Sharing knowledge to scale climate resilience

A key objective of AICCRA’s work is to make quality, climate-smart agriculture information and services more accessible and useable across Africa. We believe sharing relevant and actionable knowledge with key actors such as lead farmers and cooperatives, researchers and agricultural professionals, investors and policymakers – can lead to meaningful outcomes and systemic?change.??

For example, when farmers see new, productive, climate-smart farming methods demonstrated in their communities, they are more likely to implement those methods on their own land. When investors hear evidence-based success stories about the impact of agribusiness accelerators, they will explore opportunities for partnerships in the sector. And when universities are invited to co-design an African curriculum on climate change, students will feel a sense of connection and ownership of that curriculum, inspiring?generations of students.??

In AICCRA’s latest stories, we explore some ways we’re sharing knowledge to contribute to the scaling of a climate-smart future for African agriculture. From providing technical inputs and support to key regional platforms all the way through to practical farming demonstrations, we are better connecting the dots between scientific knowledge and climate action that works for Africa’s small-scale farmers.???

Opportunity: Calling Africa's Climate Action Innovators!

The African Union Commission is to host a?Climate Action Innovators Hub?at the upcoming Africa Climate Summit (4-6 September 2023) in Nairobi, Kenya.?

This hub will be a dedicated space for Africa’s innovators, especially?women and youth,?to showcase their 'game changing' climate solutions and project ideas that support the achievement of a climate-resilient and sustainable Africa.

Access the application form here to?showcase your climate action.

DEADLINE: Friday 4 August (EAT midnight)

Increasing yields with climate-smart technologies demonstrated through AICCRA

"We underuse our farmland and waste energy building mounds for our yams, but the ridges are different," says 43-year-old Evans Tengah as he gestures to a 20-meter-long yam ridge he built a few days ago.?

Evans is a farmer who was introduced to climate-smart practices for yam farming through the demonstrations of AICCRA in central Ghana. As a result of these engagements, in his planting this season, Evans has dedicated a portion of his farm to try ‘ridging’ - a climate-smart planting method, highlighting the benefits to him in terms of reduced workload, better resource usage and less need to cut down trees for staking.

Hear Evans' story in his own words:

Promoting resilient agriculture in East Africa?

A special quarterly feature in The EastAfrican argues that "resilient agriculture has been identified as one of the best solutions for agricultural sustainability, climate change adaptation, and farmer empowerment in Africa".

AICCRA and partners explore a number of topics through multiple articles in the feature, including the role of private sector partnerships to mitigate climate risks, and the urgent need to invest in and bolster 'Early Warning and Early Action' plans for climate-risk management.?

Reaching farmers through radio programs in Zambia?

Radio is one of the most effective channels to make climate innovations accessible to more small-scale farmers in Zambia, and to help farmers make decisions on how they adapt the way they farm.?

In collaboration with the Chitetezo Farmers Federation and COMACO, AICCRA has supported the launch of a radio program featuring agricultural innovations that help smallholder farmers in Zambia become more resilient to climate change.?

“Our goal in the Chitetezo Farmers Federation is to end poverty. AICCRA helped us to be a partner and implement at large what we do as farmers, growing legumes as a business in adaptation to climate change. Women, youth, differently-abled people come on board and learn, using the different technologies that we are promoting,”?- Esther Zulu, Chairperson of the Chitetezo Farmers Federation?

Expected to reach 2.5 million listeners in local languages Nyanja and Bemba, the radio programs feature innovations that help farmers adapt to climate change, profiles of Zambian agribusiness, and localised agro-advisories for listener communities.

African universities gather for a co-design workshop for RUFORUM’s new online platform??

Despite the enormous role that climate information can and has played in supporting resilience of agricultural and food systems and the availability of high-quality climate information in many Africa countries, the effective use of that information in decision-making to support climate adaptation remains limited.??

Part of the problem stems from a lack of foundational capacity and common understanding of climate basics, including a shared vocabulary and knowledge of basic terminology and dynamics to both articulate and engage in meaningful collaborations and design of solutions.

To this end, building on ongoing close collaboration, RUFORUM Network , the Columbia Global Centers Nairobi President’s Global Innovation Fund (PGIF) projects and AICCRA hosted a design workshop to share knowledge on, harmonise & advance the co-development of climate-related curricula at the university level for African universities, and to inform the content for a new online curriculum platform currently under development by RUFORUM with support from AICCRA.?

In the news: Farmers applaud climate-smart knowledge impartation?

Two years ago, Theresa Anderson, a farmer from Enyinase, was chosen to be part of a group of 120 farmers who received climate-smart agriculture training under AICCRA Ghana. The impact has reflected on her farms as she's currently the best female farmer in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality. ?

Through AICCRA's demonstration plots for climate-smart agriculture, farmers like Theresa are introduced to new farming methods and resilient crop varieties. ?

She said it's been an amazing experience for her as she put into practice the knowledge she acquired from the demonstration fields. "I am happy about the impact on my work as a farmer," Theresa stated.?

Bringing AICCRA learnings and CGIAR science to regional conversations?

The 2023 ASARECA Agriculture Ministerial Conference provided an opportunity to showcase innovations developed by CGIAR and partners, which are being scaled by AICCRA in East Africa.

By sharing evidence-based insights on how to scale innovation in the region, AICCRA hopes to further scale the use of climate-smart practices in countries across Central and Eastern Africa.

ICYMI: Resilient Smallholder Agriculture - Co-Investment in Downstream Innovation?

We recently had the opportunity to engage with United Nations Foundation , AIMforClimate, One Acre Fund and Clarmondial AG on strategies for increasing investment in research and innovation for resilient smallholder agriculture.??

AICCRA’s Hauke Dahl shared how the AICCRA Zambia Accelerator Program is providing agribusinesses with tailor-made technical assistance to improve business operations. In monitoring and quantifying the impact of this support to local SMEs, we are proactively enriching the research and investment ecosystem in Zambia (and beyond) - for the benefit of farmers.?

What to read this month: Unrelenting catastrophic droughts and successive failed rainy seasons in the Greater Horn of Africa

The Greater Horn of Africa (GHoA) is one of the world's most negatively impacted regions by climatic extremes and changes which affect millions, including farmers and livestock keepers.

Addressing the impacts of devastating extreme weather events, climate variabilities, and changes in GHoA require, among other things, strengthening Climate Information Services (CIS), including in terms of Anticipatory Action, Early Warning Systems (EWS), and preparedness and early action for climate-resilient development.

Read more in a policy brief written in collaboration between AICCRA, IGAD Climate Prediction & Applications Centre ( ICPAC ), African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) - Regional Office for Africa.

Read these stories and more on our news page or follow us on social media (@CGIARAfrica) for ongoing updates.??

Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.