Climate-Resilient Agribusiness Education for the Sahel: Curriculum Evidence from Farmer Cooperatives

Abstract

Sahelian cooperatives need managers who can plan for drought, not only for a harvest. This study co-designed a short AFU agribusiness sequence with cooperatives in Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria and measured changes in planning practice. Participants who completed the sequence were more likely to keep a water-risk register, diversify offtake contracts, and refuse a single-buyer lock-in. Women treasurers improved more than men on cash buffering, a result we trace to the use of voice-note case materials that fitted childcare hours. Durham University should treat climate not as a guest lecture but as a core constraint in African business programmes. A tuition-free digital pathway is one of the few ways a cooperative officer in Gao can study without abandoning the store during planting season.