A team from the Agroecological Solutions for Resilient Farming in West Africa (CIRAWA) led by Fundacion Cartif, has met with their UDS counterparts from the West Africa Center for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture, WACWISA-UDS, at the Central Administration Block on the Tamale Campus on June 26. 2023.

The Agroecological Solutions for Resilient Farming in West Africa (CIRAWA) is working with small-holder farmers in West Africa to improve food nutrition, local livelihoods and ecosystem health.  Bringing together 14 partners from 9 countries, CIRAWA is developing new agroecological-based practices that build on existing local and scientific knowledge to help create more resilient food supply chains in 8 regions across Cape Verde, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia. CIRAWA aims to demonstrate how working with nature can enhance ecosystem health and biodiversity while improving local livelihoods and climate resilience, using four key agroecological approaches.

The Director of WACWISA-UDS Prof. Felix Kofi Abagale welcomed the team from Spain to Ghana and to UDS to begin a four-day exercise on the CIRAWA project. Prof. Abagale recalled the struggles and challenges the project has had to confront and commended both teams for putting in all their efforts to realize the goal of the project since it was launched in January 2023 in Spain. He assured the project coordinators of WACWISA-UDS’ full commitment towards the project and called for a collective efforts in achieving the project’s primary objectives.

The four- and half-year project, according to Silvia Gomez Valle a member of the team from Spain, CIRAWA will boost the implementation of Agroecology in West Africa.  The project will facilitate the Agroecology transition to a more sustainable food system. She hinted that, in response to climate change, CIRAWA will provide solutions including strategies such as production of high-quality seeds, waste valorisation and production of biofertilizers and the adoption of sustainable soil and water management practices. She added that, the strategies will be implemented in Cape Verde, Ghana, Senegal and Gambia.

A Co-Principal Investigator of the Ghana team from WACWISA UDS, Dr. Dzigbodi A. Doke engaged the team on the four-day visit.

Also present at the meeting were the Registrar, Mr. Nurudeen Issah Abubakar, Ag. Director of Internal Audit, Regional Coordinator and Work Package 2 (W2) Lead, Prof. Saa Dittoh, from CARTIF Mr. Abdulai Abukari.

Story by Hamdan Wumpeka Amadu
(UDS Media)