As part of the implementation of the Strengthening Community Initiatives for Resilience to Climate Extremes (RIC4REC) project, ICRISAT, and Blumont developed a manual on the use of climate information for farming in Mali.
Considered an effective and indispensable tool to better equip rural development actors for effective climate risk management, the 30-page manual is the result of a partnership between Blumont, ICRISAT, the CCAF program, the NGOs GFORCE and AMASSA-Afrique Verte, and the mobile phone network ORANGE in the regions of Mopti, Ségou and Koulikoro, where RIC4REC is implemented.
A farmer using the Sénékela/Sandji service in his field.
The ceremony was chaired by Mr. Abdoulaye Hamadoun, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, and brought together government agencies, NGOs, and media representatives as well as international cooperation financial partners.
During his speech, Mr. Hamadoun expressed his hopes for and confidence in the manual which, according to him, will:
- Generate an increased understanding of the concepts and definitions related to climate change;
- Provide a better understanding of the collection of data and the generation of climate information services; and
- Advise rural development actors by providing a greater understanding of the use of seasonal, weekly, and daily rainfall forecasts for farmer decision-making.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture also praised the research and fieldwork behind the development of the manual and stated how this accomplishment reiterates the commitment and support of the Government of Mali to the continuation and dissemination of this type of work throughout the country.
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RIC4REC is climatic change resiliency program that benefits 264,000 people in the Sahel climatic zone of Mali. It is funded through BRACED, a flagship DFID program under the International Climate Fund.
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