Objective: Set up cost effective innovative sensor networks that can be financed by climate services built on top of these networks. Concept: Transformative new methods to measure five essential hydrological variables (rainfall, soil moisture, river flow, bathymetry) at less than 10% of current costs. These reduced costs are essential to have realistic business models for services that cover the costs of building and operating the networks. The five essential variables will be available through GEOSS. Innovation: Seven new sensing methods will be introduced in Africa. The innovation does not focus only on moving up Technology Readiness Levels of new measuring methods but, especially, on the usefulness and practical applicability of these methods in the specific contexts. The direct linkage of sensors and new value-creating services is part of this innovation because this is essential for long-term financial sustainability. New services assimilate in situ and satellite data in numerical models to make optimal use of strengths of different sources of information. Knowledge of the African market: Building on earlier research-oriented projects and on experience in development of geo-services in Africa, in-depth knowledge of the opportunities and limitations of the African market is widely available within the consortium. Selection of focus services was based on this knowledge. These focus services are Flood Early Warning Systems, reservoir management, and crop germination insurance. These have been selected as the most promising services in the broader climate-oriented areas of geo-hazards, water management, and agricultural information.

Agriculture is one of the key focus areas of the partnership between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), with the EU’s focus being on facilitating a green transition according to its Green Deal (GD) objectives. The GD is a set of long-term policy initiatives that define the EU’s climate strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and its implications for Africa are multifaceted, such as the implementation of new agricultural standards, deployment of the EU-Africa biodiversity strategy or creating a circular economy. Climate change is projected to compromise agricultural production, especially in smallholder systems with little adaptive capacity, as currently prevalent in many parts of Africa. In particular, West Africa (WA) is known to be particularly vulnerable to climate change due to high climate variability or high reliance on rain-fed agriculture and especially due to urgent drive to meeting food, healthy diet, and economic needs. To support a transition to sustainable food systems, Agro-ecological farming is emerging as a compelling response to the challenges West Africa faces, aiming to reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture while meeting the growing demand for food, contributing to landscape quality and biodiversity, and enhancing resilience.. CIRAWA will unlock the potential of the agro-ecology in West Africa by building on existing indigenous and scientific knowledge to improve food and nutrition security, livelihoods and planetary health while tackling the climate change and environmental impact of agricultural practices. CIRAWA will work on innovative agro-ecological approaches by the following strategies: (i) valorisation of agro-wastes and bio-based fertiliser production; (ii) production of high quality seeds; (iii) saline soil reclamation through phytoremediation; (iv) soil fertility, water and crop management practices. These will be deployed in 4 countries in West Africa (Cape Verde, Ghana, Senegal and The Gambia).

Agriculture is the foundation of the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide, including African rural and urban households, farming communities, and cities. However, weather and climate risks have increased, creating a need for better access to climate and weather information, soil water management, insurance, and other climate-agricultural services. Although some services exist, they are often separated and follow a top-down information provision that operates on a national scale. SAFE4ALL aims to address the interconnected issues of climate change, food security, ecosystem and disaster management, and migration in Africa by providing user-centred climate services. It will innovate and bundle affordable, and scalable services that include location-specific information to meet the needs of end-users in Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Three co-creation case studies will be organized in these vulnerable African countries, engaging with small-scale farming communities, municipalities, and cities. SAFE4ALL will coordinate efforts from governments, civil society, academia, and international organizations to mobilize the capacity of end-users, build food security and resilience, promote sustainable agriculture, and provide social safety nets to affected localities. Specific objectives include establishing a collaborative, co-creation, and engagement platform for the prioritization and co-development of needs-based climate services, identifying adaptation challenges, requirements, and enabling factors and complementing policies in adapting to the wider socio-economic environment, and exploring and harnessing existing services to improve the uptake and effectiveness of climate services and develop sustainable business and implementation models for services. The outcomes aim to manage migration to cities by ensuring that communities are better equipped to adapt and cope with the impacts of climate change while enhancing food security in a rapidly changing world.

The irrigated and improved lowland agricultural systems are not resulting neither in a significant increase in resilience and food security for smallholders nor in a motor for economic growth in West Africa (WA). However, the potential benefits of water-managed agricultural systems are enormous in WA. Irrigated agriculture increases cropping intensity, diversity and productivity; contributes to develop food markets and agroindustry; and generates employment; conversely, it has environmental implications. It is hypothesized here that Sustainable Intensification (SI) of watermanaged agricultural systems is the pathway to a new, dynamic, inclusive, market-oriented, technology-based agriculture. SI is not achieved through stand-alone technology but by combining technologies and governance to design productions systems that are best adapted to local conditions. The consortium, integrated by five African institutions (SARI and UDS, in Ghana, ISRA and UGB in Senegal, and INERA in Burkina Faso), five European institutions (IRD and CIRAD in France, WUR in The Netherlands, CIHEAM-Bari in Italy, and CSIC in Spain, the coordinator), and five associate partners (CILSS, AECID and three companies), envisions SI as the springboard that will transform irrigation and lowland communities into resilient, food-secure communities improving their wellbeing through economic growth. The project aspires to change the development paradigm for irrigated and other water-managed agricultures in WA and identify environmental-friendly systems in WA and Spain. The identification of current performance gaps and benchmarks and of a new set of SI solutions will be followed by co-innovation within the project innovation hubs, working simultaneously at different scales (from plot to scheme/improved lowland system). These hubs, where women and youth will be preferred target adopters, will catalyze the change in their respective areas of influence, with a multiplier effect supported by an ICT platform.

SALSA will assess the role of small farms and small food businesses in delivering a sustainable and secure supply of affordable, nutritious and culturally adequate food. SALSA will identify the mechanisms which, at different scales, can strengthen the role of small farms in food systems and thereby support sustainable food and nutrition security (FNS). By considering a gradient of 30 reference regions in Europe and in Africa, we will obtain a differentiated understanding of the role of small farms and small food businesses in very differently structured food systems and situations. SALSA will elaborate and implement a transdisciplinary, multi-scale approach that builds on and connects relevant theoretical and analytical frameworks within a food systems approach, and that uses qualitative, consultative and quantitative methods. We will also test a new combination of data-based methods and tools (including satellite technologies) for rigorously assessing in quantitative terms the interrelationships between small farms, other small food businesses and FNS, paying particular attention to limiting and enabling factors. SALSA will use participatory methods, at regional level, and establish a more global Community of Practice and multi-stakeholder learning platform, based on FAO’s TECA online communication and learning platform. The SALSA consortium, and the joint learning and close cooperation, have both been designed with the EU - Africa dialogue in mind. Responding to the call we will unravel the complex interrelationships between small farms, small food businesses and FNS, and unfold the role played by small farms in (a) the balance between the different dimensions of sustainability, (b) maintaining more diverse production systems, (c) supporting the urban/rural balance in terms of labour and (d) in facilitating territorial development in countries facing a strong rural population growth.