Regional Community of Practice on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA-CoP): Operational framework and roadmap

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a key approach to achieving sustainable agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It seeks to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen resilience toclimate change, and, where possible, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Despite numerous national and regional initiatives, knowledge exchange, coordination, and mutual learning among practitioners and policymakers remain fragmented. To address these gaps, a Regional Community of Practice on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA-CoP) is created during a workshop held in Aneho, Togo from September 15 to 19, 2025. It is part of a series of capacity building under the coordination of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food ARAA/ECOWAS), in partnership with the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT through the AICCRA Program (Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa) and the National Program Management Units (PMUs). The CoP aims to connect researchers, policymakers, farmers’ organizations, civil society, and private-sector actors across countries to share experiences,
co-produce knowledge, and coordinate actions to accelerate the adoption and scaling of CSA innovations. This framework document outlines the objectives, governance structure, operational modalities, and a roadmap for the functioning of the regional CSA-CoP, drawing on country-level contributions from Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, and Ghana.