The Sahel region is known for the high vulnerability of its agriculture to climate variability. Early warning systems that make use of agrometerological forecasts are one of the coping strategies developed by policy makers. However, the predictive quality of the tools and methods used needs improvement. In order to address some of these challenges, we conducted agronomic trials and on-farm surveys to adapt the SARRAH (Syst`eme d’Analyse R´egionale des Risques Agroclimatiques, version H) crop simulation model, and also evaluated it in farmers’ field conditions. The farmers’ practices such as sowing dates and densities, fertilizer use and yields potentials of the millet and sorghum crops were characterized under different climatic conditions.

The bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. (Fabaceae)] is a legume mainly cultivated by women, for the nutritional quality of these seeds. It is a so-called minor culture and the improvement of the plant and its popularization remains to be promoted. The objective of this present work is to evaluate the genetic variability of bambara groundnut accessions. The experiment was carried out according to a completely randomized block device with four replications. Twenty-two (22) characters including four (4) phenological, four (4) morphological and fourteen (14) related to yield were evaluated for accessions characterization. Descriptive analysis showed significant differences. The coefficients of variation ranged from 3.51% (maturity date) to 38.87% (shell weight). Significantly high values (CV˃20%) for 8 of the metric parameters were observed. Pod weight per plant and seed weight per plant (r=0.943), yield in kg/ha (r=0.943); seed weight per plant and yield in kg/ha (r=0.999) showed the strongest correlations. The phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were high for dry biomass weight (PCV=42.23%; GCV=28.40%), shell weight (PCV=63.46%; GCV=22.46%) and 100-seed weight (PCV=25.57%; GCV=25.25%). Maturity date (95.77%) and 100-seed weight (99.84%) had high heritabilities. Broad-sense heritability and genetic gain are high for 100-seed weight (H2=99.84%; GA=52.58%). The Ascending hierarchical classification produced four groups of which group 4 is the most efficient in yield with short (20.58cm) early accessions (80.32 days). Groups 1 and 2 include, late accessions (~22cm) with respectively maturity dates (DM=85.67 days and DM=86.53 days.