Originally published on Forbes.com on August 16, 2022
Higher temperatures, shorter rainy seasons and more frequent droughts—as well as additional extreme weather experiences—are impacting farmers’ harvests. The UN deemed West Africa a “climate-change hot spot,” and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that the western Sahel region will experience the strongest drying in Africa. These realities, plus a fast growing population, mean that the region will experience higher rates of malnutrition, hunger, and poverty as farmers struggle to grow the harvests they need.
As a climate hot spot, West Africa is experiencing intensive impacts of climate change. But climate change knows no borders: it is a global issue that requires global solutions. We encourage leaders, policymakers, governments, and fellow NGOs to identify their own role in alleviating the impact of climate change on the communities they serve. myAgro, a social enterprise that works with smallholder farmers in West Africa, has long been focused on helping our farmers be more climate resilient.
Climate Resilient Seeds
At myAgro, farmers purchase seeds that are proven to significantly increase harvests per hectare and, as a result, increase farmer income. Through our robust research and development work across different regions and with different products, we have studied the performance of high quality seed varieties under various local conditions. This allows myAgro to focus offerings on seed varieties that are climate resilient. For example, seeds that need less water to grow and seeds that can withstand rising temperatures.
These improved seeds are included in myAgro packages for farmers so that they can grow a strong harvest in the face of climate shocks and unknowns.
Climate Insurance
When farmers enroll with myAgro, they receive both climate resilient seeds as well as climate insurance, often referred to as yield index insurance. The yield index insurance covers the cost of seeds and crops if farmers experience a climate shock. These shocks can include flooding, severe drought, and unanticipated pests. Though farmers are used to combating pests and diseases, climate change has the potential to accelerate the spread of new or more pests as a result of shifting temperatures or unusual precipitation.
Climate insurance is a benefit not commonly available to smallholder farmers in West Africa. When climate events negatively impact a farmer’s harvest, it leaves them without crops to sell or eat. Helping equip farmers to handle increasingly unreliable weather with resources, like insurance, improves smallholders’ resilience and supports long-term food security and wellbeing.
Weather and Climate Forecasts
In partnership with Senegal’s Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie (ANACIM), myAgro produces and disseminates weather and climate forecasts to provide farmers with important and timely information about weather conditions. Accessing up-to-date weather and climate information allows farmers to make strategic decisions around planting and fertilizer application, which helps them prepare and reduces vulnerability to climate shocks.
In addition to ANACIM’s expert knowledge, the organization takes into account the local knowledge that farmers have about climate through qualitative research and interviews. ANACIM and myAgro understand the valuable and irreplaceable knowledge that farmers have; we believe it is vital to integrate that experience into forecasts. Once the forecasts are created, myAgro translates all the information produced by ANACIM and packages it in the form of visual aids that can be easily understood by farmers. With these forecasts, myAgro delivers the information to our field agents through WhatsApp, and agents share this information with farmers as part of their ongoing follow-up.
These are just some of the innovative ways we are working to support farmers and help them become climate resilient. Climate change is an ongoing challenge and we are committed to continuing to use our knowledge, resources, and expertise to help farmers overcome the negative impacts of climate change. We hope fellow organizations are able to assess their own climate-friendly potential to develop solutions and mechanisms as a core part of their strategic approach across sectors and regions.
