develop a framework for a wide climate information services use within and beyond Senegal.
  • Sustainable climate information services use strategy is developed: a business model for sustainable climate information services production, diffusion and use are to be developed and serve as an exit strategy after the lifespan of the CINSERE project. This will be done through encouraging the private sector to invest in climate information services business.

Partners

The CINSERE project is funded by USAID/Senegal and coordinated by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and ICRISAT. Main partners include National Civil Aviation and Meteorology Agency of Senegal (ANACIM), the four Feed the Future Activities (COMFISH, ERA, Naatal Mbay and Yaajeende), the national research institution (ISRA), the offices of Agriculture (DA) and fisheries (DPM), the ecological monitoring council (CSE), the union of community radios (URAC), etc.

Gender

The CINSERE project proactively assesses the information needs and appropriate communication channels for farmers, pastoralists and fisher folks for both genders. The monitoring component includes quarterly and annual assessment of the reach of the climate services to all beneficiaries, including the most vulnerable and marginalized within the three communities, such as women and youth.

Further information

For further information, please contact 

Project Leader: Robert Zougmore (ICRISAT/CCAFS) at r.zougmore@cgiar.org or 

Project Coordinator: Issa Ouedraogo (ICRISAT/CCAFS) at i.ouedraogo@cgiar.org.

Funding for this project is provided by:

Project Activities

Since 2011, CCAFS has used its CSV models in West Africa to test and validate several agricultural interventions with the participation of various local partners. While potential agricultural innovations that simultaneously achieve the triple wins of CSA are evolving from the CSVs, there is limited evidence of their cost-effectiveness. Together with local partners, we will assess the costs and benefits of proven CSA technologies and accentuate implications on adoption, investment opportunities and development of business models in West Africa.

The CSV AR4D sites of West Africa have seen a number of promising CSA technologies realized from the participatory development and testing of the CSV model in Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Burkina Faso. For the scaling out/up perspective, these results/achievements still need robust evidence of their effectiveness as well as the enabling environment that can bring them to scale. Moreover, considering the role of livestock in food security and poverty reduction in West Africa, CCAFS is keen to meet a major need in the region by using the CSVs of Ghana and Mali to promote the adoption of climate-smart agro-silvopastoral systems for improved and sustained fodder availability and livestock nutrition. In addition to the documentation and nutritional profiling and testing of fodder species, the potential for firewood and charcoal production from multipurpose fodder species shall be explored alongside the development of a bio-digester using manure from livestock.

In the quest to improve the capacity of farmers to better manage climate related risks and build more resilient livelihoods, CCAFS-West Africa has since 2011 been piloting in its CSV AR4D sites of Ghana how downscaled seasonal forecast information through mobile phones (called the Esoko platform) could help farmers adapt to climate change and variability. With promising results emerging, CCAFS intends to help Esoko develop a viable business model as a means of strengthening local private institutions and making CIS accessible to millions of farmers across Ghana. The propose work will develop a public-private partnership business model by analyzing current PPP components and establishing evidence on the economic cost of CIS and delivered through the Esoko platform.

Previous results recommended Afzelia africana, Annona senegalensis, Ficus gnaphalocarpa, Pterocarpus erinaceus and Faidherbia albida as the most prioritized browse species in the CSV based mainly on their preference by, and therefore for, ruminants. These identified candidate browse species seem to be overly exploited in the whole of northern Ghana for fodder, as medicine and even for timber, resulting in declining yield of biomass. This therefore necessitates the development of a multispecies fodder bank that concentrated the species on the same plot of land alongside palatable woody legumes, herbaceous legumes, high-yielding forage grasses and some food-feed crops to increase the opportunity for ensuring sustainable all-year-round fodder production and availability. We will estimate the resource use efficiency, gender mainstreaming, seasonal fodder productivity, litter accumulation, quality of C inputs and soil C sequestration within the fodder bank. An economic evaluation of fodder bank will be determined and shared to inform local investment needs.

Project Deliverables

2017
2018
2019