Improving Rainfall Information and Rainwater Usage for Adapted Agricultural Production under High Climate Variability in Burkina Faso: 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. With traditional rain-fed agriculture, extreme variability in precipitation and frequent droughts and floods, food production in Sub-Saharan Africa is under severe threat. Burkina Faso is characterized in particular by unpredictable shifts in the rainy season, interrupted by irregular occurrence of dry spells, early precipitation gaps, but also extreme precipitation events. The frequency of such events is likely to increase; therefore, new strategies and technologies are urgently needed to adapt the agricultural sector to the negative consequences of climate change. The AgRAIN project is combining two interlinked adaptation measures that have great potential to increase the resilience of agriculture in Burkina Faso to extremely variable precipitation: The improvement of precipitation monitoring and forecasting for agricultural planning and the development and implementation of a prototypical underground rainwater harvesting and irrigation system to increase and stabilize rice yields and to enable a second growing period for vegetable cultivation. Regional agriculture gains essential information, e.g. for the efficient planning of irrigation, sowing- and harvesting dates, the scheduling of other agricultural management decisions and warnings in case of heavy precipitation events. The effectiveness of the adaption measure is evaluated using remote sensing technologies and an assessment of a potential transferability to other regions will be investigated.