Climate-smart villages: key to a sustainable future in rural communities

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has been pilot-testing climate-smart villages (CSVs) in South East Asia (SEA), in Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and the Philippines, since 2014. The CSVs serve as loci for community mobilisation and participatory processes, where knowledge and capabilities of men and women are enhanced and their motivation is promoted to take action towards food security, agricultural productivity, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. In the CSVs, evidence is generated at local scales of what Climate Smart Agriculture options work best – where, why and how – and this evidence is used to draw out lessons for agricultural development practitioners, policy makers and investors from local to global levels. The CSV approach, being context-responsive, process-focused and outcomeoriented, strengthens existing village programs and structures towards climate action. The CSV approach is now being considered in programs in the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. Here we report how the CSVs have been contextualised, how participatory processes have been implemented, and how emerging outcomes have been attained