Partnerships
and Regions

“The complexity of the food and nutrition security issue in the face of climate change in West and Central Africa requires CGIAR to efficiently utilize its extensive network to make meaningful contributions on the ground.”

Dr Manneh Baboucarr

Regional Director, West and Central Africa

The West and Central Africa (WCA) region spans dry savanna in the north to wetter coastal and forested areas in the south. Climate change affects these agroecological zones differently – driving more frequent and severe droughts in the drier north, and hotter growing seasons and shorter rainy seasons in the south. This in turn impacts food and nutrition security, livelihoods, and migration patterns across the region.

CGIAR Initiatives and bilateral projects, such as the CGIAR Initiative on West and Central African Food Systems Transformation and the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, aim to increase resilience to climate change, as one of the key threats to agri-food systems in Africa.

Through a novel dissemination approach, AICCRA has facilitated more than 300,000 farmers’ access to climate-smart agriculture and climate information services in Ghana, Mali, and Senegal. New technologies have enabled specialists to better advise farmers to improve crop yields.

Transforming agri-food systems to attain food and nutrition security in the face of climate change in this region requires further strengthening and broadening of networks of partnerships. CGIAR is working with a broad network of upstream and downstream research and development partners, from National Agricultural Research and Extensions Systems (NARES) to regional institutions, international development partners, farmers’ associations, and the private sector.