Seasonal climate forecasts are crucial inputs for effective planning of adaptation to climate variability in the climate-sensitive development sectors. In West Africa, recommendations associated with seasonal forecasts are often based on expert judgment and assessment of the forecasts. This approach can be subjective and misleading, thus limiting the effectiveness of adaptation planning decision. This Info Note proposes a novel approach for translating seasonal forecasts into actionable sector-specific information.

The mid-hills of Nepal account for 68% of the country’s total area[1] and 56% of its arable land. Ranging in altitude from 610m to 4,876m, there are many small pockets of micro-irrigation that have the potential for high-value crop cultivation. However, almost a third of irrigable land here remains rainfed[2] and studies indicate an increase in fallow land due to a lack of year-round irrigation infrastructure and decrease in agricultural workforce.

As part of the AICCRA, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) are tasked to develop curricula and training materials to accelerate the mainstreaming of Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate- Smart Agriculture (CSA) into University’s curricula in Africa. This report describes the activities of a training of trainers’ (ToT) workshop on soil nutrient and water management in crop production course module, held from 28 February to 03 March 2023.

Mali, situated in the Sahelian region of West Africa, faces vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, and these effects are already evident across various sectors. Noteworthy consequences of climate change in Mali encompass heightened temperatures, increased frequency of droughts, water scarcity, and the progression of desertification. Indirect impacts include health impacts, such as the spread of vector-borne diseases, and resource conflicts, exacerbating existing tensions arising from diminishing resources.

To improve the farming efficiency, Egypt has been struggling to narrow the water, energy, and yield gaps owing to exacerbated water shortage. For quantitative diagnosis of farming performance, the paper presented an on-farm water, energy, food, and carbon-footprint (WEFC) nexus index made up of four equally pillars. The arithmetic average preserved the multi-centric approach and equal importance of the four pillars.

Farmers in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region face several interrelated challenges including natural resource depletion, low crop productivity, and food and nutrition insecurity. To address some of these challenges, governments are considering different incentives to increase crop production. However, incentives often entail trade-offs and may have diverging effects on economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

Droughts are common in Mali and have a significant impact on agricultural and water resources. However, there has been no previous evaluation of agricultural drought risk in Mali. A comprehensive agricultural drought risk assessment approach that considers drought severity, location, timing, and duration of drought occurrences was used to create detailed drought risk information for operational drought management in Mali. The study was carried out in the Sikasso and Segou regions, which are key agricultural production areas in Mali.

Conducted a baseline of farming households that are members of 07 Diet Health Clubs and 02 Vegetable Value Chain Groups. The household survey assessed the current situation at farm level including crop diversity and practices related to production, soil, water and pest management, and food consumption. Furthermore, a qualitative study was conducted with the management boards of the value chain groups to establish current group activities, production practices, products, and revenue.

The Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MGEE) through the Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) hosted a three-day national Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop at Urban Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia from 14 to 16 November 2023 to develop a National Framework for Weather, Water and Climate Services (NFWWCS) for Zambia. This workshop was held in accordance with the NFWWCS steps as provided by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Step-By-Step Guidelines for National Framework for Weather, Water and Climate Services.

Nature positive agriculture initiative offers sustainable food production system that meet the demands of growing population as well as facilitating the necessity of environmental restoration, biodiversity conservation thereby improving soil, land and water by scientifically supported solutions. Nature positive implement and equitably support food and livelihoods on the ground through a transformative change, initiating at farm and community-level, mainstreaming the research pathways and solutions in the smallholder agricultural systems.

The last irrigation policy of Nepal (2003) acknowledged that the traditional focus of irrigation development in Nepal has been on run-off river-based surface water irrigation. To counter the problems of seasonal low flows of rivers, groundwater resources were regarded mostly as a supplementary or conjunctive irrigation source that could extend irrigation year-round. However, there have been several new developments in the irrigation sector and water systems of Nepal that now call for a new focus and approach to groundwater irrigation