Dr. Ing. N'GUESSAN Konan Jean-Yves

Professional Summary

Dr. Ing. N'GUESSAN Konan Jean-Yves is a high-level Ivorian agricultural water engineer, hydrologist, irrigation researcher, and climate-smart agriculture expert based in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. He holds a PhD in Rural Engineering and Agronomic Sciences with specialization in Agricultural Hydraulics and Agro-Hydrology, and his work focuses on the future of African irrigation, rice productivity, hydrological modelling, crop water requirements, ungauged watersheds, reservoir inflows, climate change adaptation, farmer vulnerability, and AI-supported environmental modelling. His scientific identity is strongly rooted in Côte d'Ivoire and West Africa, while his professional reach is international, with research collaborations and visiting research experience in Italy, Senegal, Ghana, India, the Philippines, Benin, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and other academic networks. He applies advanced tools such as SWAT+, DSSAT/CERES-Rice, AquaCrop, FAO CROPWAT, mHM, HBV, HEC-HMS, GIS, Python, R, QGIS, ArcGIS, remote sensing, and machine learning to solve practical problems in irrigation, water security, agricultural resilience, and climate adaptation. Through PASRES, WARA/WARC, Coimbra Group, JICA-related work, Action Against Hunger consultancy, and university teaching, he has built a strong profile as a proud Côte d'Ivoire engineer-researcher contributing to Africa's water, agriculture, and climate-resilience transformation.

Key Expertise

Major Projects and Contributions

• PhD Research — Climate Change Impacts on Irrigated Rice Production Systems in Central Côte d'Ivoire
  Conducted comprehensive doctoral research on climate change impacts on irrigated rice production systems in central Côte d'Ivoire, integrating hydrological modelling, crop simulation, irrigation water availability, crop water requirements, rice productivity, farmer vulnerability assessment, and adaptation strategies at the Nanan irrigation scheme in Yamoussoukro.
• SWAT+ Modelling of Reservoir Inflow and Agricultural Catchments
  Applied the SWAT+ agro-hydrological model to assess water inflow conditions to ungauged agricultural reservoirs, including the Nanan Reservoir in the Lake Taabo catchment, supporting improved understanding of hydrological processes, reservoir inflow, water balance, and irrigation planning in Côte d'Ivoire.
• DSSAT/CERES-Rice Modelling for Irrigation Water Requirements and Rice Yield Projections
  Develops DSSAT/CERES-Rice crop simulation applications for projecting irrigation water requirements and rice yields under climate change scenarios, including calibration, evaluation, climate model processing, hydro-agricultural projections, and adaptation strategy development.
• University of Padua Visiting Research — Land Use and Land Cover Change Impacts on Watershed Hydrology
  Served as Visiting Researcher at the University of Padua, Italy, assessing land use and land cover change impacts on watershed hydrology using SWAT+, GIS, Landsat/Sentinel imagery, spatial analysis, and water balance simulations under different land use scenarios.
• École Polytechnique de Thiès Visiting Research — Climate Projections for Rice Irrigation and Yield
  Served as Visiting Researcher at École Polytechnique de Thiès, Senegal, working on projection of irrigation water requirements and rice yields under climate change scenarios using DSSAT, CMIP climate outputs, field agronomic data, and adaptation strategy analysis.
• PASRES R&D Project — Optimization of Rice Production at the Nanan Irrigated Perimeter
  Participated in the PASRES research and development project on optimization of rice production in the Nanan rice-growing perimeter, designing and monitoring hydraulic research activities, collecting hydraulic data, measuring flows in irrigation canals, drafting a water management training manual, and training rice farmers on water management.
• AI-Based Irrigation Efficiency Study at the Zatta Irrigated Rice Perimeter
  Contributes as Research Associate to an artificial-intelligence-based efficiency study in Côte d'Ivoire focused on the Zatta irrigated rice perimeter in the Yamoussoukro department, supervising field data collection, research writing, thesis preparation, and scientific publication.
• JICA / Oriental Consultants Global Hydro-Agricultural Development Support
  Worked as Research Associate for Oriental Consultants Global / JICA-related activities in Côte d'Ivoire, conducting agricultural surveys, coordinating stakeholders for local governance projects, preparing administrative and technical documents, and supporting hydro-agricultural development implementation.
• Action Against Hunger Consultancy — Pastoral Dam Rehabilitation in Téhini
  Provided consultancy support for Action Against Hunger in northern Côte d'Ivoire, preparing technical and financial proposals and conducting hydrological and technical studies for the rehabilitation of pastoral dams and agro-pastoral infrastructure.
• Irrigation Management, Water Efficiency and Productivity in the Nanan Rice-Growing Perimeter
  Conducted master-level research on the influence of irrigation management on water efficiency and productivity in the Nanan rice-growing perimeter, including hydraulic measurements, crop water requirement calculations, irrigation scheduling, irrigation system performance assessment, and inspection of hydraulic structures.
• Teaching in Agricultural Hydraulics, Irrigation, Drainage, Hydrology, GIS and Climate-Smart Agriculture
  Teaches and assists courses in agricultural water management, agricultural hydraulics, management of agricultural water infrastructure, irrigation system design and sizing, agricultural dams, hydrology, remote sensing, GIS, spatial analysis, hydrological systems, thematic mapping, irrigation techniques, irrigation and drainage, digital agriculture, environmental impacts of agro-systems, and climate change and agriculture.
• Scientific Publications in Climate, Irrigation, Rice Systems and Hydrological Modelling
  Contributes to scientific publications on climate change impacts on irrigation water requirements and rice productivity, SWAT+ modelling of reservoir inflow, hydraulic performance and water management in irrigated perimeters, farmer vulnerability to climate change, evapotranspiration estimation, climate and land use impacts on reservoir inflows, and CMIP6 precipitation projections in West Africa.
• International Conferences and Scientific Communication Across Africa and Asia
  Presented and communicated research on SWAT+ hydrological processes, DSSAT/CERES-Rice calibration, climate change impacts on irrigation water requirements and yields, ungauged agricultural catchments, rice farmer vulnerability, reservoir inflow simulation, rainy-season characterization, and irrigation water requirements in Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana, India, the Philippines, Benin, and Côte d'Ivoire.
• Climate-Smart Agriculture, Water–Food–Energy Nexus and Sustainable Development Training
  Completed extensive professional training in water harvesting, climate-resilient water management, Water–Food–Energy Nexus, agroecology, sustainable farming, climate change impacts and adaptation, greenhouse gas assessment, resilient watershed management, sustainable land management, dryland forests, agricultural risk management, and development project design.
• Recognition, Research Grants and West African Scientific Leadership
  Received the PASRES Doctoral Research Grant, Coimbra Group Scholarship for Young Researchers from Sub-Saharan Africa, and West African Research Center Travel Grant, and serves as reviewer for international journals including Scientific Reports, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Environmental Modelling and Software, Regional Environmental Change, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, and Qeios.