Enfoque de género de la Estrategia de Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (EASAC) para la región del SICA: Acciones clave para la implementación de la línea estratégica de Género de la EASAC

Los países del SICA han visto en la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) una solución integral para mejorar los ingresos y la productividad, aumentar la resiliencia y capacidades para la adaptación al cambio climático y favorecer laseguridad alimentaria y nutricional, en su objetivo por alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible que incluya las poblaciones más vulnerables. En el 2018 el Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC) aprobó la Estrategia Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima para la región del SICA: 2018-2030 (EASAC). Explícitamente, la EASAC en el Eje 4: Elementos habilitadores, línea estratégica 15 propone: Facilitación de mecanismos de integración del principio de igualdad y equidad entre los géneros, así como el enfoque intergeneracional y la inclusión social en las acciones ASAC. Este documento busca aportar a la implementación de dicha línea estratégica. Para eso, se ha realizado un trabajo de análisis de políticas públicas y entrevistas con diferentes actores de la región del SICA. Finalmente, se han identificado acciones claves en diferentes niveles: regional del SICA, nacional y en los territorios. Dichas acciones sugieren una hoja de ruta para la implementación de la perspectiva de género de la EASAC

Improving smallholder farmer adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), with CIAT, Sustainable Food Lab and Rainforest Alliance, are promoting increased smallholder coffee farmer adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in Uganda. Initial IITA research on coffee began in 2010 and has subsequently expanded across 17 districts, 899 farmers, 51 on-farm field trials and 26 demonstration sites. IITA collaborates with Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) in Robusta coffee in Luwero and Olam, Kawacom and Great Lakes Coffee in Arabica coffee growing regions in Uganda. CSA practices in coffee are practices such as planting shade trees and soil and water conservation structures, that are finetuned to the local context. Research concluded that CSA adoption is hindered, in part, due to limited resources and differing levels of entrepreneurship amongst smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. In addition, farmer limitations and aspirations, farming systems, and climate change impact vary from site to site. Enablers of CSA adoption therefore need to be contextually specific to ensure they relate to local needs. A suite of studies have been conducted to explore the diversity in Uganda’s smallholder coffee farmers, their ranking of constraints to implementing CSA practices, and land use mapping to identify different ecological zones within a district

Seeing through the farmers’ eyes: An exploration of the life of smallholder farmers in Northern Uganda

All too often, the well-intentioned efforts of journalists and development organizations to raise awareness of pressing humanitarian issues has the unintended effect of reducing its human subjects to little more than hapless victims of the latest calamity. Ugandans are hardly alone in having a portrait - spread through images on television and social media across both the Global North and South - which reflects little other than their suffering and privation: the mothers of children with swollen bellies carry home heavy jerry cans of water from far-off wells while their fathers watch helplessly as the crops wither in the field. While food insecurity and the challenges of coping with a changing climate are, tragically, a very real part of many rural Ugandans daily lives, they are neither the whole of those lives nor are they necessarily perceived and understood in the way an outsider might

Redesigning Delivery: Boosting Adoption of Coffee Management Practices in Uganda. The climate smart investment pathway approach and the farmer segmentation tool

Coffee is an important crop for the Ugandan economy, as it earns the country US$415 million in foreign export revenues and supports 1.7 million smallholder farmers (UCDA, 2016). Nevertheless, coffee yields have stagnated for over a decade, despite concerted efforts to improve productivity. Climate change is increasing the pressure on the sector, and the effects are already being felt. Climate smart agricultural (CSA) practices are being promoted as a means to help farmers cope with climate change. The CSA training package focuses on planning good agricultural practices in a way that the changing climate is taken into consideration. The training package for coffee consists of a large number of practices (soil and water conservation, tree management, quality of coffee, among others), and is currently provided all in one go as a complete package. This approach is cumbersome and not aligned to pertinent needs of coffee farmers, as coffee is a perennial crop and needs continuous care throughout the year. To address the need for better targeting of practices, this Info Note presents two complementary approaches: the climate smart investment pathways (CSIPs) and farmer segmentation. The CSIPs break down the full training package of CSA practices into more manageable subsets of practices. These smaller packages are aimed at being more aligned with the structural (resource endowments) and functional (entrepreneurship) characteristics of different types of farmers. CSIPs build up a sequential and incremental approach to implementing the practices. The farmer segmentation tool differentiates the coffee farmers into different groups, based on their assets and entrepreneurial characteristics. These segmentations will help advise the relevant stakeholders that support farmers on how to best engage with and train farmers in the most relevant practices (based on the CSIP) by taking their capacity and willingness to implement the practices into consideration. This Info Note will first go through the development process of the CSIPs, based on the results from a study on Robusta coffee systems in Luweero and Nakasongola. Then it will move onto the process and results of the farmer segmentation work done in the Greater Luweero region (which encompasses Luweero and Nakasongola). The implications of this work will be discussed and recommendations will be made for further work and use of these methods

The Shade Tree Advice Tool

Key messages: Climate change adaptation for coffee and cocoa farming requires low cost and multipurpose solutions, such as shade trees. Selecting appropriate shade trees is paramount for maximizing tree-based ecosystem services while minimizing disservices. The shade tree advice tool presented here guides coffee and cocoa farmers on choosing shade trees whose ecosystem services will best meet their needs, based on fellow coffee farmers' local knowledge in their region

Wagon trains heading westward.

Fondo CGIA