This report is a major outcome of the "WRITESHOP" held 21-24 February 2007 in Dakar, Senegal with its focus on adaptation measures required in response to climate variability and change for water management in West Africa.

In the Sahel, the traditional parkland systems, which are the main providers of food, incomes, and environmental services, are rapidly degrading. In spite of the desperate situation, there is a growing number of cases which document success in crop, livestock and forest production, in environmental management, in empowerment and capacity building of farmers, and in a mix of all these. Thus, there is a need to better understand the drivers of such successes as well as the circumstances in which they work, to serve as a basis for future actions.

It is clear that, in the face of climate change, the agriculture sector in Africa is being called on to increase food production to meet the food demand for a growing population. A number of countries have prepared National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans (NAFSIPs) to integrate the scaling up of practices that augment development, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper proposes a methodology to examine the potential of existing NAFSIPs to generate climate change benefits.