During the 1970s, when severe droughts affected West African farmers, cereal banks became popular in the region. However, things quickly became very quiet again about this type of food security scheme, probably also because many of the cereal banks failed. Scientific surveys addressing the topic are scarce. A study in The Gambia in 2014 investigated how such cereal banks function and what the important variables for their success are.

This document produced by CERPA in 2011 is a report on the number of water reservoirs/dams per commune in the departments of Atacora / Donga and points of the fishing infrastructures. The objective of this project is to identify pastoral water points in order to allow a good supervision of the agricultural actors. The issue of water management for good agricultural policy remains an important issue for Benin.

The Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan (GNAIP) is the medium-term (2011-2015) strategic plan of the Government of The Gambia (GOTG) towards achieving the vision for the agricultural and natural resources (ANR) sector and food security in the country within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa (NEPAD) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). It is aligned fully with the national goals of Vision 2020, and supports the realization of main national strategic programmes, including the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (PRSP II 2007-2011) and the ANR Sector Policy (2010). The proposed interventions are expected to achieve at least eight percent growth in the agricultural sector in The Gambia and this combined with accelerated non-agricultural growth could stimulate the level of growth needed in the sector to transform the country’s rural areas and to significantly reduce poverty levels. The GNAIP formulation process was highly consultative and participatory from the grassroots at village level to the highest level policy making body at national level through district, regional and national consultative meetings. There were also consultations with ECOWAS and its specialized institutions to ensure that the document is consistent with the CAADP pillars.

Table with sorghum phenology observations (primary/raw) from central field experiment plots in the Vea catchment (one of main research sites in the WASCAL Core Research Program), Ghana, 2013.

Table with sorghum leaf area index (LAI) time series (primary/raw) from central field experiment plots in the Vea catchment (one of main research sites in the WASCAL Core Research Program), Ghana, 2013.

This document presents agricultural data collected in northern Benin provided by CERPA (Centre Régional pour la Promotion Agricole) in 2011. They are recorded in a set of tables informing on inputs (fertilizers and insecticides) used for food production (Rice and maize) and cotton during the period 2009-2010. It also indicates about the situation of the setting up of cash credits by the World Bank in each municipality in the study area. The aim of this agricultural project, led by CERPA, is to facilitate access to inputs in order to generate food self-sufficiency and reduce poverty. Indeed, the favorable natural, human and financial conditions for good agricultural production in Benin remain a major problem. This project, which is part of a viable and reliable agricultural policy, enables local, national and development partners to guarantee food security and to satisfy the full needs the populations.

These LULC maps were created through automatic digital classification of RapidEye imagery acquired in November 2012. Reference (or field) data on which the classification was based were acquired through a field campaign that lasted from June to November 2012. Standard image pre-processing techniques such as geometric and radiometric correction were conducted on the data prior to classification. The Random Forest classification algorithm was used for classification. A single level classification was conducted to reveal six LULC classes. Discrimination between different crop types was not possible due to the use of a mono-temporal image

There have been recent incidences of weather extremes in the West African Sudan Savanna and farmers have responded through implementation of relevant adaptation strategies. For a deeper insight into farmers’ adaptation to climatic shocks, this study documents farmers’ perception of recent changes in the local climate, and identifies factors that influence the number and choice of strategies implemented. Interdependencies among strategies are explored and joint and marginal probabilities of adoption estimated. Upper East Ghana and Southwest Burkina Faso are used as the case study regions. These regions were selected due to extreme reliance of inhabitants on agriculture for sustenance, and their recent exposure to weather extremes. Through estimation of a Poisson regression and multivariate probit model to identify the major factors that influence the number and choice of strategies adopted, we discover that limited access to credit, markets, and extension services, smaller cropland area, and low level of mechanization could impede effective adaptation to weather extremes. To enhance farmers’ adaptive capacity, policy makers and various stakeholders need to contribute towards improving farmers’ access to credit, markets, and extension services, and implement measures to promote mechanization.

The data set contains the applications to the WASCAL Farmer Innovation Contest. The contest took place in the years 2012-2015, respectively, in the Upper East Region in Ghana. Eligible to partake in the contest were local small-scale farmers form the region. Their agricultural innovations could be either of technical, institutional or organisational kind. A broad range of innovation themes were covered, such as animal husbandry, crop management or storage innovations. The table provides information about the applicants, e.g. basic demographics, and their innovations, e.g. theme of innovation, problem addressed, or obstacles and costs in applying the innovations. The data was collected in questionnaires that served as the application to the contest. Local extension officers assisted in the application process. In the final step, a jury of experts evaluated the innovations and determined the contest winners. Winners of the contest were awarded with material or monetary prices. Additionally, the data set provides basic descriptive statistics for all contest runs, e.g. share of pest or disease related innovations of total innovations.

Table with sorghum plant height time series (primary/raw) from central field experiment plots in the Vea catchment (one of main research sites in the WASCAL Core Research Program), Ghana, 2013.