**1. Introduction**

Adaptation to climate change by small-scale farmers is considered an important part for the climate solution agenda [1, 2]. This is specially the case in the Sahel where food security is tenuous and becoming more so due to rising temperatures and more episodic precipitation [3, 4]. Awareness of this situation is not new, and several farming technologies were identified and modified that allow rural households to cope with increased risks through reliance upon improved crop varieties, more efficient water harvesting, protection of soil quality and participation in well planned,

systems-level improvements to their agro-ecosystems [5]. Indeed, isolated cases of successes are documented and used as the basis of designing larger, subregional projects [6] intended for the joint purpose of increasing food and nutrition security in ways that constitute climate action by legions of small-scale farming households [7, 8].

All rural development projects require inclusive and active participation by the public and private sectors, and the client farmers themselves, because local organizations acting through public works and as customers of proven production inputs represent a complete package toward change. Rural development projects are often financed by sovereign loans from International Financial Institutions (IFIs). It is the design and implementation of these projects that prove difficult. In some cases, countries receiving sovereign country loans rely upon suboptimal, existing technologies and are reluctant to involve what they perceive as overly expensive international partners. In other cases, it is not the technologies that are flawed, but rather the manner that they are bundled as solutions, because effective interventions seldom require only one new technology but rather balanced sets of accompanying production inputs and innovative practices [9]. In yet other cases, it is not the solutions that are inadequate, but rather their manner of deployment, often in expectation of too rapid adoption [10]. Complicating this arena is the growing recognition that small-scale farming households are both victims of climate change yet offer the means to effect corrective actions when offered the opportunity and incentive to do so [1].
