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The manual is targeted at small-scale irrigation actors – particularly technical services, projects and programmes with the potential to develop their own good practices for use by others in the sector. e manual o-ers guidance to newcomers, helping them to identify existing successful practices. It will also serve to guide state and TFP services in their development of new programmes and projects. Lastly, this good practice manual will enable Malian actors to share their know-how with other countries within and beyond the sub-region.

A contribution to adaptation and farmers´ resilience towards climate change in the Sahel

Comme les femmes fournissent, en moyenne, plus de 40% de la main-d'œuvre agricole mondiale, cette monographie souligne que les femmes sont la clé du développement rural. Cet échantillon de fiches d'information traite des sujets suivants :

Brochure 1 : Genre et développement rural ;

Brochure 2 : Genre et vulgarisation agricole ;

Brochure 3 : Genre et accès à la terre ;

Brochure 4 : Genre et sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle ;

Brochure 5 : Genre et pêche et aquaculture ;

Brochure 6 : Genre et production animale ;

Brochure 7 : Genre et chaînes de valeur

As women provide, on avergage, more than 40% of the agricultural labor force worldwide, this monography stresses women as key for rural development. This sample of factsheets talks about the following topics:

Brochure 1: Gender and Rural Development;

Brochure 2: Gender and Agricultural Extension;

Brochure 3: Gender and Access to Land;

Brochure 4: Gender and Food & Nutrition Security;

Brochure 5: Gender and Fischeries & Aquaculture;

Brochure 6: Gender and Livestock Production;

Brochure 7: Gender and Value Chains

Review of research findings, options for mitigation and recommendations for development cooperation

Guidance on how to apply the Vulnerability Sourcebook’s approach with the new IPCC AR5 concept of climate risk

Le cinquième rapport d’évaluation (AR5) récemment publié par le Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC) souligne une nouvelle fois les risques omniprésents liés aux changements climatiques. La vulnérabilité à la variabilité actuelle du climat et aux changements climatiques futurs menace particulièrement le développement des populations pauvres et marginalisées. Les conclusions du rapport soulignent qu’il sera nécessaire de reconnaître l’adaptation de manière adéquate lors du futur accord sur le changement climatique en 2015, afin faire face à la vulnérabilité climatique de façon efficace.

his paper contributes to emerging research on the impacts of climate change on communities in the Global South by mapping and analyzing its impacts on rural livelihoods in semi-arid Matobo District in Zimbabwe. It investigates the possibilities and scope for climate change adaptation in this region as communal households adjust and diversify their livelihood portfolios. In so doing, it finds that climate change has had remarkable consequences on the livelihoods of people in this semi-arid area. It has altered the ecosystem leading to the disappearance of certain plant and insect species that were an essential part of the local natural habitat and livelihoods of local people. Rainfall patterns have also become unpredictable leading to erratic, mostly, poor farming seasons with direct implications on the local food system and rural economy. In response to these climate change induced impacts, a variety of new livelihood strategies are emerging as households seek to cushion themselves against this threat to their sustainability. However, a pertinent question is: how far can these adaptation strategies evolve under the increasing pressure of climate change impacts? In other words, are these communal households urging towards tipping points?

The purpose of the RLAT is to provide a sufficiently accurate pre-screening tool for identifying intervention points along agribusiness Value Chains (VCs), working out incentives for VC operators and proposing measures to reduce pre- and post-harvest losses. The tool supports the design of concrete interventions that have the primary aim of improving food security at the subsistence level, either on farms or in communities, and the secondary aim of upgrading specific VCs.

The smallholder sector is vulnerable to climate change due to its reliance on rainfed agriculture and has the least ability to adapt. Based on appropriate weather forecasts, farmers can mitigate and adapt to climate change through sound crop management decisions. A study was conducted to explore indigenous knowledge system (IKS) weather forecasts as a climate change adaptation strategy in smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe. Eighty six farmers from three agro-ecological regions with different agricultural potential and cultural backgrounds were involved in the study. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect data on climate change perceptions, access and interpretation of meteorological forecasts and IKS weather indicators and their use in crop production. Most farmers (93%) believed that there is climate change, citing low rainfall, late rains and rising temperatures as some of the indicators. Sixty five percent of farmers had access to and can interpret the meteorological forecasts disseminated through print and electronic media, though arguing that the forecasts are not timely disseminated. Sixty seven percent of the respondents were using IKS weather indicators such as wild fruits, trees, worms and wind for predicting seasonal quality in addition to meteorological forecasts. Basing on IKS forecasts, farmers are changing varieties, staggering planting dates, varying fertilizer rates and cropping land area. The study showed that IKS forecasts indicators are different in the three agro-ecological regions, are being used by farmers in making farming decisions and if properly documented, disseminated and integrated with scientific seasonal climate forecasts can be used as a climate change adaptation strategy.