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As part of the Climate Intelligent Village (VIC) in Ouda, the Centre Régional d'Excellence en Fruits et Légumes (CRE-FL) brought together growers from the Zoundwéogo province for an enriching guided tour. Chaired by the province's High Commissioner, Mr Julien Ouédraogo, and attended by the municipal authorities of Manga and Bindé, this initiative is part of the 2024-2025 agricultural campaign. Nearly 200 participants, including producers, associations, NGOs, researchers from INERA and IRSAT, and representatives of technical services, were able to discover concrete alternatives for tackling climate challenges.

Organized on September 6, 2024, the purpose of the visit was to showcase the climate-smart technologies and innovations deployed at the Ouda VIC. These technologies, focused on the sustainable management of agricultural resources and yield optimization, are at the heart of the TARSPro program's efforts to strengthen the resilience of production systems in West and Central Africa.

Promising technologies for agricultural resilience 

The second consecutive year of activities in the Ouda VIC has seen the implementation of numerous initiatives, including sessions for sharing seasonal climate forecasts and the training of 30 farmers in the PICSA approach (Participatory and Integrated Climate Services Approach for Agriculture). These initiatives aim to equip farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to better anticipate and adapt to climate change.

Dr Etienne Sodré, INERA researcher and specialist in Climate Intelligent Agriculture (CIA), emphasized the importance of these technologies:"These are concrete, proven solutions that enable producers to better adapt to the changing climate and optimize their yields." Among the innovations presented, resilient crop varieties such as maize, sorghum, rice and cowpea were put to the test, showing promising results."We see a clear difference with our traditional methods," testified Mme Mamounata Congo, President of the Special Delegation of the commune of Bindé.

The growers present, such as Mr. Antoine Tahita, were also impressed by the performance of the technologies presented."The results are beyond our expectations", he declared, affirming his willingness to adopt these innovations to improve his yields.

Partnerships for sustainable action

The organization of this visit was made possible thanks to the support of the TARSPro program, financed by the Swiss Cooperation and coordinated by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF). In collaboration with the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, the TARSPro program implements the Climate Intelligent Agriculture approach, with the creation of Climate Intelligent Villages (CIVs) like the one in Ouda.