Towards a Science-Policy Dialogue for adapting agriculture to climate change in Senegal: Inventory of institutional and political actors.
Abstract
Senegal benefited from the support of CCAFS West Africa program to implement National Dialogue Science Policy Platform on Adaptation of Agriculture and Food Security to Climate Change. This is a network of national stakeholders including mainly scientists, policy makers and other related stakeholders for undertaking regular exchange of information and knowledge on adaptation to climate change. As part of the implementation of the roadmap, the platform has initiated a study to identify all key national stakeholders actively involved in the management of climate change issues especially for agriculture and food security. This is a first step that would enable the platform to analyze the roles and missions of the stakeholders but also and especially to consider mechanisms or approaches to functional interaction to support decision making. The study helped identify about forty key national organizations and define their respective missions and roles in the development of national strategies and action plans to fight against the effects of climate change. She also documented the current national policies, mechanisms and institutional arrangements, as well as the gaps that hinder effective integration of scientific knowledge and information for decision-making. The study finally evoked suggestions for an effective system of support for policy making, especially through an operational dialogue between researchers and decision makers in Senegal.