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Producing enough cereals to improve people's livelihoods in West Africa has been severely hampered by climate change, land degradation and average cereal yields.

At one of West Africa's specialized dry cereal centers, researchers are dedicated to developing new technologies and varieties to meet the challenges of increasing cereal production in the region.

In the Center credit, groundnut and cowpea have already found climate-smart options that help farmers adapt to the effects of climate change.

During a recent visit to Dakar to take part in the " China Investing in Africa " forum, Dr Juergen Voegele, Director of the World Bank Group's Food and Agriculture Global Practice, and other officials from the region visited Thies (Senegal) and then Bambey (Senegal) to gain a better understanding of how the Center works. At the end of their visit, they were also keen to learn lessons for potential replication in other regions of Africa and even elsewhere in the world.

Created as a research center specializing in dry cereals, the center brings together key players in the food and nutrition chain in Senegal and across West Africa to design adaptable solutions for farmers and all those involved in the agricultural sector.

"Climate change is severely affecting the agricultural chain in Senegal and West Africa. Since 2008, the center has developed climate-smart technologies that are now helping to improve farmers' livelihoods", says Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).

"It has also provided a platform for the exchange of useful information between all players in the food chain in Senegal and West Africa.

The West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) is responsible for implementing this flagship program of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Funded by the World Bank, the program is technically coordinated by CORAF.

Overall, the WAPP operates nine specialized centers in West Africa, which are currently being upgraded into regional centers of excellence. Some of the centers' achievements include some 200 technologies and innovations that have been disseminated and adopted to improve food systems in West Africa.

More than 8 million people have already benefited directly from these interventions, while some 45 million people have been affected indirectly.

Learning from the WAAPP model

The experts described the nine-year experience of implementing the first phase of the WAPP as a success.

Senior World Bank officials would like to see an exchange of experiences to improve similar interventions in other parts of Africa.