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Purpose: This study aims to discuss climate change, by modifying the timing of several agricultural operations, reduce the efficiency and yield of inputs leading to a lower production level. The reduction of the effects of climate change on production yields and on farmers' technical efficiency (TE) requires the adoption of adaptation strategies. This paper analyses the impact of climate change adaptation strategies adopted on maize farmers' TE in Benin. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses an endogeneity-corrected stochastic production frontier approach based on data randomly collected from 354 farmers located in three different agro-ecological zones of Benin. Findings: Estimation results revealed that the adoption of adaptation strategies improve maize farmers' TE by 1.28%. Therefore, polices to improve farmers' access to climate change adaptation strategies are necessarily for the improvement of farmers' TE and yield. Research limitations/implications: The results of this study contribute to the policy debate on the enhancement of food security by increasing farmers' TE through easy access to climate change adaptation strategies. The improvement of farmers' TE will in turn improve the livelihoods of the communities and therefore contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2 and 13. Originality/value: This study contributes to theoretical and empirical debate on the relationship between adaptation to climate change and farmers' TE. It also adapts a new methodology (endogeneity-corrected stochastic production frontier approach) to correct the endogeneity problem due to the farmers' adaptation decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis has migration implications, and we need to act inclusively and urgently. Climate change impacts people's decisions to migrate largely through economic, political, technological, demographic, and socio-cultural factors, and their dynamic interlinkages. These complex issues often influence climate risks and vulnerabilities and complicate effective investment and policy actions on migration. However, there is inadequate documentation on how climate change is linked to migration and social transformation. Based on a traditional literature review and inputs from a consultation dialogue, this paper analyzes climate-induced migration in West Africa using a social transformation lens. The paper conceptualizes the climate-induced migrant as an agent of adaptation and describes the complexities of climate vulnerabilities, and its intersection with social transformation in migration decisions. A social transformation conceptual framework is proposed to identify the complexities of climate-induced migration and ensure inclusive strategies are planned, implemented, and sustained. The paper discusses the need for transdisciplinary research approaches to capture various intersections of transforming socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities across different countries and migratory landscapes. The paper also highlights the critical concern in the region regarding the "trapped population." It suggests that a social transformation lens is required to unravel the dynamics around vulnerable people unable to migrate because they do not have the resources to migrate or are constrained by cultural issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) serves as a credible mechanism to simultaneously address food security, climate change, and agricultural productivity. Despite the widespread adoption of CSA approaches across West Africa, many countries have still not been able to resolve the problems of food insecurity and rural poverty. This systematic review evaluates published evidence on the types of CSA practices, the determinants and benefits of adoption, and the barriers confronting the adoption of CSA practices across West Africa, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses statement checklist. Articles published in English from January 2010 to March 2023 investigating the benefits of and barriers to the adoption of CSA practices in West Africa were retrieved from ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools for use in systematic reviews. The themes emerging from the articles were extracted, and a summary was provided to illustrate each theme. After applying the eligibility criteria, 12 articles were included in the final review. The studies reviewed revealed that farmers used more knowledge‐, water‐, carbon‐, and nitrogen‐smart practices, compared to weather‐ and energy‐smart practices. Across the reviewed papers, factors such as the education level of farmers, age, gender, household size, membership of a social group, agricultural extension services, and access to credit/financial resources influenced CSA adoption. The reviewed studies identified that farmers who used CSA practices reported benefits such as improved soil fertility, higher yield, improved household income, climate resilience (such as overcoming the effects of drought and extreme temperatures), and food security. Some farmers adopted CSA practices to reduce the effect of droughts and high temperatures on their crops, and thus increase their resilience to climate variability and change. However, farmers' adoption is confronted with challenges related to the technicality of some CSA practices, high cost of labor for CSA implementation, lack of credit and government support, limited access to weather and climate information, limited information about CSA options, high illiteracy level of smallholder farmers, and incompatibility of some practices with farmers' crop of interest. Our findings show that most CSA practices in the studies we reviewed are not well targeted to meet farmers' crop of interest, and that governments should provide more practical training to enhance farmers' understanding of CSA practices, especially those related to weather‐ and energy‐smart initiatives. There should also be more robust financial and institutional support to improve the adoption and usage of CSA practices at all levels. Additionally, socio‐cultural factors such as values, customs, and beliefs should be properly integrated into CSA plans as they influence the adoption of CSA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guinea‐Bissau, an important regional biodiversity hotspot in West Africa, faces the challenge of raising awareness among the general public about the significance of natural resources for rural communities' survival and the need for biodiversity conservation. This knowledge gap hinders conservation efforts as initiatives are deemed irrelevant or unnecessary. A climate of political vulnerability, financial uncertainty and threats to media freedom are further obstacles to conservation biology. Researchers lack established communication platforms for academic dissemination. In this paper, we introduce the initiative News for Nature/PRIMACTION (2020–2022), which aimed to establish a communication channel between researchers and media agents. The project had two primary objectives: firstly, to raise awareness among the Guinea‐Bissau society about the importance of national biodiversity and conservation challenges; and secondly, to enhance the capacity of specific communicators and opinion makers. The project had several important outputs, including: i) a bi‐monthly newspaper section focused on "biodiversity conservation in Guinea‐Bissau", ii) three radio‐theatre episodes performed by a well‐known group and broadcasted nationally, iii) one song composed and sung by famous musicians, with an introduction by Jane Goodall, and iv) a website providing technical resources for journalists covering biodiversity and conservation news. Collaborators mentioned the lack of logistical conditions for traveling in the country as a major impediment in reporting conservation‐related news. We emphasize the significance of establishing direct contact and articulation between researchers and local media to promote conservation research in West African countries. In countries where science communication and environmental education outreach are not well‐established, it is crucial to bridge the challenges faced by the communities in different regions of the same country. This is especially urgent in cases where such challenges are significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projections of West African Monsoon (WAM) precipitation are uncertain. To address this, an improved understanding of the mechanisms driving WAM precipitation change is needed to shed light on inter-model differences and aid model development. The full forcing of increased CO2 can be decomposed into different components such as the impact of ocean warming, or the direct radiative effect of increased CO2. This paper investigates such a decomposition, analysing the effect of a uniform 4K ocean warming whilst keeping atmospheric CO2 concentrations constant. The analysis highlights several mechanisms acting to decrease WAM precipitation over a range of timescales, from days after the abrupt ocean warming, to the long-term equilibrium response. The initial decrease in WAM precipitation is caused by warming and enhanced convection over the ocean, stabilising the atmosphere inland and disrupting the monsoon inflow at low levels. Later in the response (after about 5 days), the WAM precipitation is reduced through a strengthening of the shallow circulation over West Africa, associated with changes in the large-scale temperature gradients and a local warming of the atmosphere related to a soil moisture feedback mechanism over the Sahel. Finally, from around 20 days after the SST increase, the WAM precipitation is also reduced through changes in specific humidity gradients that lead to increased potency of dry air advection into the monsoon rainband. The analysis concludes by demonstrating that the processes affecting precipitation in the early stages of the response are also relevant to the long-term equilibrium response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global north, climate-smart fisheries (CSF) policies prioritise steps to combat CO 2 emissions from SSF, in a response to the fact that globally, CO 2 emissions from small-scale fisheries (SSFs) increased by over 5.8 times between 1950 and 2016. However, in the global south, CSF policies on SSF prioritise food and income security over CO 2 emission reduction. In this paper, we examine this apparently contrasting interpretation of CSF as a conceptual framework to interpret the case study of Sierra Leone, one of Africa's poorest countries where we found that small-scale coastal fishers are preoccupied with mitigating the impact of climate change on their food and income security rather than with lowering their CO 2 emissions. The self-image of SSF in Sierra Leone is that of being victims of climate change rather than perpetrators of it, and they justify this stance by claiming their livelihoods are being threatened by climate change. However, it could be argued that the best way to keep Sierra Leonean SSF CO 2 emissions low is to prioritise their food and income security: in other words, that food security and CO 2 reductions are complementary not contradictory. This, at any rate, is the argument of the current paper. The fieldwork for this study entailed co-created research in Sierra Leone and it involved 103 stakeholders who met face-to-face and online between January and March 2022 and through village meetings. The results of this fieldwork showed that food and income security and not CO 2 emissions are the priorities in the stakeholders' interpretation of CSF. However, if food and income security are not prioritised, communities are likely to adopt maladaptive strategies which undermine marine protected areas (MPAs) and exacerbate overfishing, thereby increasing CO 2 emissions. Moreover, investment in aquaculture as a supplementary or alternative livelihood can directly increase food security and incomes and at the same time indirectly serve as a CO 2 mitigation measure. In addition, weather information communication is an important CSF measure which both protects fishers from the impact of climate change and reduces their CO 2 emissions. Accordingly, we argue that the contrast between reducing CO 2 emissions and protecting food security from climate change may be more apparent than real in Sierra Leone coastal fisheries, since both policies may work in tandem together. This study therefore contributes a new interpretation of CSF in the global south: instead of seeing it as posing a conflict between CO 2 emissions reductions and food security, we have shown the two objectives can be complementary. The wider implication of this paper is that CSF strategies for SSFs do not have to be polarised between the global north's focus on the reduction of CO 2 emissions from fishing vessels and the global south's focus on the mitigation of the impact of global warming on SSFs. There are circumstances when the two objectives may be in harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palm trees are multi-purpose species that are involved in several socio-economic and cultural aspects of Niger people. Indeed, palm trees significantly improve local population life. This study aims to assess the impact of future climate change on the geographical distribution of Borassus aethiopum Mart., Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. and Phoenix dactylifera L. and to determine the suitable habitats for the conservation and sustainable management of these species in Niger. The maxEnt approach was used to model the species distribution. Four climatic models of CHELSA V2.1 were used: gfdl-esm4, ipsl-cm6a-lr, mpi-esm1-2h, mri-esm2-0 under two scenarios: ssp1-2.6 and ssp5-8.5 by periods 2011–2040 and 2041–2070. The mean AUC was 0.93 for Borassus aethiopum (0.93), 0.86 for Hyphaene thebaica, and 0.87 for Phoenix dactylifera. TSS test mean were 0.85, 0.69, and 0.75 respectively for Borassus aethiopum, Hyphaene thebaica, and Phoenix dactylifera. The current distribution for highly suitable habitats was 33,223 km2 (2.22%), 159,495 km2 (10.66%), and 108,189 km2 (7%) respectively for Borassus aethiopum, Hyphaene thebaica, and Phoenix dactylifera. The moderately suitable habitats were 83,019 km2 (5.55%) for Borassus aethiopum, 86,239 km2 (5.76%) for Hyphaene thebaica and 66,426 km2 (4%) Phoenix dactylifera. The lowly suitable habitats were 137,859 km2 (9.21%), 201,609 km2 (13.48%), and 333,181 km2 (22%) respectively Borassus aethiopum, Hyphaene thebaica, and Phoenix dactylifera. The highly and moderately suitable habitats for Borassus aethiopum will increase over the period 2011–2040 and 2041–2070. The highly suitable habitats of Hyphaene thebaica will be highly decreased by the period 2011–2040 and 2041–2070 than the other suitable habitats. All suitable habitats and all models of Phoenix dactylifera will decrease under the period 2041–2070. Phoenix dactylifera and Hyphaene thebaica will be much more affected by future climate change. This will also affect production rates for farmers in Niger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and identifying appropriate adaptation optons for cropping systems and management practices at spatial and temporal scales is an important prerequisite for scaling. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.) could be regarded as a risk-reducing measure crop under climate change when coupled with tactical agronomic management practices. In this study, we assess the impacts of adaptation strategies such as cultivar type, planting windows, and fertilizer strategies on pearl millet production under rainfed farming systems over Nigeria and Senegal using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model. The impact of climate change on millet yield was evaluated using a validated APSIM-millet module that utilized yield data collected through participatory research and extension approach (PREA) in contrasting environments. The climate model projections for the mid-century period (2040-2069) were compared against a baseline period of 1980-2009 for both locations. During the simulation, two millet varieties (improved local and dualpurpose) with two sowing regimes were considered comparing traditional farmers' sowing window (dry sowing) and agronomic sowing window (planting based on the onset of the rainfall) at three different fertilizer levels [low (23 kg N ha-1), medium (40.5 kg N ha-1), and high (68.5 kg N ha-1) respectively]. The performance of the APSIM-millet module was found to be satisfactory as indicated by the low Root Means Square Error (RMSE) and Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) values. The range for grain yield was between 17.7% and 25.8%, while for AGB it was between 18.6% and 21.4%. The results showed that farmers' sowing window simulated slightly higher grain yield than the agronomic sowing window for improved local millet cultivar indicating yield increased by 8-12%. However, the projected changes in the mid-century (2040- 2069) resulted in a decline in yield against baseline climate for both varieties and sowing windows, indicating the negative impact of climate change (CC) on yield productivity. The comparison between dual-purpose millet and improved local millet indicates that disseminating the improved millet variety and implementing early sowing could be an effective adaptation strategy in reducing risks and losses caused by climate change. Similarly, low magnitude impacts simulated on grain yield (< -8% in Nigeria compared to > -8% in Senegal) even though both locations are in the same agroecological zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change-induced sea level rise, shoreline changes, and coastal erosion are projected to drive massive population displacement and mobility in Africa. This study was conducted to examine the pattern of shoreline changes, coastal erosion, land use/land cover dynamics, projections, and their implications on internal migration in Senegal, Kenya, and Tanzania, representing West and East Africa. The digitized shoreline was mapped into erosion, accretion, and trend analysis, which further explains the vulnerability and physical processes that could trigger human displacement within the context of environmental/climate migration. Analysis of land use and land cover dynamics was obtained from Landsat 5 TM of 1986, Landsat 7 ET of 2006, Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS of 2016, and Landsat 9 OLI/TIRS of 2022 and computed using ArcGIS 10.7 for land-use change and percentage change in square kilometers was conducted to examine land use/land cover dynamics and their contributions to the risk of coastal erosion in the study regions. The outcome of the shoreline analysis reveals that 972.03 sqkm of land has been lost to coastal erosion in Senegal from 1986 to 2022 with 2016–2022 described as the period with the highest in terms of land loss. In Kenya, −463.30 sqkm of land has also been lost to coastal erosion and agents of wave processes, with 1986–2006 recording the highest share of −87.74% loss of valuable land, while in Tanzania, −1033.35 sqkm of valuable land has been lost from 1986 to 2022 to coastal erosion, with 2006–2016 alone recording −10.4634% of land loss. The result of the land use/land cover percentage change analysis indicates a massive loss of vegetation cover with a significant increase in settlement representing urbanization. The scenario analysis of the shoreline at 10, 20, and 30 m indicates that 567 persons per sqkm at 10 m, 25,904.6 persons per sqkm at 20 m, and 25,904.5 persons per sqkm will be displaced in Senegal at 30 m. In Kenya, 57,746 persons per sqkm are projected to be displaced at 10 m while 1210.5 persons per sqkm will be displaced at 20 m and 7737.32 persons per sqkm will be displaced at 30 m. In Tanzania, the maximum population density projected to be displaced at 10, 20, and 30 m is 10,260.97 per sqkm. Structured questionnaires were administered to elicit responses from coastal dwellers on their perception of coastal erosion and climate migration as part of ground truthing and the result of the survey affirms that coastal erosion and its exposure are the major drivers of climate migration in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding, yet knowledge gaps constrain their conservation and further utilization. To address these gaps, the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa were modeled, and their conservation statuses were assessed. Most taxa were identified as medium priority for further conservation. Further ex‐situ collecting hotspots are in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas, while habitat protection lies in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Climate change may shift equatorial habitats to higher latitudes and mountain habitats to higher altitudes. Summary: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding. However, knowledge gaps on their geographic distributions and conservation status constrain their conservation and further utilization.To fill these critical gaps, we modeled the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa under current climate scenarios, assessed their conservation status, both ex situ (in genebanks or botanical gardens) and in situ (in protected areas), and examined changes in taxa richness of RWR in predicted areas under future climate scenarios.The RWR were primarily distributed in tropical Asia to tropical Australia, tropical Africa, and South and Central America. We identified 4 out of 22 taxa as high priority (HP) for further conservation action and 18 taxa as medium priority (MP).Hotspots requiring further collecting for ex situ conservation are concentrated in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas. Meanwhile, habitat protection should be enhanced in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Under future climate change, suitable habitats near the equator are expected to shift toward higher latitudes and some in lower‐latitude basins may become unsuitable due to excessive heat, resulting in decreased taxa richness in these areas. Additionally, suitable habitats in high mountain areas may shift to higher altitudes, potentially augmenting taxa richness in the highlands. Our findings provide vital insights to guide future rescue conservation efforts for RWR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]