Blog World Bank funded programs join forces to scale climate-smart villages across West Africa and the Sahel
Collaborative efforts from AICCRA and the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP) are strengthening the capacities of experts in West Africa and the Sahel to implement and manage climate-smart villages (CSVs).
Training workshops, stakeholder engagements and the development of robust action plans have led to 27 new CSVs expected to be implemented across five participating countries.
Farmers in West Africa and the Sahel face severe climate-related challenges, including droughts, extreme weather, and soil degradation, all of which threaten their livelihoods and food security. But climate-smart villages offer a tailored solution for farmers with improved access to water, innovative techniques, and renewed hope for a more resilient and sustainable future.
Introduced over a decade ago by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS), the climate-smart village (CSV) approach was implemented across Asia, Africa, and Latin America to generate evidence on the effectiveness of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices.
As a means of conducting agricultural research for development that robustly tests institutional and technological innovations for dealing with climate risks and challenges for agriculture, the CSV approach has proven its effectiveness in promoting climate-smart agriculture. CSVs use participatory methods to bring together community members, farmers, researchers, policymakers, and organizations to develop climate-smart agricultural practices.
‘’Climate-smart villages promote collaboration with communities, research partners, and extension services. Their decentralized structure and engagement with the private sector stakeholders mean more innovations reach communities trying to adapt to climate change.’’ - Robert Zougmoré, AICCRA Director and Alliance Scientist
Scaling the climate-smart village approach with AICCRA
Thanks to a partnerhip with regional organizations like the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) and AGRHYMET climate center, delivered with support from the World Bank's West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project is expanding the number of climate-smart villages in Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
