Climate-Smart Agriculture in Lesotho

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agricultural development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs); and require planning to address trade-offs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. The priorities of different countries and stakeholders are reflected to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems that address challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes. While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks [2]. Mainstreaming CSA requires critical stocktaking of ongoing and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSA adoption. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA at scale

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Zimbabwe

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs), and require planning to address trade-offs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. The priorities of different countries and stakeholders are reflected to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems that address challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes. While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks [2]. Mainstreaming CSA requires critical stocktaking of ongoing and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSA adoption. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA at scale

Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan Development Guide: From Concept to Action

The Paris Agreement defined at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 21nd Conference of Parties (COP21, 2015) in France, unified the global community toward the common cause of adapting to climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fostering sustainable development. The climate challenge to agriculture in Africa was recognized the following year at COP22 (2016) in Marrakech, Morocco, where the Moroccan government launched the Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA) Initiative. This initiative aimed to highlight the investment needs for helping African countries cope with climate change risks to agriculture and best position themselves for a future of higher temperatures, uncertain precipitation and increased frequency of extreme events. The AAA Initiative builds on the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), first launched in 2003 through the African Union, which promotes the development of national agricultural investment plans (NAIPs) for African countries. The development of climate-smart agriculture investment plans (CSAIPs) has been identified as important for identifying priority CSA projects and making the case for funding and financing

Submission from the CGIAR System Organization, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the World Bank, in response to Decision 4/CP.23.

This submission on Improved nutrient use and manure management towards sustainable and resilient agricultural systems proposes a set of priority action areas for consideration by the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture to further the agenda

Seasonal heat content changes in the western Mediterranean Sea as a means for evaluating surface heat flux formulations

The semienclosed western Mediterranean Sea has proven to be a useful location to evaluate surface heat flux estimates. In the past the directly measured average oceanic heat transport from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar of similar to 5.2 +/- 1.3 W m(-2) has been compared to estimates of the average heat flux across the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. On long timescales both should closely balance each other. By using a monthly temperature climatology of the western Mediterranean Sea we offer the possibility to extend the comparison to the seasonal timescale. This gives additional information with which different surface heat flux data sets can be evaluated. The seasonal heat content changes of the western Mediterranean and the advective exchange of heat through the Straits of Gibraltar and Sicily are estimated on the basis of a new extensive hydrographic data set and of published values for the volume transports. To demonstrate the method, a limited number of surface heat flux data sets are compared with the oceanographically calculated counterpart. The comparison reveals that some heat fluxes do not only agree well for the long-term averages but also for the seasonal timescale, whereas others show larger deviations. The remaining rms discrepancies of +/-10.2 W m(-2) for the best heat flux data set are smaller than the uncertainty of the oceanographic estimate and of a reasonable magnitude compared to the uncertainty of the long-term average of similar to 5 W m(-2)

Global warming and malaria: knowing the horse before hitching the cart

Speculations on the potential impact of climate change on human health frequently focus on malaria. Predictions are common that in the coming decades, tens – even hundreds – of millions more cases will occur in regions where the disease is already present, and that transmission will extend to higher latitudes and altitudes. Such predictions, sometimes supported by simple models, are persuasive because they are intuitive, but they sidestep factors that are key to the transmission and epidemiology of the disease: the ecology and behaviour of both humans and vectors, and the immunity of the human population. A holistic view of the natural history of the disease, in the context of these factors and in the precise setting where it is transmitted, is the only valid starting point for assessing the likely significance of future changes in climate

Dynamic model development of enteric methane emission from goats based on energy balance measured in indirect open circuit respiration calorimeter

[EN] A dynamic model of methane (CH4) emission in goats was proposed and parameterized from energy balance experimental data. The model focused on dry matter intake and fat content of the diet as explanatory variables for CH4 emission. Experimental and literature data were used to develop the model. Then, data (n = 123) from five energy balance experiments were used to evaluate the model. The model was adequate to represent energy in milk, heat production and CH4 emissions. Residual analysis showed that most of the prediction errors were due to unexplained variations with small mean and slope bias (around zero with exception of CH4; <6%). The model tends to over-predict energy in CH4 at higher energy intake and, energy in milk and heat production at lower energy intake. Random bias was greater than 90%, signifying than more than 90% of the error was non-systematic indicating the mechanism in the model are properly represented. The model is a first step towards a mechanistic description of nutrient use by goats and, useful as a research tool for investigating energy partition in dairy goat systems. The model described in this study should be considered for preparation of enteric CH4 emissions inventories for goats. (c) 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.This study was supported by LOW CARBON FEED Project reference LIFE2016/CCM/ES/000088.Fernández Martínez, CJ. (2018). Dynamic model development of enteric methane emission from goats based on energy balance measured in indirect open circuit respiration calorimeter. Global Ecology and Conservation. 15:1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00439S1141

Ravaged landscapes and climate vulnerability: The challenge in achieving food security and nutrition in post-conflict Timor-Leste

Food insecurity and malnutrition are prevalent in post-conflict countries. Climate change poses further challenges to their food production. Timor-Leste is an agrarian society that won independence in 2002 and is struggling to achieve food security and reduce undernutrition as the country modernizes. The economy depends on fossil fuel revenues and oil reserves are dwindling. A review of climate, agricultural, and nutrition data reveals high weather vulnerability, low agricultural productivity, and slow dietary and nutritional progress. But solutions exist. Agricultural sector actions can make important contributions to poverty reduction, food security, dietary diversity, micronutrient sufficiency, and overall nutrition. Agriculture can be made to be more nutrition- and gender-sensitive with a focus on mixed farming systems, biodiversity, climate-smart practices, and access to inputs, training, and technologies for farmers to enable sustainable and healthy rural livelihoods. Ultimately, productivity levels must improve to support the availability of sufficient and nutritious foods

A framework for identifying and selecting long term adaptation policy directions for deltas

Deltas are precarious environments experiencing significant biophysical, and socio-economic changes with the ebb and flow of seasons (including with floods and drought), with infrastructural developments (such as dikes and polders), with the movement of people, and as a result of climate and environmental variability and change. Decisions are being taken about the future of deltas and about the provision of adaptation investment to enable people and the environment to respond to the changing climate and related changes. The paper presents a framework to identify options for, and trade-offs between, long term adaptation strategies in deltas. Using a three step process, we: (1) identify current policy-led adaptations actions in deltas by conducting literature searches on current observable adaptations, potential transformational adaptations and government policy; (2) develop narratives of future adaptation policy directions that take into account investment cost of adaptation and the extent to which significant policy change/political effort is required; and (3) explore trade-offs that occur within each policy direction using a subjective weighting process developed during a collaborative expert workshop. We conclude that the process of developing policy directions for adaptation can assist policy makers in scoping the spectrum of options that exist, while enabling them to consider their own willingness to make significant policy changes within the delta and to initiate transformative change.</p