Promoting Conservation Agriculture in the context of the CCAFS Research Program in West Africa

1. Development of Conservation Agriculture based cropping systems for sustainable soil management in West Africa, 05 Feb 2014, Ouagadougou
Promoting Conservation Agriculture in
the context of the CCAFS Research
Program in West Africa
Dr Robert Zougmoré
CCAFS Regional Program Leader West Africa

2. Outline
1. Major constraints in West Africa
2. Key challenges
3. CA: a proven climate-smart
agriculture option
4. Way forwards
2

3. The major constraints
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4. WEST AFRICA REGION
70% rural populations
– natural resources
Poverty
Desertification
Rain-fed
agriculture
Chronic Food
High climate
variability
(droughts,
flooding)
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5. Population and income
1. A significant increase in the population of all countries except
Cape Verde – pessimistic: population of all countries will more
than double except Cape Verde
2. Income per capita in the optimistic scenario could range from
US$ 1,594 for Liberia to US$ 6,265 for Cote d’Ivoire.
3. Income per capita does not improve significantly in the
pessimistic scenario.

6. Rainfall
Despite variations among models, there is a clear indication of:
1.changes in precipitation with either a reduction in the heavy-rainfall
areas, particularly along the coast,
2.or an increase in areas of the Sahel hitherto devoid of much rain.
3.Southern parts of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria will be dryer
Change in average annual precipitation, 2000–2050,
CSIRO, A1B (mm)
MIROC, A1B (mm)

7. Changes in yields (percent), 2010–2050, from the DSSAT crop
model: CSIRO A1B
MIROC A1B
Maize
Groundnut
Sorghum

8. The key
challenges
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9. Greater demand for food due
to population & income growth
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10. Length of growing season
is likely to decline..
Length of growing
period (%)
To 2090, taking 18
climate models
Four degree rise
Thornton et al. (2010) Proc. National Academy Science
>20% loss
5-20% loss
No change
5-20% gain
>20% gain
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11. Environmental footprint
19-29%
global GHGs
from food
systems
Vermeulen et al. 2012
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Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2012)

12. How can smallholder farmers
achieve food security under a
changing climate?

13. Agriculture must become
“climate-smart”
• contributes to climate change adaptation by
sustainably increasing productivity & resilience
• mitigates climate change by reducing greenhouse
gases where possible
• and enhances the achievement of national food
security and development goals

14. CCAFS PROGRAM FOCUS
Whole food
systems
Synergies
and tradeoffs
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15. We need climate-smart agriculture
actions at all levels
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16. Farm and
community:
climate-smart
practices,
institutions
Climate-smart agriculture happens
at multiple levels
National and
regional:
enabling
policies,
extension,
support,
research,
finance
Global: climate models,
international agreements, finance
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17. “Climate-smart villages”
• Approach where CCAFS in partnership with rural
communities and other stakeholders (NARES, NGOs,
local authorities…), tests & validates in an integrated
manner, several agricultural interventions
• Aims to boost farmers’ ability to adapt to climate
change, manage risks and build resilience.
• At the same time, the hope is to improve livelihoods
and incomes and, where possible, reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to ensure solutions are sustainable

18. CSV: Key
components
Climate Smart
Village
Action
research
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19. Conservation agriculture is an
effective Climate-Smart
Agriculturethat contribute to
• CA: farming practices option
the three key principles of: reducing soil
disturbance, maintaining soil cover and
practicing crop rotation
• We adopt a broader view of CA (than its
current definition): concept for natural
resource-saving that strives to achieve
acceptable profits with high and sustained
production levels while concurrently
conserving the environment (FAO, 2009).
• CAWT, where a woody perennial is used as
a technological element within the practice
(Bayala et al., 2013)
Slide from J. Bayala

20. CA potential: Soil C sequestration seen as
#1 priority (IPCC 2007), has vast potential
for climate change mitigation
Mitigation options Mt CO2-eq. yr-1

21. CCAFS CA work
• Measuring C sequestration from CA and
assessing as a low-emissions agriculture option
(Ghana, Burkina, Benin, Senegal, Mali)
• Meta-analysis of crop responses to Conservation
Agriculture (Ghana, West Africa)
• SAMPLES Program for GHG quantification,
• CA for adaptation and risk management in maizelegume systems (SIMLESA)
• Identifying incentives for adoption of CA (IndoGangetic Plains, East Africa)
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22. Parklands
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parklands of preserved trees from natural
vegetation: F. albida, V. paradoxa, P. biglobosa…;
Some species are regularly pruned for fodder 
healthier livestock;
FMNR consists in selecting & thinning stems which
sprout from indigenous tree and shrub stumps;
Adoption rate may be as high as 63% like in Maradi
region where tree density varies from 60 to 374
individuals ha-1 (Adam et al., 2006);
Plantation on communal lands: A. macrostachya, A.
nilotica, B. rufescens, E. camaldulensis, F. albida, L.
leucocephala, M. indica, P. aculeata, P. biglobosa, P.
juliflora, Z. mauritiana;
Plantations on individual lands: A. occidentale, A.
indica, Citrus spp., M. indica, P. guayava, P.
africana, etc.
Slide from J. Bayala
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23. Coppicing trees
• Trees/shrubs leguminous species planted
at high density as fallows or in
associations with crops for biomass
production to be used for soil fertility
replenishment. Trees are regularly cut to
ground level and allowed to re-grow.
• Woody species: Acacia senegal,
Sclerocarya birrea and Acacia raddiana,
Acacia seyal, A. raddiana, Pterocarpus
erinaceus, Prosopis africana, Parkia
biglobosa, Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia
mangium, Albizzia lebbeck, Gliricidia
sepium, Leucaena leucocephala;
• Sometimes associated with annual
legumes: Stylosanthes hamata or Mucuna
spp.
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Slide from J. Bayala

24. Green manure
• Green manure is the biomass from
herbaceous cover crops grown to be turned
under soil as soil amendment and nutrient
sources for subsequent crops. Usually the
cover crop is established through relay
cropping with the staple food crop
• Some tested species: Stylosanthes hamata,
Mucuna spp, Crotalaria sp., Tephrosia
vogelii, Indigofera astragalima, Tithonia
diversifolia; Mucuna spp., Dolichos lablab,
Canavalia ensiformis, Cajanus cajan;
Calopogonium mucunoides, Lablab
purpureus, Macroptilium atropurpureum,
etc.;
• Cover crops are used in rotation or in
association with crops.
Mucuna spp
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Slide from J. Bayala

25. Mulching
Mulching consists of covering the ground with a layer of plant materials
in order to conserve soil water, to stimulate the activity of soil biota
(e.g. termites) and to reclaim a degraded soil for crop production
Tree/shrub prunings
•
•
•
Crop residues
•
The two most widespread species in farmed
fields are G. senegalensis and P. reticultaum
(Lufafa et al., 2009);
This practice exits alone through biomass
•
transfer (northern Burkina) or associated
with FMNR (Niger, Mali, Burkina);
Tested species: Cassia sieberiana, C.
lecardi, G. senegalensis, P. reticulatum.
Protecting soil surface using
crop residues reduces water
erosion, run off, soil T° and
soil evaporation;
Main constraints are: low
availability of the straws and
their fraudulent collection and
uses for other purposes (feed,
building materials, sales, etc.)
Slide from J. Bayala
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26. Rotations/Associations
• Legumes (e.g. cowpea, groundnut) are frequently
•
•
•
•
intercropped or rotated with cereals in the
drylands
Most common association is legumes-cereals
(sorghum or millet-cowpea).
Other types of associations are: peanut-cereals,
millet+sorghum+cowpea, Mucuna-cereals,
cereals-pigeon pea;
Rotations vary: cotton-maize-sorghum, peanutcereals and other legumes-cereals
Types of fields (homestead, bush fields) and the
types of soil (sandy, loamy, clay) or
toposequence.
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Slide from J. Bayala

27. Soil and Water Conservation practices
Traditional practices such as zaï, half-moon,
stone and earth bunds and grass strips.
Increased infiltration, soil moisture retention,
SOM content and improving soil structure
besides reducing soil erosion.
•
•
•
•
•
Technique for recovering encrusted soils that
consists in digging pits of 20 to 40 cm in diameter
and 10 to 15 cm of depth in order to collect surface
waters and to increase infiltration;
Production increase can go up to 428% in some
cases (Reij et al. 2009).
A basin of half-circle shape with the excavated soil laid
out in a semicircular pad;
Dimensions: 2 to 4 m in diameter, 15 to 25 cm depth and
spacing 2 to 4 m;
Increase in yield of 49 to 112% (Belemviré et al., 2008).
Slide from J. Bayala
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28. Scaling up and out
Climate-smart villages
Climatesmart
technologies
Local
knowledge &
Institutions
Climate
information
services
Local
adaptation
plans
Scaling up
•Policy
•Private sector
•Mainstream
successes via
major initiatives
• Learning sites
• Multiple partners
• Capacity building
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29. Outputs/Pathways
Policy impacts
Policy impacts
Informed
Informed
Capacity
Capacity
scientific
scientific
enhancement
enhancement
research
research
Policy analysis/
engagement
and
communication
Models and
data
Participatory
research and
capacity
building
Activities
Partners
Policy makers
Policy makers
Policy makers
Village leaders
Policy makers
Met agencies
Input suppliers
Farmers
Outcomes
•Enhanced adaptation plans
•Technology targeted at
climate resilience
•Improved early warning and
social safety nets
•Carbon management for
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improved soils

30. WEST AFRICA
SAHEL
Water harvesting boosts
yields in the Sahel
oSahel – Droughts common and
farming difficult with sparse rainfall.
oChanges in land management – stone
bunds and zai pits.
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31. WEST AFRICA SAHEL
Success at scale
oContour bunds established on
200,000 to 300,000 ha.
oYields double those on unimproved
land.
oTree cover and diversity increased.
oGroundwater levels rising.
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32. WEST AFRICA
SAHEL
Benefits for food production,
adaptation and mitigation
oFood production:
predicted that the improved land will
produce enough to feed 500,000 to
750,000 people.
increased diversity of food, health
benefits.
oAdaptation:
contour bunds able to cope with changing
weather.
oMitigation:
land management prevents further
worsening of soil quality.
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33. How do we scale up CA to
Landscapes?
• What works?
• Where does it work?
• When does it work?
• Why does it work?
• Who does it work for?
• How does it work?

34. The broad framework:
Determinants of adoption of CA: Adoption (A) is conditioned by its technical
performance (P), subject to the opportunities and tradeoffs (T) that operate at farm
and village scales and constrained by different aspects of the context (C) in which
the farming system operates including market, socio-economic, institutional and
policy conditions

35. CSA research & development
in West Africa: way forwards
Low adoption rate of CA in West Africa
•Cost-effectiveness of CA options
•Enabling environment of existing technologies
•Participatory testing of CA options
•Tools for defining the potential of CA options in various
regions
•Incentives needed to promote CA and bring it at scale
(institutional arrangements and policy measures)
•Bring policy and science together to support
farmer-led innovations and options in order to achieve
outcomes and impacts at national level
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36. Thank you!
www.ccafs.cgiar.org
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