The West African state of Côte d’Ivoire has an area of 322,465 square kilometers, with a coastline of 540 kilometers along the Gulf of Guinea. It shares borders with Liberia in the southwest, Guinea in the northwest, Mali and Burkina Faso in the north, and Ghana in the east. The southern part...

Benin covers a land area of 114,763 square kilometers and occupies a long stretch of land perpendicular to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. It is bordered on the north by Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger, on the east by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and on the west by the...

The Kingdom of Swaziland covers an area of 17,364 square kilometers bordered on the north, west, and south by the Republic of South Africa and on the east by Mozambique. The two major towns or cities are Mbabane, the capital city, and Manzini. The 2007 census put the population at 1.02 million,...

According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Le Treut et al. 2007, 96), climate is defined as average weather over a period of time, ranging from months to millions of years. Climate is usually described in terms of the mean and variability...

Our purpose in this chapter is to help policymakers and researchers better understand and anticipate the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture and on vulnerable households in Nigeria. We do this by reviewing current data on agriculture and economic development, modeling anticipated...

Agriculture is the major source of livelihood for the majority of West Africans. The agricultural sector employs 60 percent of the active labor force but contributes only 35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The disparity between contribution to GDP and share of population means that many...

The second of three books in IFPRI's climate change in Africa series, East African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis examines the food security threats facing 10 of the countries that make up east and central Africa - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya,...

Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa located between 11°37´ and 23°23´ north latitude and between 00°10´ and 16°00´ east longitude, with an area of 1,267,000 square kilometers. Niger shares borders with Algeria and Libya in the north, Chad in the east, Nigeria and...

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country with a total area of 390,580 square kilometers. The country shares borders with Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Namibia. Before 2000, Zimbabwe was one of the most industrialized economies in Africa south of the Sahara, with an extensive...