Climate-Smart Agriculture is Improving the Lives of Millions in the World
The Climate-smart agriculture – Success stories from farming communities around the world published by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) showcases 16 examples of successful climate-smart agriculture from both developed and developing countries. These initiatives are having a widespread impact on food security, adaptation to climate change and climate change mitigation, and are being implemented over vast areas and improving the lives of millions of people.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines climate-smart agriculture as consisting of three main pillars:
- sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes (food security);
- adapting and building resilience to climate change (adaptation); and
- reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), where possible.
But what exactly is “climate-smart agriculture? Broadly speaking, it consists of proven practical techniques, such as mulching, intercropping, conservation agriculture, crop rotation, integrated crop-livestock management, agro-forestry, improved grazing, and improved water management, together with innovative practices, such as better weather forecasting, drought- and flood-tolerant crops, and crop and livestock insurance.
“… climate-smart agriculture can and does make a difference to millions of people’s lives.”
