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A number of players from West Africa's agricultural and environmental sectors have come together online to relaunch the region's Climate Intelligent Agriculture (CIA) Alliance. At a virtual event organized by CORAF, over 40 participants recognized the critical nature of the Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture for evidence-based decision-making.

Created in 2015 in Bamako, Mali, the Alliance for an AIC is a multi-stakeholder initiative that serves as a coordination platform through which, stakeholders can have an open dialogue to better align initiatives and harmonize efforts to scale up, climate-smart interventions.

As noble as it may sound, the experts present at the online meeting agreed that since its inception, the AIC initiative in West Africa has not worked as intended. Nevertheless, they decided to reactivate it to support evidence-based decision-making.

"I'm very delighted to see that everyone is happy that we are revitalizing the Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance," noted Professor Abdulai Jalloh, Director of Research and Innovation at CORAF, at the closing ceremony of the half-day virtual event.

How do we get there?

West and Central Africa now have the opportunity to reorganize the alliance through the CAADPXP4 project. Funded by the European Union and administered by IFAD, the CAADPXP4 project aims to strengthen collaboration between the various players involved in the food system across Africa.

"One of the key activities of the CAADPXP4 project is the mapping of climate-smart agriculture projects in West Africa. We hope to use this process to reorganize the alliance," said Professor Jalloh.

ECOWAS delighted

The continental food and nutrition agenda is implemented in West Africa through the agricultural policy (ECOWAP) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The virtual event was attended by two senior officials from the ECOWAS Commission's Directorate of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources.

"We all agree that the session was important for us. We reflected on the genesis of the AIC and the need to relaunch the important platform to continue national and regional dialogue and knowledge sharing, as well as to ensure policy integration for development," mused Dr Johnson Boanuh, Director of Environment at ECOWAS, at the closing ceremony.

"We're encouraged by the fact that this platform will be very relevant to taking agricultural research to another level. We need to strengthen the link between research and policy - that's how you improve resilience in the region."

The AIC Alliance brings together researchers, policy-makers, farmers' groups, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector.

See also:

CORAF, EU and IFAD launch project to strengthen farmers' climate resilience