The West and Central Africa Semi-Arid Tropics (WCA-SAT)

RRP2: Agricultural diversification and sustainable agro-ecosystems

The goal of this program is to increase farmers’ income through a diversified fruit trees and vegetable production system, which is conducive to trade while also ensuring the sustainability of current agricultural systems in WCA-SAT. Research activities fall under the following sub-groups:

• Promoting conservation and characterization of underutilized plant genetic resources to increase low incomes
• Increasing income from fruits, vegetables and plant products
• Sustainable agro-ecological intensification in low and high potential environments

Project Highlights

Preparing Farmers for Climate Change

Scientific community and farmers in West Africa have to develop new strategies to cope with climate change. One answer is to increase diversity as a whole. ICRISAT offers farmers a range of crops that can be tested and compared with the local variety. A promising new approach is the so-called Vertical Farmer Exchange Visit.

Integrated Striga and Soil Fertility Management

In the sorghum and pearl millet growing regions only a few techniques to control Striga are appropriate and acceptable to farmers. ICRISAT develops effective, applicable and profitable integrated Striga & soil fertility management (ISSFM) strategies for resource-poor farmers.

Enhancing Rainwater and Nutrient-Use Efficiency

ICRISAT addresses the major constraints encountered by small-scale resource-poor farmers in the Volta Basin, who rely on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods, using a systems approach.

Combining Water Harvesting and Nutrient Management

In partnership with various stakeholders and the active participation of farmers’ associations and extension agents ICRISAT evaluates and promotes soil, water and nutrient management technologies in farmers’ fields to help them improve crop productivity and yields.

The Desert Margins Program

This program aims at arresting land degradation in Africa’s desert margins and conserving biodiversity. Several thousands of hectares of degraded lands and rangelands have been reclaimed through various land degradation control technologies in countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL)

In 2006 ICRISAT established an innovative technology for reclaiming severely degraded, abandoned farmlands in western Africa to successfully bring them back into profitable agricultural production. Main beneficiaries are women.

African Market Garden

ICRISAT develops and promotes this horticultural production package based on low-pressure drip irrigation. It integrates and optimizes all aspects of production, socio-economics and marketing in one system to enhance nutrition and profitability for smallholder vegetable producers.

Food Consumption Survey and the Potential Impact of Biofortification

The objectives of this survey were to describe the food consumption patterns of young children and women in farming communities in Mali and to estimate the potential impact of biofortified sorghum on iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) intake.

Integrated Agricultural Production System (Dryland Eco Farm)

This production system addresses a range of constraints to agricultural productivity in dryland Africa. It combines the use of live hedges and alleys.

Fate of Nutrients of Organic Matter Subjected to Termite Activity

Based on the study of organic matter decomposition in Sahelian soils ICRISAT searches for better solutions in managing crop residue as well as manure used in sandy soils for soil fertility management.

System diversification with tree crops - food production, nutrition and income

ICRISAT crop diversification program is engaged in domestication research of important fruit trees at Sadore station. Important results have been obtained in the last 3 years.

West Africa Seed Alliance

The West Africa Seed Alliance (WASA) addresses long standing regional food security issues – lacking access to high quality seeds and inputs, and the non-existence of an economic market. WASA brings together partners from private sector, public research institutions, small scale agro-dealers and farmers to create a sustainable commercial seed industry in the West Africa.