CASCAID - Capacitating African Smallholders with Climate Advisories and Insurance Development
Project description
CASCAID-II aims to reduce agricultural investment risk from smallholder farm to whole value chains to improve agricultural productivity and food security together with the profitability of agricultural enterprises, in a context of increasing smallholder integration in urban-driven markets. It builds upon experience acquired during the CASCAID-I project, by rooting the development of climate advisories and agricultural insurance in a value chain approach, hence the expanded focus on actors along the value chain (‘next users’) in addition to smallholders (‘end users’).
Specifically, CASCAID-II will work to (i) improve service relevance through embeddedness in phygital data infrastructures that continuously improve stakeholder performance through user feedback loops; (ii) target climate services and CSA options more efficiently through advanced socio-economic and agro-ecological segmentation; and (iii) enhance stakeholder preparedness and decision making through real-time, multi-scale yield forecasting. Promotion of youth entrepreneurship will constitute a key tenet of these infrastructures. Other elements of gender inclusion will be value-chain specific and focus on strengthening gender collaboration across the production and post-harvest stages, and along the harvest quantity-quality continuum. CASCAID-II will link with regional institutions and industrial stakeholders that have agency to transform production systems through policy and investment, and will sharpen focus on the ‘science of delivery’ by implementing operational data infrastructures that excite and grow, wherever appropriate, latent demand for agricultural risk control and transfer solutions. ICRISAT will provide overall project leadership. Project activities and partner engagement will be coordinated by ICRISAT in West Africa and by CIMMYT in East Africa.
Activities
- Calibration and evaluation of CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecast Tool (CRAFT/CAM) and development of IT interfaces
- Identification of priority value chains and scalable CSA technologies
- Identification of scaling domains (existing and addressable markets)
- Discussions with communities and selection of beneficiaries
- Seasonal to inter-annual (SI) and sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) climate forecasts
- Farm level agro-advisories
- Delivery of advisory services to beneficiaries and feedback
Expected outcomes
- 8 million farm households with improved access to capital, with increased benefits for women (millions)
- 40 institutions or major initiatives that use CCAFS research outputs for services that support farm households' management of climatic risks
- New investments by state, national, regional and global agencies, informed by CCAFS science and engagement
- Policy decisions taken (in part) based on engagement and information dissemination by CCAFS
Gender and youth
Promotion of youth entrepreneurship will constitute a key tenet of the project. Other elements of gender inclusion will be value-chain specific and focus on strengthening gender collaboration across the production and post-harvest stages, and along the harvest quantity-quality continuum.
Partners
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
- International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
- World Agrofrestry Centre (ICRAF)
- International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia University
- Echnoserve
- Manobi Africa
- University of Florida (UF)
- University of Ghana (UG)
- The Earth Institute at Columbia University
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
- University of Reading
- AGRHYMET
- African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
More information
For more information, please contact the project leaders:
- Pierre C. Sibiry Traore, ICRISAT, at p.s.traore@cgiar.org
- Kindie Tesfaye Fantaye, CIMMYT, at k.tesfayefantaye@cgiar.org
Funding for this project is provided by:
Project Deliverables
Database/Dataset/Data documentation
Analysed historical climate data for 7 stations in northern Ghana
Database/Dataset/Data documentation
Prototype system for merging gauge and satellite data
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Setting up partnerships and CoP
Research workshop report
Setup of dedicate human resources, steering committee with rotation schedule, communication and collective learning plan
Research workshop report
Initial planning and engagement meeting (Jan/Feb 2015)
Research workshop report
Eliciting district-level portfolios of climate services-smart [options x context] through participatory action research
Research workshop report
Yearly review, learning and planning meeting (2015)
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Materials for gender sensitive index insurance design and participatory farmer led climate discussions
Research workshop report
A workshop on sustainable index insurance design for Ghana
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
background paper on rolling out agricutural insurance in Nigeria
Policy brief/policy note/briefing paper
Workshop on "Evidence-Based Insurance Development for Nigeria’s Farmers"
Research workshop report
Assessment of existing information flows and multi-input communication for index insurance in Senegal
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Ensemble crop modelling results for maize farming in Lawra and Jirapa
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
351-CAPACITY STRENGTHENING AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISMS (Lead University of Reading)
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Peer reviewed paper on satellites and insurance design
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Survey instruments and analysis of the 2015 maize/insurance fieldwork
Research workshop report
One CRAFT training workshop held at University of Florida for 4 NMHS and 4 NARS
Presentation/Poster
Presentation on gender results at the Royal Anthropological Institute Conference on Anthropology and Climate Change
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Assessment of basis risk for the Ghanaian insurance industry
Presentation/Poster
Presentation on CASCAID results to a CCAFS CSA gender workshop
Data portal/Tool/Model code/Computer software
Farmer-observer network established for rain, yield/crop condition measurements with 90 farmers registered in Nioro Senegal
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
CCAFS working paper on CCAFS & Insurance in Ghana
Research workshop report
ENACTS launches in Ghana and Mali, and training of potential stakeholders in Mali
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
One paper on RS estimates of NDVI and plant height time profiles of smallholder crops
Research workshop report
Capacity building on agricultural insurance for aggregators in Northern Ghana - workshop report
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Assessment of the impact of drought on rice for insurance design
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
One paper on yield precision improvement (bias reduction / lead time) using EnKF, RS data
Maps/Geospatial data
Sentinel-2 remote sensing products contributing to yield forecasting in CRAFT (Koutiala / Mali)
Lecture/Training Course Material
PICSA trainings implemented in Senegal and linked to in-situ data networks (Nioro and/or Kolda)
Data portal/Tool/Model code/Computer software
CRAFT calibrated for West African conditions using CMDT data
Concept note
NADiRA (Nurturing Africa’s Digital Revolution for Agriculture) concept note submitted to H2020 SPACE2017 call
Research workshop report
Yearly review, learning and planning meeting (Feb. 2017)
Database/Dataset/Data documentation
One EnKF (Ensemble Kalman Filter) parameterized in MATLAB with supporting agronomic calibration and validation datasets
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Deploying a scaling strategy beyond project intervention sites
Data portal/Tool/Model code/Computer software
In-situ on-farm data network established in Lawra/Jirapa/Nandom district with links to PICSA work
Outcome note
Commitment from FMARD to agCelerant implementation for 15 million smallholder farms
Funder report
Improve the calibration of CRAFT for maize cropping systems in Mali and assess the yield forecasting performance of the model
Presentation/Poster
Assessing fitness for purpose: a validation of Ghanaian satellite rainfall within the context of participatory agricultural services and index insurance.
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Modelling varietal differences in response to phosphorus in West African sorghum
Concept note
SCRIPT (Scaling Climate Risk Information and Prediction Technologies) proposal submitted to the ENABEL/BEL1707111-AP-02 call for Proposals on Climate Smart Agriculture
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Testing pearl millet and cowpea intercropping systems under high temperatures
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Estimating smallholder crops production at village level from Sentinel-2 time series in Mali's cotton belt
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
Assessment of the use of Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach by farmers to manage climate risk in Mali and Senegal
Discussion paper/Working paper/White paper
Delivering climate risk information to farmers at scale: the Intelligent agricultural Systems Advisory Tool (iSAT)
Funder report
Operationalizing Crop and Economic Models for Farm Decision Making in Northern Ghana
Outcome note
IsDB endorsement of agCelerant for dissemination to 2 million smallholder farms
Journal Article (peer reviewed)
The Sen2-Agri automated processing system for agriculture monitoring at 10 m resolution demonstrated from local to national scales in different cropping systems around the world
Conference paper / Seminar paper
Spatial Multi-Model Regional Yield Simulations Using the CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecasting Toolbox (CRAFT): A Case Study for Mali
Partners
- Agence Nationale de la Météorologie du Mali
- Centre regional AGRHYMET (AGRHYMET)
- Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)
- Columbia University
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
- MANOBI AFRICA PLC
- Ministère du Tourisme et des Transport aériens (Senegal)
- Ministre des transports, de la mobilité urbaine et de la sécurité routière (Burkina Faso) (MTMUSR)
- Ministry of Communications (Ghana)
- The Earth Institute, Columbia University
- University of Florida (UF)
- University of Ghana
- University of Reading
- World Agroforestry Centre