AICCRA

The AICCRA project is strengthening the resilience of African agriculture by improving access to reliable climate information and climate-smart agricultural (CSA) solutions across six African focus countries, reaching over 11 million farmers. Smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa face increasing climate variability, including droughts, erratic rainfall, and rising temperatures, which threaten food security and livelihoods. AICCRA addresses this challenge by bridging the gap between climate science and practical decision-making.

The project works to ensure that farmers, policymakers, and extension systems can access and use timely, location-specific climate information and proven CSA technologies. It focuses on scaling climate services through digital tools, partnerships with national meteorological agencies, and capacity strengthening of extension systems and institutions.

What makes AICCRA unique is its emphasis on scaling, which is not only generating climate knowledge but ensuring it's usable, accessible, and embedded within national systems. It also integrates gender and youth inclusion, ensuring that vulnerable groups benefit from climate innovations. By connecting CGIAR research with on-the-ground implementation, AICCRA supports more resilient, productive, and climate-smart food systems across Africa.

The project delivers impact through a combination of scaling pathways, capacity strengthening, and digital innovation. Key activities include co-developing climate information services with national meteorological and agricultural agencies, deploying digital advisory platforms, and supporting last-mile dissemination through extension systems and local partners.  

AICCRA also trains extension officers and institutional actors to interpret and communicate climate data effectively to farmers. Pilot interventions demonstrate climate-smart agricultural practices that are then scaled through partnerships with governments, regional organizations, and development actors. In addition, the project invests in strengthening data systems, improving climate forecasting tools, and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure sustainability and uptake. Gender and youth-focused approaches are integrated across all activities to ensure inclusivity in access to climate services.

Through AICCRA, CSA country investment plans is providing a high-level entry point for engaging with public, private, and civil sectors.  By providing methodological guidance, AICCRA has helped national decision makers identify major investment options for high priority value chains that align with national plans and priorities. As countries prioritize value chain investments, AICCRA facilitates context-specific bundling of CSA technologies and other forms of support through an evidence based approach that incorporates climate-smartness, social inclusion, and financial criteria.