Shared value: agricultural carbon insetting for sustainable, climate-smart supply chains and better rural livelihoods

The relentless advance of climate change negatively impacts farmers, businesses, and consumers by putting greater pressure on natural resources, making the weather more unpredictable, and depressing crop productivity. To cope with climate change requires multilateral efforts that draw on the experience of farmer groups, research and development organizations, and the private sector. One increasingly important focal point for such efforts is an approach referred to as carbon insetting, which offers the private sector a means to create shared value for the benefit of all stakeholders. The approach can make a company’s value chain more productive and resilient, sustaining supplies over the long term. By creating synergies between climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture (e.g., through practices such as agroforestry), carbon insetting can also generate incentives and funding for climate change adaptation while enhancing farmers’ livelihoods

Global climate change and food supply chains: policies for collective adaptation

According to climate model predictions, most parts of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will see significant temperature increases and changes in precipitation by 2050. In Guatemala, Colombia, and Jamaica, for example, such shifts will pose serious challenges for food supply chains in the face of increasing demand. If crop production is allowed to fall behind, this will not only lower national income and private sector growth but also jeopardize the food security and livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers. Policy makers must begin now to minimize the socio-economic impacts of climate change through a coordinated effort to identify pro-active options for adaptation, which take into account the different impacts and degrees of vulnerability across locations, crops, supply chains, and cultures

Cambio climático mundial y cadenas de suministro de alimentos: políticas para la adaptación colectiva

Según predicciones de modelos climáticos, la mayor parte de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) experimentará aumentos significativos de temperatura y cambios en la precipitación para el 2050. En Guatemala, Colombia y Jamaica, por ejemplo, estos cambios plantearán serios desafíos para las cadenas de suministro de alimentos frente a la creciente demanda. Si se deja rezagar la producción de cultivos, esto no solamente reducirá los ingresos nacionales y el crecimiento del sector privado, sino que además pondrá en riesgo la seguridad alimentaria y los medios de vida de miles de pequeños agricultores. Los responsables de formular las políticas deben empezar desde ahora a minimizar los impactos socioeconómicos del cambio climático mediante un esfuerzo coordinado para identificar opciones proactivas de adaptación, que tengan en cuenta los diferentes grados de vulnerabilidad en todas partes, cultivos, cadenas de suministro y culturas

Understanding farmers’ indicators in climate-smart agriculture prioritization in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT).

In order to increase the uptake of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies, it is important to understand the contexts in which farmers operate. Farmers use different indicators to decide whether or not to implement, what to implement, and where to implement specific technologies. Identifying and understanding such indicators can be helpful to efforts aiming to scale out adoption. The purpose of this study was to identify indicators that farmers use to prioritize agricultural innovations, in general, and CSA, in particular. Kilolo and Mbarali Districts lie in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania. Four participatory workshops, in the form of focus group discussions, were conducted in these two districts. In each district, a separate workshop was held with farmers from each agro-ecological zone (AEZ). Separate workshops were held with farmers and experts to explore differences between stakeholders and across the districts regarding perceptions of the status of soil fertility, prioritized practices, and ranking of indicators for prioritizing practices. Characterization of the AEZ, prioritization of practices, identification of indicators for prioritizing CSA, and selection of practices for demonstration as well as sites for the demonstration plots were done separately with men and women groups. Practices were prioritized using pairwise ranking, while indicators were scored on a rating scale from least important (1) to most important (5). Results showed that, both in Kilolo and Mbarali Districts, farmers perceive the status of soil fertility as poor. Up to 60 % of the workshop participants were not satisfied with the status of soil fertility in their farms. More than 80% of workshop participants in each of the four workshops reported that they practiced burning. The main reasons for burning were to save labour and time and to reduce crop–livestock conflict. The men’s group in the upland zone in Mbarali District ranked mulching, water harvesting, improved varieties, and crop rotation as the most important practices in respective order. In the lowlands, both men and women groups selected irrigation, chemical fertilizer, and crop rotation as most relevant practices. Awareness and use of the practices was low among participants in the two workshops. The most prioritized practices by the women’s group in the uplands, Kilolo District, were improved breeds and improved varieties. Intercropping was the least prioritized practice. The men’s group prioritized improved varieties and pesticides application, while irrigation and fertilizer application ranked lowest. In the lowlands, men’s and women’s groups prioritized irrigation, inorganic fertilizer and improved varieties as most important. Mulching and herbicides ranked as least prioritized. In addition, the men’s group from the lowland zone ranked pesticide application among the most important practices, while farmyard manure and zero grazing were ranked as least important. Important indicators that farmers identified to prioritize agricultural practices across the two districts included yield, income, cost, labour, availability of inputs, the status of soil fertility, and knowledge about the practices. Several practices were selected for the proposed CSA demonstration plots. The women’s group in the uplands zone in Mbarali prioritized improved crop varieties, water harvesting, mulching, and fertilizer application. The men’s group chose irrigation, herbicides, inorganic fertilizers, and seed selection. In the lowlands, improved crop varieties, inorganic fertilizer, farmyard manure, and mulching were selected by women. Men preferred seed preparation, right use of fertilizers (i.e., rate and type), integrated pest management, and improved storage. The selected important practices for demonstration in the uplands in Kilolo District were minimum tillage, soil testing, improved varieties, fertilizer application, and irrigation. Farmers in the lowlands chose production of clean seeds of different crops, such as tomatoes, beans, maize, and chillies. In addition, they were interested in learning about fertilizer application, pesticides application, and preparation and application of compost manure. The findings of this research have several implications for policy. First, there is need to increase awareness of farmers about CSA practices, particularly those that they prioritize. The finding that farmers perceive poor soil fertility but do not prioritize soil fertility management practices implies the need to promote adoption of such technologies. Thirdly, a bottom-up approach that involves working with farmers to prioritize agricultural practices suitable for their specific AEZ and preferred by either the men or women is important to inform investment of limited resources to increase food security and resilience to climate risks while minimizing trade-offs. The findings highlight indicators that influence farmers’ adoption of agricultural practices as well as constraints to implementation

Workshop report: Playing out transformative adaptation in Usambara, Tanzania

This report documents the information collected during the participatory workshop hosted by The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in partnership with the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) and Lushoto District Office in the CCAFS site of Usambara Tanzania. This workshop was conducted as part of the CCAFS project “Playing out transformative adaptation in CCAFS benchmark sites in East-Africa: ‘When, where, how and with whom?’ which seeks to identify and understand, through integrated agricultural research, the adaptation process in the CCAFS benchmark site of Usambara, Tanzania. The workshop included farmers from various villages in the CCAFS site, who discussed agricultural practices and perceptions of climate change/variability. The workshop started off with an introduction/icebreaker, after which historical calendars, a discussion of crop suitability and baseline data and gender questions followed. Finally a vision for the future was made, in which the groups were asked to say what they would like to see in the future concerning climate change, food security and gender. The introduction/icebreaker and the general presentation of results were done in a large group but smaller groups were formed to do the historical calendars and to discuss crop suitability and baseline data as well as the gender questions. Most of the small groups were divided by gender, typically with two men’s groups and two women’s groups. In general it can be stated that the farmer is aware of a changing climate and the (negative) consequences this brings about. Furthermore there are differences in perspectives between men and women on the division of tasks and on the household decisionmaking process. Concerning the vision of the future, many farmers let us know that they would like to see more extended information and capacitation on climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies

Understanding farmers’ indicators in climate-smart agriculture prioritization in Nwoya District, Northern Uganda

The purpose of this study was to understand the indicators that farmers use to prioritize agricultural innovations, in general, and climate-smart agriculture (CSA), in particular

Climate Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA-RA) report from the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT)

A Climate Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA-RA) was carried out by CIAT in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) for the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) in September 2014. The CSA-RA aimed to assess within and between district variations in farming systems, agricultural management practices, challenges for current agricultural practices, and climate vulnerability, in order to inform targeting of climate smart agriculture (CSA). The CSA-RA used key-informant interviews, participatory workshops, transect walks, farmer interviews, as well as gender-disaggregated methods to gather information on important agriculture-related features and constraints faced by farmers. The CSA-RA from the SAGCOT was carried out in four districts: Bagamoyo, Kilosa, Kilolo and Mbarali

Shade coffee: Update on a disappearing refuge for biodiversity

In the past three decades, coffee cultivation has gained widespread attention for its crucial role in supporting local and global biodiversity. In this synthetic Overview, we present newly gathered data that summarize how global patterns in coffee distribution and shade vegetation have changed and discuss implications for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and livelihoods. Although overall cultivated coffee area has decreased by 8% since 1990, coffee production and agricultural intensification have increased in many places and shifted globally, with production expanding in Asia while contracting in Africa. Ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, climate regulation, and nutrient sequestration are generally greater in shaded coffee farms, but many coffee-growing regions are removing shade trees from their management. Although it is clear that there are ecological and socioeconomic benefits associated with shaded coffee, we expose the many challenges and future research priorities needed to link sustainable coffee management with sustainable livelihoods. © 2014 The Author(s)

Who bears the burden of climate variability? A comparative analysis of the impact of weather conditions on inequality in Vietnam and Indonesia

Is climate variability regressive? One argument could be as follows: People living in areas with high risk of climate hazards usually correspond to the most disadvantaged populations. Due to existing structural inequalities, they have limited opportunities to cope with climate hazards and often fall into a spiral of further poverty and social exclusion. In this paper, we investigate whether climate variability indeed has a regressive effect in Vietnam and Indonesia where both climate variability and inequality have been increasing. We directly analyse the effect of annual and seasonal temperature on income and income inequality across years. We do so by looking at the Vietnamese and Indonesian populations as a whole and also investigating more in-depth how these impacts change for the most vulnerable and marginalised groups. Our results suggest that climate variability increases inequality and that its biggest burden is bore by existing vulnerable groups. In Indonesia, these groups are rural, farming, low educated, female headed households, whose income is significantly reduced because of changes in climate conditions. Similarly, in Vietnam, ethnic minorities, rural, farming, and agricultural households bear the biggest impact of climate variability. Interestingly, some households in Vietnam are able to completely offset short-term impact of climate variability, using remittances and transfer as an insurance, but our findings also show that their coping strategy does not withstand longer term impacts of persistent climate variability. Despite the remarkable efforts of the national governments in supporting most vulnerable and marginalised groups in the Vietnamese and Indonesian societies in the past decades, specific interventions are needed to address the needs of those who are still bearing the biggest burden of climate impacts to finally allow even the “last mile” groups to escape poverty and exclusion

Climate smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA): A tool for prioritizing context-specific climate smart agriculture technologies

Approaches that aim to identify and prioritize locally appropriate climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies will need to address the context-specific multi-dimensional complexity in agricultural systems. The climate smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) is a mixed method approach that draws on participatory bottom-up, qualitative, and quantitative tools to assess the heterogeneity of local contexts, and prioritize context-specific CSA options. This is an imperative if countries are to respond to the COP21 agreement and meet their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). The CSA-RA is designed to assess biophysical including climatic, socio-cultural, economic and technological characteristics at the household, farm and community/regional level. The CSA-RA employs gender-disaggregated methods, including gender differences in perceptions of climate change and its impacts. The CSA-RA combines common participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and rapid rural appraisal (RRA) tools into one methodology, that disaggregates the gender dimension, and includes resource mapping; climate calendars; historical calendars; cropping calendars; organization mapping; transect walks; key informant interviews; farmer interviews; and pairwise ranking matrix. The tool collects qualitative and quantitative data from various stakeholders (farmers, local leaders, researchers, local-level agricultural experts, private sector actors, donor organizations, and policy implementers), allowing expansive analysis, triangulation and validation. Application of the CSA-RA in Tanzania and Uganda reveals heterogeneity across the sites in terms of vulnerability, constraints and CSA priorities among different social groups (gender) and agro-ecological zones. Thus, the CSA-RA allows stakeholders to simultaneously take into account biophysical and socio-economic aspects to target and implement CSA