Agroecological Zoning over three Regions (Bafatá, Quinara and Tombali)
of Guinea-Bissau
Project Overview
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The objective of the project was to develop a simple and reliable methodology for high-resolution crop suitability analysis - over three regions of Guinea-Bissau, Bafatá, Quinara and Tombali - under current and future climate, easily applicable and useful to support decision making and Agricultural Development Plans.
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The methodology addresses both regional planning purposes and pre-emptive short-term rural extension interventions based on same-year agricultural season forecasts, while implemented with off-the-shelve resources. The outputs are maps, which can be queried, overlaid and used in other cross-sector management activities to support territorial management and a landscape approach to land-use decisions.
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A socio-economic survey was performed in 41 communities spatially distributed throughout the three regions. The survey provided valuable qualitative information on crop preferences, agricultural practices and production challenges of local communities.
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Workshop sessions took place in IBAP headquarters in order to train local technicians on how to use the tool to support decision-making processes.
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Methods and Results
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•The Agroecological Zoning (AEZ) produced a set of maps which indicate and rank the suitability of each square kilometer of the target area for each selected crop (18 crops were selected) in the current climatic conditions as well as in conditions projected for the future.
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•Each specific agroecological map results from the combination of a climatic suitability map (current or future) with an edaphic suitability map, both produced at 1 km resolution.
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•Current and future suitability for each crop were assessed considering that no inputs are used, meaning that the effects of irrigation or fertilization, including organic–which are used to a very limited extent in Guinea-Bissau—are not accounted for.
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Agroecological results for dryland rice in the three study regions and poster for palm tree crops (in Portuguese)
Stakeholders Sessions | 2016 Bissau
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Stakeholders sessions | Two stakeholders sessions took place in the Bissau. (1) presentation and discussion of the methodology (March); and (2) share and discuss the preliminary results (June).
Fieldwork and Capacity Building | 2016
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Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) | Two fieldwork campaigns took place across the study area - Bafatá, Quintara and Tombali (08/04/2016 to 21/04/2016 and 02/06/2016 to 08/06/2016) in order to carry out a socio-economic survey to a total of 41 communities’ households: 41 interviews, 31 focus groups and 381 questionnaires.
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On-the-job training | On-the-job training was provided to local technicians in PRA methods across the study area. ​
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Workshops | Three workshops took place at IBAP headquarters (Bissau, Guinea-Bissau) in order to train local technicians on several subjects involving:
. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | 30-hour workshop | 5 sessions (14/03/2016 to 18/03/2016)
. Agroecological Zoning (AEZ) | 30-hour workshop | 5 sessions (13/06/2016 to 17/06/2016)
. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) | 30-hour workshop | 5 sessions (23/05/2016 to 27/05/2016)
