Improving rainfall information and rainwater usage for adapted agricultural production under high climate variability in Burkina Faso: First results of the AgRAIN project.

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Projections suggest that an increasingly variable occurrence of precipitation and rising temperatures will lead to considerable harvest losses of up to 50%. This is affecting the African agricultural sector, including Burkina Faso, a country where the agricultural sector plays an essential role in the national economy. Increasing the resilience of agriculture in Burkina Faso to extremely variable precipitation events is an important adaptation measure with great potential. Therefore, the project aims at developing new strategies and technologies to adapt the Burkinian agricultural sector to the negative consequences of climate change by improving a more efficient use of rainwater.