Climate change increasingly compromises agricultural yields and poses a serious threat to agricultural stakeholders worldwide. However, the risks faced by populations vary in nature and magnitude depending on the continent and the level of development of each country.
Led by the Université de Moncton, Canada, the project GreenGardens brings together 200 vulnerable farmers from seven enterprises in Benin, Morocco, and Canada and 20 researchers representing an interdisciplinary consortium of academic partners from Canada, Germany, Morocco, and Benin to support the design and adoption of successful climate change adaptation practices in agriculture and agroforestry in collaboration with vulnerable groups.
Using design thinking, a participatory approach centered on farmers' needs, the cooperatives from Morocco, Benin and Canada will share their vulnerabilities, the measures already taken to protect their land and the climate change adaptations implemented. The cooperatives, in tandem with the consortium, will then look for solutions to increase their resilience. They will share regenerative, community-based and nature-based solutions to incorporate and test the best solutions and adaptation measures on seven local plots (so-called "Shared Gardens").
The project's originality lays in the co-creation approach adopted to identify, validate, implement, and disseminate adaptation measures for agricultural enterprises in Benin, Morocco, and Canada, the countries with different socio-economic realities.
The project also uses digital tools such as drones, GIS, webcams, Facebook groups, and serious games to facilitate co-creation among the three countries. These educational tools will aid in remote observation and sharing of climate challenges, as well as collaboration to find winning adaptation solutions Another innovative aspect of the project is the inclusion of perceived vulnerabilities among women and adolescents. These vulnerable sub-groups are often excluded from decision-making processes regarding adaptation, despite their potential to provide valuable solutions.
Furthermore, efforts will be made to bring together individuals with different cognitive styles, including adaptors (who improve existing situations) and innovators (who modify practices). Equipped with scientific information about their agricultural resources such as water, soil, and biodiversity, farmers will make informed decisions to improve or stabilize productivity, provide ecosystem services, and reverse environmental degradation trends. The collaboration of diverse expertise, both international and intergenerational, will yield novel solutions.
The project is implemented in the frame of the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation that represents a collaboration among research funders from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States to leverage international expertise to tackle the global challenges caused by climate change. The project is funded by the Government of Canada's New Frontiers in Research Fund, with the German partner receiving funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
