Supporting Agroforestry with agroclimatic information from CLIMTAG, for resilient agroecosystems in Senegal
The Association for Promotion of Fertilizer Trees and Agroforestry (APAF) is focused in demonstrating the positive impact of agroforestry systems in farmland regeneration, crop fertility and income diversification for African farmers, in face of climate change challenges. Through techniques of planting specific sets of fertilizer trees in farmer's fields, who cultivate below and around them, soil degradation is reversed, water retention increased, and fertility improved. The Association is present in eight African countries, where more than 20 million trees were already planted.
The KLIMPALA project partners organized a workshop in Thiès, Senegal, where the CLIMTAG tool was demonstrated to APAF entrepreneurs, on how to automatically retrieve agroclimatic indicators for historical and future climate scenarios, such as crop temperature requirements, heat conditions, rainfall availability and soil moisture. This climate information is key for APAF to plan the installation of agroforestry systems and nursing the best suited crops and fertilizing species for each region. The use-case of groundnut cultivation was presented, comparing this crop's optimal climate conditions with medium-term climate trends in the Arachidier Basin region, to support adaptation planning of groundnut production.
The KLIMPALA partnership in Senegal plans to continue exchanging feedback for further development of the tool, namely towards seasonal climate forecasts for analyzing cultivation conditions on a yearly basis, and improving user interaction with the platform, for a tailor-made analysis by APAF experts. The employment of agroclimatic information allows for more durable and adapted developments of innovative solutions for sustainable food production.
Keywords: agroforestry, fertilizing trees, climate resilience
