Measurement and reporting of climate-smart agriculture: technical guidance for a countrycentric process

Given the extent of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives at project, national, regional and global levels, there is increasing interest in tracking progress in implementing CSA at national level. CSA is also expected to contribute to higher-level goals (e.g., the Paris Agreement, Africa Union’s Vision 25x25, and the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], etc.). Measurement and reporting of climate-smart agriculture (MR of CSA) provides intelligence on necessary the status, effectiveness, efficiency and impacts of interventions, which is critical for meeting stakeholders’ diverse management and reporting needs. In this paper, we build the case for a stakeholder-driven, country-centric framework for MR of CSA, which aims to increase coordination and coherence across stakeholders’ MR activities, while also aligning national reporting with reporting on international commitments. We present practical guidance on how to develop an integrated MR framework, drawing on findings from a multi-country assessment of needs, opportunities and capacities for national MR of CSA. The content of a unified MR framework is determined by stakeholders’ activities (how they promote CSA), needs (why MR is useful to them) and current capacities to conduct periodic monitoring, evaluation and reporting (how ready are institutions, staff and finances). Our analysis found that explicit demand for integration of data systems and active engagement of stakeholders throughout the entire process are key ingredients for building a MR system that is relevant, useful and acted upon. Based on these lessons, we identify a seven-step framework for stakeholders to develop a comprehensive information system for MR of progress in implementing CSA

Priorizando portafolios de inversión en Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) en Guatemala

El Corredor Seco en Centroamérica ha sido afectado por la recurrencia de graves sequías en los últimos dos años, que afectan especialmente la producción de maíz y frijol, amenazando la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de aproximadamente 2.5 millones de personas en la región. Más del 50% de la población afectada practica agricultura de subsistencia y se encuentran en las zonas central, no-reste y noroeste de Guatemala. En estas regiones, la sequía prolongada en 2014 dio lugar a pérdidas de alrededor del 70% en la cosecha de frijol (equivalentes a 70.000 toneladas) y 80% en maíz (200.000 toneladas), en comparación con los rendimientos de 2013. Estas pérdidas fueron avaluadas en US$ 58 millones y han tenido consecuencias importantes sobre las reservas de alimentos locales y regionales, la nutrición y la salud de las personas, así como el acceso al agua potable. Se ha estimado que alrededor de 275,000 familias se han visto afectadas por la falta de lluvias en el Corredor Seco de Guatemala durante el 2014 (UNOCHA, 2014). Estos acontecimientos han puesto de relieve la necesidad urgente de estrategias a corto plazo que pueden ayudar a las familias afectadas, pero a su vez de una visión de mediano y largo plazo que ayude a incrementar la resiliencia de los productores a eventos climáticos extremos e inesperados. La visión tendría que incorporar variables climáticas (tales como los cambios en los patrones de lluvia) en la planificación agrícola y otras intervenciones de desarrollo, dado que el sector agropecuario es uno de los mayores contribuyentes a la economía del país

Recursos fitogenéticos: bases para un futuro resiliente al clima y libre de hambre en el Caribe

En toda la región Caribe, el cambio climático no solamente planteará desafíos sino también una amplia gama de oportunidades, que ofrecen mayor importancia a la riqueza de recursos fitogenéticos de la región. Materializar el potencial de estos recursos para contribuir a garantizar la seguridad alimentaria y crear sistemas agrícolas más resilientes frente al cambio climático requerirá de una mayor cooperación regional. Los objetivos centrales de esta cooperación deberán ser: desarrollar intervenciones oportunas en las fronteras nacionales que mejoren la colecta, conservación y el intercambio de los recursos fitogenéticos

Plant genetic resources: foundations for a food-secure and climate-resilient future in the Caribbean

Across the Caribbean, climate change will bring about not only challenges but also a wide array of opportunities, which lend greater significance to the region’s wealth of plant genetic resources. Realizing the potential of those resources to help ensure food security and build more-resilient agricultural systems in the face of climate change will require stronger regional cooperation. Its central aims should be to develop timely interventions across national borders that improve the collection, conservation, and sharing of plant genetic resources

Tortillas on the roaster: Central America’s maize–bean systems and the changing climate

Maize and beans are a vital component of human diets and culture in Central America. More than a million smallholder families grow these crops for subsistence, producing 70% of the maize and 100% of the beans consumed locally. Average yields are low, however – 1.5 t/ha for maize and 0.7 t/ha for beans – on the approximately 2.5 million hectares of land sown to these crops (40% of the total area harvested) in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In the years to come, a harsher climate together with soil degradation1, widespread poverty, and rural people’s limited access to services and infrastructure will pose challenging obstacles to production. By 2025, these pressures could result in total annual losses of maize and bean production in the four countries of around 350,000 t – with a gross production value of around US$120 million. To ward off this threat to the food security of some 100,000 households, effective adaptation strategies must be developed in collaboration with stakeholders in the maize and bean value chains. These strategies require strong public support and must draw on both scientific and community knowledge

Tortillas en el comal: los sistemas de maíz y fríjol de América Central y el cambio climático

El maíz y el fríjol son un componente vital de las dietas alimenticias de los humanos y la cultura en América Central. Más de un millón de familias de pequeños agricultores siembran estos cultivos para su subsistencia y producen el 70% del maíz y 100% del fríjol que se consume localmente. Sin embargo, los rendimientos promedio son bajos —1.5 t/ha para maíz y 0.7 t/ha para fríjol — en las cerca de 2.5 millones de hectáreas de tierra sembradas con estos cultivos (40% del área total cosechada) en El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua. En los próximos años, el cambio climático junto con la degradación del suelo, la pobreza generalizada y el acceso limitado de la población rural a servicios e infraestructura plantearán obstáculos desafiantes para la producción. Para el 2025, estas presiones podrían producir pérdidas anuales totales de la producción de maíz y fríjol en los cuatro países de alrededor de 350.000 t — con un valor bruto de producción cercano a US$120 millones. Para detener esta amenaza para la seguridad alimentaria de alrededor de 100.000 hogares, se deben desarrollar unas estrategias de adaptación efectivas en colaboración con los interesados directos de las cadenas de valor del maíz y el fríjol. Estas estrategias requieren un apoyo público firme y deben aprovechar tanto el conocimiento científico como el saber de las comunidades

What does CGIAR do to address climate change? Perspectives from a decade of science on climate change adaptation and mitigation

CGIAR consists of a network of international publicly funded agricultural research for development institutes. Over five decades it has worked to increase food abundance, reduce hunger and poverty rates, and lower the geographical footprint of agriculture in lower- and middle-income countries. CGIAR's first formalised research program on climate change was set up in 2009. Here we report on an analysis of 300 outcomes generated over the lifetime of this program, which ran until 2021. Outcomes were characterised in relation to the climate objective, geography, thematic scope, and contribution to global goals. More than half of the outcomes analysed were related to policies for agriculture development under climate change. Twenty-six percent of outcomes related to climate, information and financial services, and 22 percent were related to organisational programming. Most outcomes analysed were at an early stage of maturity, focusing on design and planning stages of policies, strategies, and investments. Fewer than five percent of outcomes had evidence of impact at scale. Outcomes were facilitated by a wide network of partners and contributed to more than ten Sustainable Development Goals. The results of the analysis show the value of outcome-oriented science in being able to harness diversity, balance strategy with opportunism, plan flexibly, work across multiple vulnerability contexts, and allocate resources towards outcomes. These elements have played a significant role in fostering change across contexts, in adjusting research to emerging needs and context changes, in creating conditions for spillovers, and in ensuring global relevance. To transform the food system, the research for development agenda needs to be bolder. It will require more outcomes of various types, achieved through diverse partnerships, spanning a diversity of geographies, vulnerable contexts, and priorities. Significant and intentional investments in strengthening monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning capacity will be required to further realize the potential for outcome-oriented research

Agricultura Climáticamente Inteligente en Nicaragua

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 tradeoffs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation. 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. 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 Prioritization Framework

The CSA Prioritization Framework, developed by CCAFS-CIAT, provides a process for targeting investment towards best-bet CSA options in a given context. The Framework does this by identifying existing and promising CSA practices, assessing the tradeoffs between practices using indicators of CSA and analyzing the costs and benefits of these practices, and identifying possible barriers to adoption. This process aims to contribute to optimized national and sub-national planning, promoting a participatory process for the development of CSA investment portfolios

Démarche de Priorisation de l’Agriculture Intelligente face au Climat

La Démarche de Priorisation de l’AIC, développée par le CCAFS-AIC, est un processus flexible et piloté par les acteurs pour cibler l’investissement vers des options (pratiques et services) optimales d’établissement de l’AIC dans un contexte donné. Cette démarche s'effectue en guidant les parties prenantes à travers l’identification des options AIC existantes et prometteuses, l'évaluation des options en relation avec les indicateurs de l'AIC, l’analyse des coûts et bénéfices de ces options, et l’identification des obstacles éventuels á l’adoption. Ce processus vise à contribuer à un planning national et sous-régional optimisé, se basant sur un processus participatif pour le développement des portefeuilles d’investissement de l’AIC