News

Experts from the West African countries of Chad and Cameroon are calling on farmers, herders, authorities, projects, NGOs and producer organizations in the area to support the deployment of techniques to increase crop yields, using fertilizers (organic manure and mineral fertilizer) and the introduction of high-yielding varieties to seize all the opportunities offered by the rainy season, in a context of climate change.

In a communiqué issued last April at the end of the 2019 Forum on Seasonal Forecasts of the Agro-hydro-climatic characteristics of the rainy season for the Sudanian and Sahelian zones (PRSEASS, 2019), held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, they call for the strengthening of producer support, monitoring and response to climate-related risks; to give producers easy access to improved seeds likely to complete their cycles before the end of the season, and to support and promote the communication of climate information, notably seasonal and climatic forecasts, to agricultural producers and other users.

The scientists also recommended "favoring species and varieties resistant to water deficit; diversifying income-generating activities and promoting market gardening and agroforestry" to offset the production deficit that could affect areas exposed to drought episodes.

According to the experts, the promotion of irrigation and rational management of water resources, and the adoption of water-conserving cultivation techniques, particularly on hard soils (Zaï, half-moons, banquettes, stony ridges, etc.) will also help to make the most of opportunities during the 2019 season.

The flood plains of the lower Niger Delta in Nigeria and those downstream of the Manantali dam in Senegal will be ideal for irrigated crops, and will benefit from the regulation, by the Akosombo and Bui dams in Ghana, of water surpluses that may come from the upper basin," stresses the Forum's press release.

The PRESASS 2019 Forum was organized by the AGRHYMET Regional Center of CILSS, Comité Inter-Etat de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel, the African Center for Meteorological Applications to Development (ACMAD), the National Meteorological and Hydrological Directorates of Mauritania, in collaboration with experts from West African countries, Chad and Cameroon in charge of monitoring and compiling agro-hydro-climatic information.