With the rise in flood occurrences in recent years, conducting precise flood risk assessments has become a crucial aspect of mitigating floods in agricultural regions. This study aims to generate updated and precise flood risk maps specifically tailored to rice-based systems in Mali. Historical flood and flood indicator maps spanning from 2018 to 2022 were generated using multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images covering the Sikasso and Segou regions, recognized as significant agricultural production areas in Mali.

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is designed for Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) Use Case teams with an interest in developing gender- and youth-responsive agronomic solutions. The SOP is a guide to help Use Case teams move from each step in their workflows when designing, validating, and piloting their Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) to ensure they can develop gender- and youth-responsive agronomic solutions by the end of their Use Case.

The AICCRA project, led by IITA recently introduced some climate smart Agricultural Innovations and Climate information services to help improve upon the farming activities and livelihoods of farmers in some selected communities in Ghana. Innovations such as the use of improved seeds, proper soil and nutrient management practices and integration of climatic data into decision making were introduced to farmers in five agro-ecological zones cutting across six regions in Ghana.

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.

This report elaborates on the methodology to source and screen a pipeline of high CSA impact economically and environmentally sustainable business models (SMEs) from diverse sources, prioritizing women-led SMEs, in Africa that can be linked to innovative investment solutions.

This research examined how the Smart-Valleys approach for water control was disseminated, its impact on rice yield, farmers' income, and food consumption score, as well as the farmers' perception of its advantages in Mali. In total, 469 farmers, including 68% women and 35% youth, adopted the Smart-Valleys approach across 10 sites, covering an area of 61.9 hectares. The primary dissemination methods included on-farm demonstrations, farmers exchange days, capacity building for extension agents and young service providers, along with continuous support to farmers during implementation.

This research assessed the dissemination methods of RiceAdvice, the factors influencing farmers' decisions to use, and its impacts on rice yield, farmers' income, food consumption score, and estimated greenhouse gas emissions in Mali. A total of 95,749 farmers, including 34,470 women (36%), benefited from RiceAdvice recommendations and were assisted by 120 young service providers in implementing these recommendations on their fields. Farmers' decisions to use RiceAdvice recommendations were influenced by formal education, farm size, and membership in farmers' organizations.

Farmer-led crop budgeting can be a valuable tool for examining how individuals or groups of farmers utilize and generate resources during agricultural operations. Budgeting exercises enable the quantification and analysis of resource inputs and outputs for a particular operation, resource, or the entire farming enterprise. They can be particularly useful when comparing between alterative suites of diverse crops and cropping systems.

This study analysed the digital platform established by the AICCRA project to disseminate climate information services in Mali. In total, 233,000 farmers of which 38% are women had access to CIS through the digital platforms. On average, farmers having access to CIS through the digital platform had an increase in their yield by 705 kg/ha, income by 345,288 XOF/ha (575 USD/ha) and food consumption score by 2.

Rice yield forecasting is a crucial task for management and planning. A rice yield estimation system (RIICE) was developed based on the crop growth model ORYZA and SAR derived key information such as start of season (SOS) and leaf area growth rate. Results from study sites in Sikasso and Segou regions suggest that incorporating remote sensing data, specifically Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), into a process-based crop model improves the spatial distribution of yield estimates.

Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has degraded soils, epitomized by decades of loss of valuable topsoil caused by continuous cultivation, monocropping, excessive run-off, and the absence of effective conservation-based farming practices. Conservation Agriculture (CA) offers several opportunities to restore land and arrest soil degradation in smallholder farming systems of SSA. This study assessed labor productivity and farm returns associated with CA in Malawi and Zambia using household survey data collected from 500 and 616 farmers in Zambia and Malawi, respectively.

The guidance note unpacks the key impact of land degradation across Africa's cultivated land and impacts on food production and unpacks linkages and the impact climate change is having on increasing across Africa's agricultural landscapes. Consequently improving soil health is critical and has both adaptation and mitigation co-benefits. The guidance note summarises key practices and approaches like climate-smart agriculture for scaling up health soil practices. It also concludes with key recommendations for scaling up action on soil health across the continent.