Institutional Perspectives of Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review

Totin, Edmond; Segnon, Alcade C.; Schut, Marc; Affognon, Hippolyte; Zougmoré, Robert B.; Rosenstock, Todd S.; Thornton, Philip K.

doi:10.3390/su10061990

Cited by 108 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…On-farm diversification strategies contribute effectively to CSA and SDG policies, which many governments aim to promote to enhance food security, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development (Lipper et al, 2014;Totin et al, 2018;Willett et al, 2019). On-farm diversification contributes less to climate change mitigation, which is another important component of CSA and SDG 13 on Climate Action.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision-Making to Diversify Farm Systems for Climate Change Adaptation

Zonneveld¹,

Turmel

Hellin

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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On-farm diversification is a promising strategy for farmers to adapt to climate change. However, few recommendations exist on how to diversify farm systems in ways that best fit the agroecological and socioeconomic challenges farmers face. Farmers' ability to adopt diversification strategies is often stymied by their aversion to risk, loss of local knowledge, and limited access to agronomic and market information, this is especially the case for smallholders. We outline seven steps on how practitioners and researchers in agricultural development can work with farmers in decision-making about on-farm diversification of cropping, pasture, and agroforestry systems while taking into account these constraints. These seven steps are relevant for all types of farmers but particularly for smallholders in tropical and subtropical regions. It is these farmers who are usually most vulnerable to climate change and who are, subsequently, often the target of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) interventions. Networks of agricultural innovation provide an enabling environment for on-farm diversification. These networks connect farmers and farmer organizations with local, national, or international private companies, public organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and research institutes. These actors can work with farmers to develop diversified production systems incorporating both high-value crops and traditional food production systems. These diversified farm systems with both food and cash crops act as a safety net in the event of price fluctuations or other disruptions to crop value chains. In this way, farmers can adapt their farm systems to climate change in ways that provide greater food security and improved income.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision-Making to Diversify Farm Systems for Climate Change Adaptation

Zonneveld¹,

Turmel

Hellin

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Studies have considered two principal ways by which there can be increased food production to meet up with the increasing food demand. These are the expansion of the production area and intensification on existing croplands [23,24]. However, with increasing urbanization, land scarcity has become a serious issue, making intensification with available technologies a relatively straightforward approach to close yield gaps and bring about increased farm output [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

Abegunde

Sibanda

Obi

2019

Climate

109

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Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a credible alternative to tackle food insecurity under the changing climate is gaining wide acceptance. However, many developing countries have realized that concepts that have been recommended as solutions to existing problems are not suitable in their contexts. This paper synthesizes a subset of literature on CSA in the context of small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa as it relates to the need for CSA, factors influencing CSA adoption, and the challenges involved in understanding and scaling up CSA. Findings from the literature reveal that age, farm size, the nature of farming, and access to extension services influence CSA adoption. Many investments in climate adaptation projects have found little success because of the sole focus on the technology-oriented approach whereby innovations are transferred to farmers whose understanding of the local farming circumstances are limited. Climate-smart agriculture faces the additional challenge of a questionable conceptual understanding among policymakers as well as financing bottlenecks. This paper argues that the prospects of CSA in small-scale agriculture rest on a thorough socio-economic analysis that recognizes the heterogeneity of the small farmer environment and the identification and harnessing of the capacities of farming households for its adoption and implementation.

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“…In the same way, where improved WP is associated with increased GHG emission, this will not necessarily represent a climate-smart change. However, situations in which individual CSA pillar improve considerably with respect to others, or even at the expense of them, should be carefully considered, as CSA priorities may not be the same in all cases (Campbell et al, 2014;Lipper et al, 2014;Totin et al, 2018). Regarding the relative nature of CSA, it would be possible to alter the weighting of the components of the CSI, in order to offer a measure of climate-smartness representative of contextual priority indicators.…”

Section: Csi Of Contrasting Water Managements: Cf Vs Awdmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Climate Smartness Index (CSI) Based on Greenhouse Gas Intensity and Water Productivity: Application to Irrigated Rice

Arenas-Calle

Challinor

2019

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Efforts to increase agricultural productivity, adapt to climate change, and reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture are reflected in a growing interest in climate-smart agriculture (CSA). Specific indicators of productivity, adaptation and mitigation are commonly used in support of claims about the climate smartness of practices. However, it is rare that these three objectives can be optimized simultaneously by any one strategy. In evaluating the relative climate smartness of different agricultural practices, plans and policies, there is a need for metrics that can simultaneously represent all three objectives and therefore be used in comparing strategies that have different benefits and trade-offs across this triad of objectives. In this context, a method for developing a Climate Smartness Index (CSI) is presented. The process of developing the index follows four steps: (1) defining system specific climate smartness; (2) selecting relevant indicators; (3) normalizing against reference values from a systematic literature review; and (4) aggregating and weighting. The CSI presented here has been developed for application in a systematic review of rice irrigation strategies and it combines normalized water productivity (WP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) The CSI was developed for application to data from published field experiments that assessed the impact of water management practices in irrigated rice, focusing on practices heralded as climate-smart strategies, such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). The analysis shows that the CSI can provide a consistent judgment of the treatments based on the evidence of water efficiency and reduced GHGI reported in such studies. Using a measurable and replicable index supports the aim of generating a reliable quantification of the climate smartness of agricultural practices. The same four step process can be used to build metrics for a broad range of CSA practice, policy and planning.

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Institutional Perspectives of Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review

Cited by 108 publications

References 109 publications

Decision-Making to Diversify Farm Systems for Climate Change Adaptation

Decision-Making to Diversify Farm Systems for Climate Change Adaptation

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

A Climate Smartness Index (CSI) Based on Greenhouse Gas Intensity and Water Productivity: Application to Irrigated Rice

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