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Climate change and weather variability continue to challenge the agricultural sector of Côte d’Ivoire. The projected impacts of climate change include extended periods of drought, loss of soil fertility and shorter growing season. It will affect especially the northern part of the country, and is expected to cause major economic losses and hunger for more than 70% of the households. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is proposed as a solution to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security under a changing climate. The approach aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes; adapt and build resilience to climate change; and reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.

Currently, the mainstreaming of CSA into national agricultural development planning is sought for by many countries in West Africa in pursuant of their commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To help countries succeed, it is imperative to identify, develop and appropriately package technologies and practices that underpin CSA and document the enabling institutions, policies and financial mechanisms in order to develop and promote practices. The development of CSA country profiles is based on this agenda and aims to define the entry points for investing into and scaling CSA.

Through the collaborative efforts of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the CSA profile of Côte d’Ivoire was developed. It provides baseline information that can open up national and global discussions about existing opportunities and enabling environments for CSA investments.

Excerpts from the CSA profile of Côte d’Ivoire

1. Overview of the agricultural sector

Agriculture is the main economic activity in Côte d’Ivoire contributing 21.2% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 46% of the labour force. The country is at the forefront of Africa for many agricultural products such as cocoa, rubber, palm oil, banana, pineapple, cotton, coffee, coconut, and cola nut. The agricultural sector in Côte d’Ivoire is confronted by several challenges including high deforestation, soil erosion, land tenure insecurity, weather variability and climate change which has manifested in the form of declining rainfall amounts, shortening length of the rainy seasons, rising temperatures, increased duration and rigor of dry seasons, as well as increased incidences of floods. 

2. Climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices

While CSA practices exist in Côte d’Ivoire, most of the practices are not widely adopted. Documented CSA practices and technologies include:

• Banana/cocoa association
• Anti-erosion arrangement and structures
• Direct seedling on permanent vegetation crop
• Use of organic manure, composting
• Stone bunds
• System of Rice Intensification
• Anti-erosion structures
• Cover crops with leguminous and seeds pelleting
• Alley cropping
• Digging ponds to water herds

At present, the banana-cocoa integration system seems to be the most adopted, covering about 13% of the agricultural land. The widespread adoption of this practice was enabled by low technology needs, private sector engagement in the implementation and its multiple benefits such as food and income diversification and contribution to improved resilience of the system as a whole. Challenges to the adoption of CSA include lack of capacity building of farmers and limited access to information on available innovations.

Selected CSA practices and technologies for production systems key for food security in Côte d’Ivoire. Source: Climate-Smart Agriculture in Côte d’Ivoire