4 Climate Change and Water Resources in West Africa …
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In Benin, insurance appears to be the most effective tool for sustainable risk
management in farming. Indeed, the purpose of managing farming-related risk is to
ensure the sustainability of farms while reducing their exposure to risk and supporting
farmers who are coping with exceptional disaster. It involves defining levels of risk
exposure and corresponding degrees of coverage. The Mutual Crop Insurance of
Benin (AMAB: Assurance Mutuelle Agricole du Bénin) is the multi-risk crop insurance syndicate established in that country. The main crops covered are corn, cashews,
cotton, cassava, groundnuts, cowpeas, and yams. To participate, farmers must first
subscribe to a multi-risk crop insurance policy after completing simple membership formalities and payment of a premium of Euros 12 for six months of coverage.
However, farmers surveyed indicate that improvements are needed to optimize the
operation of the AMAB.
3.4.4 Adaptation of Breeders
In Ivory Coast, to alleviate the effects of climate change, cattle farmers in the
region of Boundiali, in the north of the country, changed the raising of livestock by
strengthening the feed system with crop byproducts. This resulted in the evolution
of a breeding system from purely nomadic to increasing adoption of transhumance
(cycling livestock between highlands and lowlands seasonally). To boost the development of pastoral activity in Boundiali, for example, government departments (the
former SODEPRA and ANADER) built agro-pastoral dams on both sides of the
territory of Boundiali. But exposure to eutrophication and lack of maintenance have
rendered most of these dams unusable today. The livestock manager at the regional
branch of ANADER in Boundiali reports that some of them are drying up.
In Benin, strategies developed by herdsmen to adapt to climate crises and the
effects on their livelihoods are transhumance, use of legume straw for cattle feed,
sharing drinkable water with livestock, and unlawful invasion of protected areas.
In Burkina Faso, transhumance, previously unknown in some areas, has become
a widespread practice with rainfall variability. Villages have been built in transhumance corridors—evidence of the colonization of these areas by herders. The lack of
grazing land has compelled farmers to practice semi-intensive farming and to store
fodder. Herds are being recomposed, with hardy species (goats, donkeys, and camels)
supplanting cattle and sheep. Herders also tend to sell part of their herds during the
dry years to buy food and increase the chance of survival of their remaining animals
(GWP 2010).
In Senegal, an early warning system had been set up in partnership with the
Ecological Monitoring Center (CSE: Centre de Suivi Ecologique), based on regional
agro-meteorologic and hydrologic data. In the Ferlo (northern Senegal), climate
information warns farmers of the lack of pasture or ponds to prevent herd mortality.
Alerts are broadcast through community radios, weekly markets, and on the Internet.
A bushfire alert system was tested using mobile phone messaging. To prevent
conflict with farmers, information on the location of potentially relevant events along
pastoral corridors is provided systematically (Martin 2015). Climate constraints,
79
In Benin, insurance appears to be the most effective tool for sustainable risk
management in farming. Indeed, the purpose of managing farming-related risk is to
ensure the sustainability of farms while reducing their exposure to risk and supporting
farmers who are coping with exceptional disaster. It involves defining levels of risk
exposure and corresponding degrees of coverage. The Mutual Crop Insurance of
Benin (AMAB: Assurance Mutuelle Agricole du Bénin) is the multi-risk crop insurance syndicate established in that country. The main crops covered are corn, cashews,
cotton, cassava, groundnuts, cowpeas, and yams. To participate, farmers must first
subscribe to a multi-risk crop insurance policy after completing simple membership formalities and payment of a premium of Euros 12 for six months of coverage.
However, farmers surveyed indicate that improvements are needed to optimize the
operation of the AMAB.
3.4.4 Adaptation of Breeders
In Ivory Coast, to alleviate the effects of climate change, cattle farmers in the
region of Boundiali, in the north of the country, changed the raising of livestock by
strengthening the feed system with crop byproducts. This resulted in the evolution
of a breeding system from purely nomadic to increasing adoption of transhumance
(cycling livestock between highlands and lowlands seasonally). To boost the development of pastoral activity in Boundiali, for example, government departments (the
former SODEPRA and ANADER) built agro-pastoral dams on both sides of the
territory of Boundiali. But exposure to eutrophication and lack of maintenance have
rendered most of these dams unusable today. The livestock manager at the regional
branch of ANADER in Boundiali reports that some of them are drying up.
In Benin, strategies developed by herdsmen to adapt to climate crises and the
effects on their livelihoods are transhumance, use of legume straw for cattle feed,
sharing drinkable water with livestock, and unlawful invasion of protected areas.
In Burkina Faso, transhumance, previously unknown in some areas, has become
a widespread practice with rainfall variability. Villages have been built in transhumance corridors—evidence of the colonization of these areas by herders. The lack of
grazing land has compelled farmers to practice semi-intensive farming and to store
fodder. Herds are being recomposed, with hardy species (goats, donkeys, and camels)
supplanting cattle and sheep. Herders also tend to sell part of their herds during the
dry years to buy food and increase the chance of survival of their remaining animals
(GWP 2010).
In Senegal, an early warning system had been set up in partnership with the
Ecological Monitoring Center (CSE: Centre de Suivi Ecologique), based on regional
agro-meteorologic and hydrologic data. In the Ferlo (northern Senegal), climate
information warns farmers of the lack of pasture or ponds to prevent herd mortality.
Alerts are broadcast through community radios, weekly markets, and on the Internet.
A bushfire alert system was tested using mobile phone messaging. To prevent
conflict with farmers, information on the location of potentially relevant events along
pastoral corridors is provided systematically (Martin 2015). Climate constraints,