A three-year project was funded by the BMZ/GIZ to examine the benefits of integrating aquaculture and small scale irrigation by identifying improved water allocation and management strategies under current and future climate change scenarios. An integrated modeling approach was adopted to analyze the complex issues involved in the decision processes. A water budgeting approach was used in estimating and balancing the water resources available to farming communities (the supply aspect) and the water demand for agricultural use, including crops and fish farming, within a catchment.

Variable and low rainfall patterns combined with increasing population pressure have led to natural resources degradation in the Mopti region of Mali. This has forced both agricultural and pastoral communities to transform their production systems and social relations. To assess the adaptive capacities of these agro-pastoral communities to climate change, a participatory survey was conducted in the region between February and May 2009. The survey covered in total 175 households, covering 60 households per agro-ecological zone (i.e.

The purpose of this transdisciplinary project was to cogenerate methods, information and solutions between local communities, local and international scientists and policy makers involved in climate change and adaptation programmes, for coping mechanisms and adapting strategies to climate change and variability in Africa. Herewith the overall goal is to increase the adaptive capacity of agropastoralists, who are among the most vulnerable groups in Africa to climate change and variability.