Bringing the Concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture to Life

Sova, Chase; Grosjean, Godefroy; Baedeker, Tobías; Nguyen, Tam Ninh; Wallner, Martin; Nowak, Andreea; Corner-Dolloff, Caitlin; Girvetz, Evan H.; Läderach, Peter; Lizarazo, Miguel

doi:10.1596/31064

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…CSA practices are incredibly diverse and reflect the contextspecificity of opportunities, constraints and vulnerabilities. In our study we use CSA practices and CSA clusters that are identified by Sova et al (2018) and are most used in sub-Sahara Africa to support the transition toward more resilient farming systems. Even while CSA is highly diverse, six technology clusters account for 55% of all CSA technologies as climate-smart across 33 countries (see Figure 1):…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy incentives for smallholder adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices

et al. 2023

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There is a large and growing literature on the potential use of policy instruments for stimulating the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices amongst smallholders. The objective of this article is to review and understand how the array of potential policy incentives can serve as mechanisms for enhancing adoption and upscaling of potential CSA practices by small-scale farmers in low-income countries. The review follows a matrix approach capturing where specific CSA practices (rows) are supported by typical policy instruments (columns) for enhancing widespread adoption. We first identify six key CSA practices, namely water management, soil and nutrient management, crop tolerance to stress, agroforestry and intercropping, crop rotation and mixed systems, and pest and disease management. Then we discuss the impact of those typical policy instruments, namely market prices, taxes and subsidies, land rights, rural finance, training and information, and certification and labeling. The review finds that most studies on this subject have a rather narrow focus on functional properties of a specific policy instrument and a particular CSA practice, thereby ignoring substitution, complementary or conditional effects between policy measures and CSA practices. Consequently, previous studies identify few incentives, particularly effective on their own. Wider perspectives on impact pathways point to the importance of sequencing and scaling for enhancing farmers' CSA adoption. We therefore advocate for more integrated approaches that also consider indirect effects of policy instruments on CSA adoption and pursue their systematic anchoring through successful policies that enhance widespread adoption.

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Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy incentives for smallholder adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices

et al. 2023

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“…CSA practices in CRV, Ethiopia CSA, first proposed in 2009, is a concept that provides globally applicable principles for handling agriculture in order to increase food security and agricultural production in the face of climate change (Lipper & Zilberman, 2018). As the opportunities and constraints of the agricultural sectors vary across the world, adoption of CSA is also context specific (Sova et al, 2018). Despite its numerous benefits, CSA adoption remains low in most African countries, with less than 1% of total global area under CSA management (James et al, 2015).…”

Section: 31mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of climate smart agriculture on households’ resilience and vulnerability: An example from Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

et al. 2023

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Climate change is causing serious challenges for smallholder farm households, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The overarching objectives of this study are as follows: (i) to estimate household resilience and vulnerability indices, (ii) identify factors that explain these indices and (iii) to examine the impact of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) on households' resilience and vulnerability, and (iv) to identify which CSA package performs better in enhancing resilience and reducing vulnerability. For this study, 278 farm households from 4 districts and 8 kebeles from the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia were randomly selected using a threestage proportional to size sampling procedure. Cross-sectional data applying a structured and pretested survey questionnaire was collected for 2020/21 production season. Household resilience and vulnerability indices were estimated using resilience index and measurement analysis and indicators approaches, respectively. Multinomial endogenous switching regression was used to estimate the average treatment effects (ATEs) of the adoption of CSA practices on households' resilience and vulnerability. The results show that livestock holding, land size, level of education, and state of food consumption are major explaining factors of resilience, whereas educational level of households, livestock holding, and access to credit are found to be major factors explaining vulnerability. The estimated ATEs indicate that households which adopted more diversified combinations of CSA packages were more resilient and less vulnerable than non-adopter households. The impacts of soil fertility management and conservation agriculture practices have better performance in improving resilience, whereas conservation agriculture and small-scale irrigation performed better in reducing the vulnerability of rural households in CRV. Boosting resilience and reducing vulnerability, hence, requires scaling up CSA among smallholder farmers by diversifying and raising farm households' income, educational status, and livestock holding.

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“…Such assessments, according to Lobell (2014) and Harvey et al, (2014), need to account for spatial variability when scaling CSA, and target locations that maximise synergies and minimise trade-offs in agricultural systems [22,65]. Additionally, innovations should be subjected to future climate scenarios to assess their environmental sustainability, given that the climate impact varies temporally [62,66].…”

Section: Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling Climate Smart Agriculture in East Africa: Experiences and Lessons

et al. 2022

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Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) responds in order to sustain agriculture under a changing environment, and is a major priority in the development sphere. However, to achieve impact at scale, CSA innovations must address agricultural systems’ context-specific and multi-dimensional nature and be purveyed through feasible scaling processes. Unfortunately, knowledge on the scaling of CSA innovations under smallholder farming systems and in the context of developing countries remains scant. Understanding scaling processes is essential to the design of a sustainable scaling strategy. This study aimed to draw lessons on scaling from 25 cases of scaling CSA, and related projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania implemented by public institutions, local and international research organisations, Non-Govermental Orginsations(NGOs), and community-based organisations. Generally, scaling follows a linear pathway comprising technology testing and scaling. Most cases promoted technologies and models geared towards climate change adaptation in crop-based value chains, and only a few cases incorporated mitigation measures. Efforts to engage the private sector involved building business models as a potential scaling pathway. The cases were very strong on capacity building and institutionalisation from local, national, and even regional levels. However, four critical areas of concern about the sustainability of scaling emerged from the study: (i) There is little understanding and capture of the dynamics of smallholder farming systems in scaling strategies; (ii) climate data, projections, and impact models are rarely applied to support the decision of scaling; (iii) considerations for the biophysical and spatial-temporal impacts and trade-offs analysis in scaling is minimal and just starting to emerge; and (iv) there are still challenges effecting systemic change to enable sustainable scaling. In response to these concerns, we propose investment in understanding and considering the dynamics of the smallholder farming system and how it affects adoption, and subsequently scaling. Programme design should incorporate climate change scenarios. Scaling programmes can maximise synergies and leverage resources by adopting a robust partnerships model. Furthermore, understanding the spatio-temporal impact of scaling CSA on ecological functioning deserves more attention. Lastly, scaling takes time, which needs to be factored into the design of programmes.

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Bringing the Concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture to Life

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Policy incentives for smallholder adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices

Policy incentives for smallholder adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices

Impact of climate smart agriculture on households’ resilience and vulnerability: An example from Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Scaling Climate Smart Agriculture in East Africa: Experiences and Lessons

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