Abstract
Africa has experienced increasing aridity and higher frequency of droughts due to climate change during the half past century with possible adverse effects on agricultural production, especially in dry areas with low rainfall. Under the auspices of the Africa Water Action Program between the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Resources, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS-IAER) worked closely with domestic and overseas partners on technology transfer in Morocco, Zambia, Egypt, Niger and Ethiopia from 2008 to 2013. A drought early warning system has been established and validated, and drought adaptation technologies have been trialed, modified, demonstrated and extended in African countries, and this shows great potential to increase crop production, water and fertilizer use efficiency and desert control in rainfed areas of Africa. The project has continued for six years and is a successful case of technology transfer and capacity building in Africa. The knowledge and experience gained will be useful to researchers, technicians, aid agencies and policy makers who work on agricultural technology transfer for in dry areas of Africa.
Highlights
Droughts over the past half century have been characterized by higher frequency, earlier onset and longer duration as a result of climate change[1,2,3,4]
The project “Cooperation on drought early warning system and adaption technology in the drought regions of Africa” aimed to: (1) establish drought early warning systems for typical regions of Africa and to enhance the drought prediction and early warning capabilities of African countries; (2) integrate the drought mitigation technologies well developed in China and establish demonstration sites for dryland farming technology in typical regions of Africa and improve the drought-resistance capability of crops and cushion the losses caused by drought in Africa; (3) provide training to technical staff and organize personnel communication and exchange and to promote capacity building of African researchers and technicians; and (4) enhance theoretical research capacity and technology adaptability in agroclimatic, hydrological, modeling and other related areas
The researchers from China and Africa worked closely in field investigation and survey to identify the gaps between the current drought prediction/drought mitigation technologies and the actual demands in the African countries studied, and established drought early warning system (DEWS), introduced welldeveloped Chinese drought adaptation technologies to the African countries via the establishment of demonstration sites, developed water-conservation farming patterns adapted to Africa by rational integration and field trials of various drought mitigation technologies, and promoted capacity building by technical training and personnel exchange
Summary
Droughts over the past half century have been characterized by higher frequency, earlier onset and longer duration as a result of climate change[1,2,3,4]. It is estimated by IPCC that climate change will reduce yields from rainfed agriculture by up to 50% in some Africa countries in 2020[7]. 500 million people in Africa will have to face the challenge of water scarcity, and all the countries are projected to see 3%–30% decreases in food production due to water shortages[13,14]. Drought mitigation technology systems for different Chinese climate types were developed including farmland moisture monitoring, drought prediction, and water conservation farming. Scientific and technological aid, cooperative research, technology demonstration and transfer of Chinese drought mitigation technology benefit capacity building, water and food security, and environmental safety of African countries, and to the export of Chinese agricultural technology, products, equipment and standards. Chinese technological cooperation with Africa on water resources needs overall planning, proactive deployment and synergistic advancement to overcome problems such as limited sponsorship, small project scale and lack of sustainability
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