The African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) in partnership with Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT (ABC) convened a two-day expert workshop on Training of Trainers (ToT) to interact with the African Agriculture Adaptation Atlas from 17th – 18th October 2024. The Atlas is a decision support tool developed by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) as a resource hub to provide real-time access to data, guidelines, reports related to climate adaptation and offers context specific adaptation options.
A Deep Dive into the African Agriculture Adaptation Atlas Tool
The African Agriculture Adaptation Atlas Tool is a comprehensive online resource hub that leverages scientific knowledge to provide practical information and support for climate action decision-making. It is designed to assist users—such as policymakers, researchers, and investors—in applying climate data and insights to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The tool’s homepage features a resource section with interactive data, enabling users to explore and find specific answers within its workbooks. These resources allow users to evaluate climate risks, discover solutions, prioritize livestock investments, analyze women’s exposure to climate hazards, estimate economic returns on adaptation, understand heat stress on producers, view projected climate impacts, formulate climate rationale projects, explore datasets, identify common climate threats, and assess vulnerability.
Interactive Round table Session and Engagement with the Adaptation Atlas Tool Developers
On the first day, the experts engaged with the Agriculture Adaptation Atlas tool, thoroughly exploring its features and workbooks. The workshop was divided into working groups to assess the various aspects of the tool, analyse the data, and interactive elements available. The focus was to understand how the tool will support climate action decision-making and the sessions led to insightful findings.
On the second day, the tool developers joined the session, providing further explanations, and peculiarities to the tool’s design and functionalities. This round of engagement allowed the experts to offer detailed feedback and suggestions directly to the developers. The discussions foster a collaborative environment where expert insights were shared and ideas for enhancing the tool were exchanged. This dialogue highlighted the importance of continuous improvement to better meet the needs of diverse users.
Conclusion
The Agriculture Adaptation Atlas Tool is beneficial to the scientists, policy makers, and investors by providing real time information on tailored climate action. Nevertheless, the tool should be tailored to the specific users and ensure it encompass all other agricultural sectors which include livestock and fisheries. The ongoing collaboration between AGNES and Alliance Bioversity & CIAT will refine the tool and increase its useability and versatility.