Perspectives on Climate Effects on Agriculture: The International Efforts of AgMIP in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing climate change-relatedeffects that call for integrated regional assessments, yet capacity for these assessmentshas been low. The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and ImprovementProject (AgMIP) is advancing research on integrated regional assessments of climatechange that include climate, crop, and economic modeling and analysis. ThroughAgMIP, regional integrated assessments are increasingly gaining momentum in SSA,and multi-institutional regional research teams (RRTs) centered in East, West, andSouthern Africa are generating new information on climate change impacts andadaptation in selected agricultural systems. The research in Africa is organizedinto four RRTs and a coordination team. Each of the RRTs in SSA is composedof scientists from the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research(CGIAR) institutions, National Agriculture Research institutes (NARs), and universitiesconsisting of experts in crop and economic modeling, climate, and informationtechnology. Stakeholder involvement to inform specific agricultural systems tobe evaluated, key outputs, and the representative agricultural pathways (RAPs), isundertaken at two levels: regional and national, in order to contribute to decisionmakingat these levels. Capacity building for integrated assessment (IA) is a key componentthat is undertaken continuously through interaction with experts in regionaland SSA-wide workshops, and through joint creation of tools. Many students andresearch affiliates have been identified and entrained as part of capacity building inIA. Bi-monthly updates on scholarly publications in climate change in Africa alsoserve as a vehicle for knowledge-sharing. With 60 scientists already trained andactively engaged in IA and over 80 getting monthly briefs on the latest informationon climate change, a climate-informed community of experts is gradually takingshape in SSA