Strategic foresight analysis for high impact interventions in agriculture and food security

A mix of demographic, technological, climate and environmental changes make anticipating and planning the future a complex - but critical step - to increase our food supply while sustaining natural resources. Successful interventions which meet these twin objectives are a priority for governments, multi-lateral banks, NGOs, and the private sector. It is vital that we articulate the potential impacts of climate change, different interventions, and policy decisions on the most strategic areas of investment to achieve the best economic and social benefits. The question remains: how to articulate these complex factors to support policy and decision making by governments and organizations

The ‘CSA Papers’: Call for Book Chapter Proposals

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) invites scientists and development actors to submit applications for publication of book chapter in an open-access book investigating obstacles to scaling up climate-smart agriculture (CSA), The CSA Papers

The CSA Papers: Critical investigations to support climate-smart agriculture development. An effort to analyze, publish, and present previously unreleased data on CSA

The CSA Papers aim to generate critical insights into five key areas of CSA based on unpublished scientific information. Contributors of Papers will participate in a writeshop, be provided honoraria, and be eligible for travel grants to showcase their work

Climate Change Affects Winter Chill for Temperate Fruit and Nut Trees

Temperate fruit and nut trees require adequate winter chill to produce economically viable yields. Global warming has the potential to reduce available winter chill and greatly impact crop yields.We estimated winter chill for two past (1975 and 2000) and 18 future scenarios (mid and end 21st century; 3 Global Climate Models [GCMs]; 3 greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] scenarios). For 4,293 weather stations around the world and GCM projections, Safe Winter Chill (SWC), the amount of winter chill that is exceeded in 90% of all years, was estimated for all scenarios using the "Dynamic Model" and interpolated globally. We found that SWC ranged between 0 and about 170 Chill Portions (CP) for all climate scenarios, but that the global distribution varied across scenarios. Warm regions are likely to experience severe reductions in available winter chill, potentially threatening production there. In contrast, SWC in most temperate growing regions is likely to remain relatively unchanged, and cold regions may even see an increase in SWC. Climate change impacts on SWC differed quantitatively among GCMs and GHG scenarios, with the highest GHG leading to losses up to 40 CP in warm regions, compared to 20 CP for the lowest GHG.The extent of projected changes in winter chill in many major growing regions of fruits and nuts indicates that growers of these commodities will likely experience problems in the future. Mitigation of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can help reduce the impacts, however, adaption to changes will have to occur. To better prepare for likely impacts of climate change, efforts should be undertaken to breed tree cultivars for lower chilling requirements, to develop tools to cope with insufficient winter chill, and to better understand the temperature responses of tree crops

‘CSA Plan’: A guide to scaling climate-smart agriculture - Concepts and lessons from designing CSA programs and policies in sub-Saharan Africa

Large scale investment is needed to create climate-smart agriculture (CSA) systems. While many government and development agencies are integrating CSA into their policies, programmes, plans and projects, there is little guidance for operational planning and implementation on ways to be climate-smart. Here we present “CSA-Plan”. CSA-Plan frames actions needed to design and execute CSA programs into four components—1) situation analysis, 2) targeting and prioritizing, 3) program design, and 4) monitoring and evaluation. Each component yields concrete information to operationalize CSA development separating it from traditional agriculture development. Already, CSA-Plan has shown the capacity to change the discussion around CSA implementation. With iterative co-development, the approaches will become only more useful, relevant and legitimate to governments, civil society and the private sector alike

‘CSA-Plan’: strategies to put Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) into practice

Large-scale investment is needed to create climate-smart agriculture (CSA) systems. While many government and development agencies are integrating CSA into their policies, programmes, plans and projects, there is little guidance for operational planning and implementation on ways to be climate-smart. Here we present ‘CSA-Plan’. CSA-Plan frames actions needed to design and execute CSA programmes into four components – (i) situation analysis, (ii) targeting and prioritising, (iii) programme design, and (iv) monitoring and evaluation. Each component yields concrete information to operationalise CSA development, separating it from traditional agriculture development. Already, CSA-Plan has shown the capacity to change the discussion around CSA implementation. With iterative co-development, the approaches will become ever more useful, relevant and legitimate to governments, civil society and the private sector alike

Reducing smallholder farmers’ risk through agricultural advisories and climate smart agriculture in Northern Ghana

AICCRA baseline data was collected from target populations that were previously engaged in CCAFS and counterfactual communities from 6 regions of Ghana and 4 ecological zones namely: Transition, Coastal Savannah, Guinea Savannah, and Sudan Savannah (MAP). The counterfactual communities from 6 regions of Ghana included Greater Accra, Central, Upper East, Upper West, Bono East, and Northern Regions. Both Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) demands vary across different ecoregions with respect to variations in climatic suitability/limitations, farming systems, cultural norms, and livelihood strategies. The socio-ecological differences have strong bearing on men’s and women’s mitigation and adaptive responses

Data leaks to help create a climate-smart future

This booklet presents a collection of previously unpublished or ongoing research and interventions related to climate-smart agriculture (CSA), with emphasis on experiences in Eastern and Southern Africa. The visual material contained herein offers researchers, development workers and policy-makers teaser insights into new tools, methodologies and data to support CSA scaling efforts. The 35 contributions in this booklet answer to five key questions that currently obstruct the efficient and effective implementation of CSA agenda