This document examines the food security threats facing 11 of the countries that make up West Africa — Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo — and explores how climate change will increase the efforts needed to achieve sustainable food security throughout the region. It is aimed at helping policymakers and researchers better understand and anticipate the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture and on vulnerable households.
Through the use of hundreds of scenario maps, models, figures, and detailed analysis, it presents plausible future scenarios that combine economic and biophysical characteristics to explore the possible consequences for agriculture, food security, and resources management to 2050. It also offers recommendations to national governments and regional economic agencies already dealing with the vulnerabilities of climate change and deviations in environment.
The first chapter provides an overview of the region, its current economic situation, and its vulnerability to climate change. It is designed to provide useful input into the efforts of ECOWAS in developing appropriate policies related to climate for the region. The next chapter describes the common methodologies used by the authors and is followed by all country chapters and then by the individual country chapters. The final chapter draws lessons for the region from the individual country studies.
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