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.

The free list data was generated from ethnobotanical interviews which were carried out in northern Ghana and southern-central Burkina Faso. This dataset only contains 450 interviews from 15 villages (seven in Ghana and eight in Burkina Faso) to obtain a balanced dataset for further statistical analysis.

This study revealed that local agro-pastoralists were quite aware of their own actions that could influence the changing abundance of the natural forage resources. Moreover, the local informants suggested means through which their rich LEK in the traditional management and regulation of plant resources including forage plants could be applied. This is necessary for them to tackle negative effects of the ecological drivers to changing forage plants communities especially crops. One of the topmost suggestions made by local agro-pastoralists was that cutting down of trees for charcoal production and fuel wood should be stopped, while afforestation of useful trees should be encouraged by fellow farmers to increase the frequency of rainfall incidences and increase soil fertility.

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.

This table contains survey data regarding ecological drivers which influence changes in trends of forage species abundance in both Ghana and Burkina-Faso.

This document is a map of land and vegetation cover of the North Bank Region of the Gambia produced by the National Environment Agency of the Gambia (NEA). It is reproduced as a background map in 2015 by Constantine Kouevi, student WASCAL MRP-The Gambia, in her Master thesis. This study shows that there is a densification of human activities in this geographical space, which explains a high human concentration. Land management policies depend on the quality of natural resource management. This can lead to potential conflicts.

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.

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.

This table contains survey data whether the forage resources cited by local agro-pastoralists were increasing or decreasing rapidly or gradually or were being stable or they had no idea at all.

This table contains survey data whether the forage resources cited by local agro-pastoralists were many, few or rare in numbers.