A saga of food heroes!

Since 2018, the FAO-led Strengthening Agricultural Adaptation (SAGA) global project has been bringing governments, research, civil society and actors to the table to plan global adaptation to climate change in Senegal and Haiti. As the first technical and financial partnership between FAO and the Government of Quebec, the SAGA project supports Nationally Determined Contributions and Nationally Adaptation Planning processes As the project reaches its final year, we look back on results, lessons learned and celebrate our partners.

Reaping the fruits of cooperation

Earlier this year, Jean Lemire, Special envoy for climate change, Nordic and Arctic affairs of the Government of Quebec, laid out goals for SAGA’s last year: “Once again, we will put all actors around the table, look together at key local challenges, and identify together solutions.” Since 2018, the project has been pushing forward a multi-stakeholder, multi-scale and multi-sector approach — and the results are finally here!

Thanks to more than 25 partnerships, the SAGA project has created tangible evidence on adaptation options and priorities for Senegal and Haiti. With 11 scientific studies on resilience to climate change, 19 training tools to support farmers’ adaptation, and 25 information and advocacy products developed, the project has been able to inform policy-making with data-driven knowledge on adaptation. 

Empowering food heroes in their communities

The SAGA project has trained over 1600 farmers on resilient farming practices in Senegal and Haiti. Aminata Sarr, a farmer from the Gapakh village, has participated in gender-sensitive farmer field schools (FFS) implemented by Carrefour International and the Association for the promotion of the Senegalese woman and is now sharing her knowledge with other women. 

“We have seen a huge difference. Thanks to the good agricultural practices, we can sustain ourselves financially. This has allowed us to afford a better education for our children.”, Aminata says. She is a proud mother of three children who now attend school: “No later than yesterday, thanks to the project, I was able to pay tuition fees for one of my children.”

In Haiti, Paulonne Jean-Charles, farmer and mother of five, is tackling water scarcity. She manages a farmer field school where she teaches fellow farmers to use hedges to preserve soil humidity. In parallel, with the Centre d’études et de coopération internationale (CECI), she is experimenting with innovative water management techniques to add to her FFS curricula.

The SAGA continues!

The SAGA project is reaching an end but has sown many seeds for the future. Now, the 1600 farmers trained will disseminate their knowledge in their communities. In addition, SAGA has created strong partnerships that enable sustained cooperation for adaptation, and better synergies between governments, civil society and research. All of these achievements will ensure sustainable climate change adaptation at all levels, and thus for the saga to continue, even after FAO’s support.