Scaling up climate services for agriculture in Mali Initial findings from piloted implementation of PICSA approach in Africa RISING project intervention zone, southern Mali

Nenkam AM, Ouédraogo M, Traoré B, Moctar DM, Traore S, Kassogue I, Zemadim B , Zougmoré RB. 2019. Scaling up climate services for agriculture in Mali Initial findings from piloted implementation of PICSA approach in Africa RISING project intervention zone, southern Mali. CCAFS Info Note. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

The Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach, designed by the University of Reading (UoR), focuses on improving farmers' livelihood and resilience against the effect of climate change. It provides farmers with accurate, locally specific climate and weather information; coupled with diverse, locally pertinent options for crops, livestock and other livelihood activities; and the use of participatory planning tools to improve and enlighten their decision making based on their individual situations. PICSA is a step by step approach, primarily designed for field extensionists to help them integrate new tools in their activities with farmers and improve the efficiency and impact of those activities on farmer's enterprises.